Urgent Care :: shell pyramiding

[v]

hi, i am new here..
i have 2 red eared sliders. about 9 months old. i m observing shell pyramiding in one of them since last 3 months. i read a lot about the causes.but i want to know how to cure it..?
i m feeding commercial food and blood worms n some dried shrimps.also calcium supplement.
just plz discuss if there is any way to cure it..
n how much time it is supposed to take?

[SpotsMama]

Can you show us photos of their shells? Sometimes people thing their turtles have pyramiding but it turns out to be something else or just normal shell shape.

Pyramiding is a caused by dietary imbalances and/or insufficient UVB light exposre. Have you read up on turtle nuitrition on this site?

Everything has to be right to create a beautiful, healthy turtle shell - diet, UVB light, lots of basking where the shell gets to dry out completely, top and bottom, clean water, lots of calcium, occasional servings of foods containing vitamin e.

Shell deformities are very slow to develope and equally slow to correct. Some will always be with a turtle. The time frame can be years.

[v]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31234099@N06/3115598555/
this is a link..
i m providing them natural light..
but uv lights are not easily available here in india.
i tried to feed them veg food but they dont eat at all..
right now i cut down on dried shrimp n worm food which is more protien based.

[Caphits]

Did you alter the pictures in any way? He looks smushed. Like a tortoise shell on a turtle.
Like a soccer ball instead of a football.

I have no idea what to recommend except to follow the guidelines pointed out on the main nutrition pages-----> http://www.redearslider.com/index_nutrition.html

Good luck!

[SpotsMama]

Thanks for the photo. He looks like a very sweet turt but his shell is a most unusual shape. I don't think I've seen anything quite like it. It's not typical pyramiding but maybe that's because he's so young.

One thing I see is layer upon layer of retained scutes. In addition to needing to bask a lot under good light (meaning good UVB, either from a UVB bulb or natural sunlight), where he gets to dry out completely, and needing plenty of calcium in his diet, he needs some foods in his diet that contain vitamin e. Vitamin e will help him shed the retained scutes. Give him occasional blueberries, turnip greens, tomato, steamed sweet potato and/or apple peel. These foods contain vitamin e. Even turtles that won't eat much in the way of veggies will go for blueberries and steamed sweet potato. Just be careful not to overdo it as these foods are high in calories and will make him fat. A couple of small servings a week is plenty.

Apparently he's been getting a very high protein diet. I wonder if he's also getting too much. Usually pyramiding is attributed to excessive protein in the diet and also too much food. How much does he get every day?

A standard healthy turtle diet for a turtle less than 4" long is good quality pellets daily but only enough that would fit in his head (not counting the neck) if his head were hollow. He can have green leafy veggies daily in addition to the pellets. A couple of times a week he can have small servings of other veggies like carrot, bell pepper, tomato, blueberries, etc in addition to the pellets and lettuce. Finally, around once a month he can have a small high protein snack like a few minnows, freeze dried crickets, shrimp or boiled chicken. On the days he gets the high protein snack, skip the pellets as they are also high protein.

If he's been getting too much food and too much protein, when you correct his diet you don't need to go to the opposite extreme - that wouldn't be healthy either. Just be sure he sticks to the recommended diet.

I'm suspicious of the diet as the root of the problem with his shell because he also looks kind of tubby. If that's not it then I don't know what to tell you because, like I said, I have never seen a shell shaped like his. I think a herp vet is your best bet for help.

[megcornell]

Hello!

Has your turtle's shell always been so ball shaped? I've honestly never seen a shell like that. It's odd because the actual scutes don't look like they're pyramiding, instead the whole shell seems to have expanded out.

Following spotsmama's guidelines to improve the diet of the turtles certainly will go a long way to preventing further damage, but there's nothing you can do to reverse any shell deformities unfortunately.

Can you describe your set up for us? Sometimes habitat can play a role as well.

[v]

i m feeding them approx head sized food.perhaps as i remember. i used to feed them a little more some times before.
1 commercial pellets 2 blood worms
3 other dry shrimps n dried small fishes 4 live guppy fishes.
i really tried to feed them various vegitables, they stay starved but dont eat any veg.
i m trying some veggy flakes from fish store.
here is my pond setup
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31234099@N06/3241031042/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31234099@N ... otostream/
and here is the turtle.he has got problem.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31234099@N ... otostream/

[Fred]

I have no clue about ur turtles shell...and i know little about pyramiding except that vitamin e and calcium will help.

I know this has nothing to do with this but is that stuff in the pond filter,heater,etc? If so thats good cuz its important for a hatchling to have a water temp 78-80 deg and clean water.And i would remove the smaller gravel from it since he may eat it looking for something other than veggies.

[marisa]

The shell is not growing in line with the body. Aside from piles of retained scutes, there probably is some pyramiding. And I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't some MBD (metabolic bone disease) going on as well.

The initial diet you described is overloaded with protein and needs to be corrected. You can give all the calcium supplement you want (I hope you're using one that doesn't contain phosphorus), but without adequate Vit D (Vit E is important, but it's D that aids in calcium absorption) the turtle won't be able to use it. Does the turtle bask, either under a UVB light or in unfiltered sunlight?

If you can, it would be good to have him looked at by someone who knows turtles (if you can't find a vet, are there any zoos or aquariums relatively near you?). At the very least, that set-up needs to be improved as well as the diet.