Maybe I don't know enough about tortoises, but it seems from all the shell pyramiding that the wafflesworld guy you reblogged has malnourished animals, especially the one named mango.
Hey there! Mango was rescued when she was two years old; up until that time she had received extremely bad care and has horrible shell deformities as a result.
The other tortoises have perfectly fine shells for captive tortoises. It is almost impossible to get tortoises with perfectly smooth shells in captivity. It’s not entirely understood why this is but it probably has something to do with minor deviations from their exact wild diet and humidity levels but also the fact that captive tortoises spend less time digging through dirt and rocks, squeezing under logs, having their shells chewed by predators, getting banged up in mating attempts or fights, etc.
Mild pyramiding is entirely a cosmetic issue and does not effect the health of the animal. If you would like to read Waffles’ official statement on the issue you can find that here.
Generally it is not a good idea to jump to conclusions about a tortoise’s current care based on the fact that they are pyramided/have other shell deformities. Considering that tortoises live for several decades and that many of them outlive their owners or change hands many times throughout their lives (and that bad care can leave permanent deformities even if it happened years and years ago) it’s really not fair or logical to assume that the current owner caused the issue.
I really appreciate your concern about the welfare of these tortoises, but next time you might want to search the OPs blog for information about their animals’ history first. Saves time for everyone.
