General Care Discussion :: Shell pyramiding?

[Emyx]

Hello all,

I've never really noticed it before, but after reading about shell pyramiding, I started thinking that my turtle's shell might be pyramiding. I've had my turtle for 6 years since she was the size of a quarter and now she's about 8 and a half inches and quite heavy as well. When she was little I used to feed her turtle pellets every day, once a day and as she got older it was every two days with some vegetables and less pellets. For some time now I've been feeding her every three days with both veggies and pellets. Not sure if I'm feeding her properly or if it's too much?

[adbritta]

It looks like maybe there is some very slight pyramiding on her shell, right before you get to her head, but it's definitely not severe or horrible. It's hard to tell, because in the other pictures she looks fine. I don't know if it's possible to really tell how old the "pyramids" are, other than that the taller they are, the less scutes that she was able to successfully shed. I wouldn't worry too much about it other than to just keep her on a good diet. How long has her shell looked like that? Just wondering if maybe she just got too much food as a baby or if it's something more recent that would maybe warrant a food change.

[Emyx]

It's been like that for a long time, that's why I never thought it might be something bad. Her shell has always looked healthy so I thought that those slight bumps at the front of her shell were a normal thing for growing turtles.

[adbritta]

I wouldn't worry about it if they've been there for a long time, then. The fact that they haven't increased in size means that her diet is okay and you're not overfeeding her. There's nothing you can do to reverse growth of her shell, anyway. You sound like you know what you're doing and as far as I can see, she looks healthy and content.

[steve]

She looks pretty good to me!

[Emyx]

Thanks for all the help (: