Thank you so much! We really appreciate your kind words!!

@JC Animals your very welcome!

Same

We live in Missouri where it gets below 0° and over 100°, so it's totally do-able! When it does get below 60° we do bring them inside. You'll need to have a heated indoor enclosure to keep them alive over winter and cold nights. They don't actually hibernate but they will go into brumation during winter which is kind of like a very minor hibernation. They will be awake but they will not be near as active and not eat or drink near as much.

Thank you for the sub! Pyramiding can be reduced if they're not fully grown yet. If they have no more growing to do then it's basically impossible to get rid of pyramiding. BUT that doesn't mean you can't get them healthy again! Our redfoot is currently in brumation so he eats about every other day, but during summer when he's more active we try and feed every tortoise daily. Mainly greens with liquid calcium. Maybe once a week we give him fruit. They love it but we want them to eat mostly greens as they're more nutritional and he'll always eat the fruit first and fill up on that. The lights will also help. I suggest making an enclosure outdoors for when it's warm she can soak up the sun rays which no artificial light will ever come close to replacing. When we have a sick or injured turtle/tortoise we bring them inside to quarantine and just the difference in their attitudes vs the ones outside are insane. The sun is by far the most beneficial thing (other than food/water) a reptile can have.

@@JCAnimals Thanks for the reply. I do plan on getting her outside once it warms up again. And I greatly appreciate the feeding tips. I've definitely noticed she will eat fruits before the greens. She is still very active so I believe that is a good sign. I am hoping to get a new enclosure soon. Do you have any recommendations? She's not fully grown but the 40gal breeder is getting a bit small for her

@@decodahall2447 Well they do get a little over a foot big so eventually they won't fit in any aquarium. Once ours is bigger he will get a part of a heated barn for winter and a fenced in area outside. Currently he's in a 5x5 setup with a tarp holding the dirt and mulch. If you have the room, I'd suggest that! OR if he's still small and you might plan on getting smaller tortoises at some point, I suggest a tortoise table! We have a video showing how we made one for about $100 and it can go inside or outside!

We try to mist every day and they all have water bowls. Also it is the same room as a few aquariums and the ambient humidity is around 70%

For what? He's way too big to ever be in a tank

It could be nutritional defect but if they're young their shell may start to look more normal if they're given the proper nutrients and they recover! It also could be the way they're growing but it's never a bad thing to be extra cautious with the correct foods and lighting!

@@JCAnimals I have been doing everything I know she needs. I honestly didn't see any without some kind of raised. I honestly didn't know if that was normal or not for a young one so I really appreciate it. I want to have her the best life and make sure she is as healthy as possible 🙂🐢

Honestly I never would. You should always be able to clean them off with just water and a toothbrush. That said the commercials say it's safe. But if you do, don't let them drink any of it. Use it very scarcely if at all.

@@JCAnimals thank you so so so much for the quick response and much needed advice!!!

That's true! Humidity is important for any reptile! We live in a high humidity environment so Bob being outside and watering the enclosure daily keeps his humidity where it needs to be. Calling Bob hardy is an opinion. Anything that is called hardy is subjective not objective. There is no need to raise a fuss when everyone's experience is different! Your comment states nothing about diet, habitat, grooming, health indicators, etc. This 5 minute video is meant as an intro. Maybe with more support we could make longer videos to help people! But for now, we'll settle for you telling us, the state licensed turtle/tortoise handlers, we're wrong in the comments of our video 😉