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Hey everyone!
So I’ve had my RES for 3 years now. Was given to me by a former coworker. He (til this day don’t know the sex) was about 3” when I got him. Now he’s about 5”. I’ve previously had him in a 20 gallon tank. When I was cleaning his tank in February he had escaped from the box I put him in while cleaning. I was cleaning the tank outside & he was no where to be found. 6 weeks later my father was cleaning out the leaves in our garden & FOUND HIM! Burrowed in the dirt. He was still alive & aggressively trying to attack my father when he was picked up lol so since then we’ve gotten him a new 40 gallon tank & he’s living the life now! Lately I’ve been observing him more than usual since his 6 week vacation I’m not sure what he was eating or if he got any diseases from now having the uvb light etc & im noticing 2 lumps on his shell. Is this something I should bring to the attention of a vet? Or is this just normal shell growth? This is my first reptile & I know nothing about turtles except how to keep their tank clean & feed them properly!
In the pictures I’ve attacked you can see the raised areas in the circled part of the image.

Looks like a little pyramiding, usually caused by an inadequate/infrequent diet and/or lack of calcium/UVB. I would also remove any of the smaller rocks, especially the ones smaller than his head.

Ok & now that he’s finally back in his proper home & has the proper lighting will that pyramiding go away? Or is that something I need to get a vet to take care of? & why remove rocks smaller than his head? I’ve never heard of such thing. Is it a health hazard?

Smaller instances of pyramiding gets better after each shed, but it can be a long process. Many RES will eat smaller rocks and gravel, so it poses a problem called impaction.