Urgent Care :: Need Help With A Shell Problem!

[shleebaby]

My baby RES Squirt is starting to look weird...it's shell on top is discolored..it used to be really green and now is kind of fading. The bottom of his shell used to be yellow and the patterns used to be really clear, now its also discolored! Is this normal?? What can I do??? Also, his skin on his head, when he's in the water, looks like his face is falling off! It's like a flap of skin floating around on him...What is it??

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii10 ... r20077.jpg - BEFORE discoloration
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii10 ... C00053.jpg - NOW
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii10 ... C00050.jpg - NOW

[LOBO]

im new to turtles myself but could it be shedding? or could it be algea growing on the shell?

[SpotsMama]

It's kind of hard to tell but I think he's getting ready to shed scutes. Can you see around the borders of the scutes (shell sections), does it look like they are starting to lift? It looks like the separations between the scutes on his carapace are pretty wide. What is his diet like?

In fact, can you find the list of questions on the sticky at the top of this forum (Urgent Care) and answer them? This will give us useful info on diet, basking and light that are important for shell health.

On the flap around this face - do you know what normal skin shedding looks like? Normal skin shedding is thin translucent whisps that float around the turtle when he's in the water. It's not visible when they are dry. Do you think that's what you are seeing?

[wezeles]

Hes just shedding, scutes"pieces of shell" and probably skin... get use to it they do it alot untill they are full grown, even then they do it atleast once a year or more... just like any other reptile turtles shed there skin, including there shell... the discoloration is the gap between the old shell and the new..

[LOBO]

hey i got something right! i might accually be learning with all the research i been doing

[steve]

How is Mojo doing? Is he in the same tank?

[shleebaby]

How big is your turtle? 1.5 inches
How long have you had it? 2 months

What is the water temperature? 79 F
Did you use a thermometer? Yes
Are you using a water heater? Yes
How much water is in there? 3 - 4 inches
Are you using a water conditioner? No (waiting for it to come in)
Are you using any filtration? Yes

What is the basking temperature? about 90 F
Is there a basking light? Yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? Yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? Whatever that turtle dock (zoo med) is made of
Is there a UVB light? No (i bought the wrong thing lol)

What have you been trying to feed it? pellets, dried shrimp, romaine lettuce
When was the last time your turtle ate? last night (pellets)

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? tank is about 30 gallons
Is the tank near a window? No
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? Kind of (our computer room)

Have you read the Basic Care section? Yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? yes

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? No, he eats fine, acts normal, but just starting to look different....


Yes Mojo is in the same tank and he looks fine. His shell is normal and his skin is too....I feed them both the same....that's why i don't get it. i thought maybe it was the water but Mojo isn't reacting like Squirt is.

[shleebaby]

On the flap around this face - do you know what normal skin shedding looks like? Normal skin shedding is thin translucent whisps that float around the turtle when he's in the water. It's not visible when they are dry. Do you think that's what you are seeing?

Yes it does look like what you say. Just didn't know because Mojo isn't going through that...Does this happen a lot?

[shleebaby]

It's kind of hard to tell but I think he's getting ready to shed scutes. Can you see around the borders of the scutes (shell sections), does it look like they are starting to lift? It looks like the separations between the scutes on his carapace are pretty wide.

Yes it looks like it is lifting a bit...

[industrial_girl_2000]

FYI - as the turtles age, they lose that bright green color on their shells. It looks like your turtle is growing (that's a good thing), but also, it looks like the edges of the scutes are starting to lift off. If the scutes are lifting & there is healthy shell underneath (may be more brown rather than green), that is fine.

Also, you will notice that as he grows, the areas between the scutes will turn more brown. This is normal also. RES's shells are brown once they grow up (but it doesn't make them any less cute....trust me....I'm the proud mama of an adult RES that I have had for 18 yrs!).

Just make sure you continue to provide a UVB light (do you have a UVB light or some other kind of light? You didn't specify in your post above) for your babies to bask under. It will help bring out the brightest brown colors in their shells as they grow & ensure that the shell will stay healthy.

[shleebaby]

Yes i have a basking light. I went to order a UVB lamp off the internet, but it was the wrong thing. Do they really need both? Or can they just use the basking light?

[industrial_girl_2000]

Yes, they need both UVA & UVB. Here is a link that explains the difference between UVA & UVB:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10

Having said that, if you have a tank that is 75 gallons or larger, you can get an MVB bulb which is an all-in-one UVA+UVB. If the tank is smaller, you will need 2 bulbs.

[marisa]

From the pics and your description, your turtle looks like s/he's going through a growth spurt.

[SpotsMama]

On the skin shedding, it's quite common for turtles to shed skin. They shed more heavily when the water temp is warm and when they're being fed too much. Usually turtles will shed for awhile then it will slow down, then start up again later. They shed all over - neck, legs, tail.

If a turtle is shedding very heavily and it doesn't stop, it's a sign of skin infection.