[Wendy663]

My mother in law has 2 young Herman tortoise. She is currently in hospital so I am in charge.
They are approximately 5 years old, maybe a year or two more, but I’ve lost count as to when she got them.
Anyway, I tried at the start to educate her on diet, but she quickly resorted to cos lettuce and tomato because that is what she fed her other tortoise.
So their shells are now pyramiding.
My question is, because they are still young and growing, will a better diet be able to improve this?They are just coming out of hibernation, I’ve given them a bath, they’ve drunk a lot, but don’t seem interested in the kale, and spring greens I’ve offered, although they liked the dandelion leaves I gave them on the first day (but not on the second).
Do tortoise get fussy if they are used to only one type of food? When with her they had the run of her garden so would have has access to weeds and other plants.
Any advice gratefully received.
Thank you in advance.

 

[SueBoyle]

Long story short, you cannot correct pyramiding, but you can improve future growth. Have a look here for diet www.tortsmad.com/diet.htm Spring greens aren’t good, the same as anything from the cabbage family as it’s stops the uptake of calcium to the bones. You need a regular balanced supplement such as Nekton MSA for growing torts, especially when indoors. Outdoors is far better for them, but it’s important not to offer any fruit or veg, including tomatoes. Do u have any pics please so that we can assess how bad the pyramiding is?
Worth noting too that diet alone isn’t responsible for pyramiding, it’s also linked to too dry conditions and not being able to dig in overnight, which conserves body moisture even in dry soil

 

[purplepixie]

My mother in law has 2 young Herman tortoise. She is currently in hospital so I am in charge.
They are approximately 5 years old, maybe a year or two more, but I’ve lost count as to when she got them.
Anyway, I tried at the start to educate her on diet, but she quickly resorted to cos lettuce and tomato because that is what she fed her other tortoise.
So their shells are now pyramiding.
My question is, because they are still young and growing, will a better diet be able to improve this?They are just coming out of hibernation, I’ve given them a bath, they’ve drunk a lot, but don’t seem interested in the kale, and spring greens I’ve offered, although they liked the dandelion leaves I gave them on the first day (but not on the second).
Do tortoise get fussy if they are used to only one type of food? When with her they had the run of her garden so would have has access to weeds and other plants.
Any advice gratefully received.
Thank you in advance.

If you go to www.tortoises.net you will find Lin Kings downloadable booklet on med tortoises. She has a lot of experience in the field on tortoise diet. And is renown in the tortoise world for her expertise on chelonia:0)
Tortoise can and are very fussy, and will hold out for junk foods such as lettuce, tomato and cucumber. But no heathy tortoise will starve if food is available. But they will try to get what they want:0)