General Care Discussion :: Scutes and Shedding Them

[cutepanda86]

Hello all!

Quick, possibly stupid, question - When and how often do RES's shed their schutes? I have had Sheldon since February and he has not shed anything except skin. Now I finally got him to munch on cuttlebone but he has some white spots on his shell (not overly concerned as he hasn't shown any outward signs of trouble, plus he had some when I got him and the vet said, he wasn't getting enough calcium, with him eating cuttlebone now, I'm sure that will get better), is that a sign of bigger trouble or of prepping to shed? Sheldon is 6" and about 2 to 2 and a half years old.

Any help would be much appreicated. Thanks!

[VeipaCray]

could you post a few close up pics of the carapace and the scutes?

[cutepanda86]

I will try to get some shots tonight when I get home. Thanks!

[cutepanda86]

All right here we are:

Back end

Front end

[steve]

It appears to be fungus :/

[cutepanda86]

Oh faboo. How exactly do I get rid of that?

[steve]

It's in the early stages, so be aggressive. Prepare a dry dock area. Make sure your filter, basking area is excellent. If this stuff comes back it will be much harder to get rid of. Get some hibiclens to clean the shell. Get some silver sulfadiazine cream from a vet (all vets have it, so if you have a vet that sees other pets, they might give it to you without a visit).

See this post for reference: viewtopic.php?t=10839

[cutepanda86]

Hibiclens? Where do I get that?

How do I prepare a dry dock? Sheldon has a basking platform but obviously not a completely dry spot (is that what you mean? No water at all?)

[dandj425]

Cutepanda- I use a rubbernaid storage tote for drydocking. My vet, odd pet vet at new England rehabilitate, told me last week I have to keep Tweedledee totally drydocked for a 24hrs/period per week to prevent fungul infections. He said less than that is not enough to kill off anything . Plus he said after a few hours out of the water to scrub her with a toothbrush to help the scutes but not actually peel them.hoping in a few weeks those retained scutes come off. I put either a clean towel or nothing in the drydock tote. She is in it right now and the scutes are peeling up on their own. Applying the silver sulfate? Cream from him is messy but simple after drydocking for a few hours. Qtips and gloves help with application Hibiclens can be bought in the first aid section at the pharmacy.

[steve]

dandj425 pretty much nailed it. I haven't heard of the 24 hour dry dock suggestion before, though it is an interesting take on it.

Make sure you dilute the Hibiclens, and keep the solution away from the turtle's head.

[cutepanda86]

dandj425 - Wow that's pretty cool. Now in the drydock though, how does Tweedledee get water? I'll have to check over the pharmacy department then.

Thanks to both you and steve!!!

I have a call into the vet and will let you know what is going on as soon as I can.

[dandj425]

No water source I leave in it. They would totally knock over anything I would put in and then get wet and messy defeating the purpose

[cutepanda86]

OK and can I leave Sheldon in there for 24 hrs straight or do like 8 hours stints for three days? Sorry for all the questions but I want to make sure I get it right. btw what are stinkpots? lol

[dandj425]

I asked my vet that too and he said Nope full 24hrs straight!
OMG stinkpots are soo flipping cute sorry new mama, or should I say grandma, gushing! They are common musk turtles that start small and stay small. Right now our hatchlings are so tiny but they have pointed noses and rouneded shells with 3 ridges. Too young to tell on much else but check them out

[cutepanda86]

Wow, awesome for turtles! Again, thanks for all your help. I'll be very well prepared when I talk to the vet tomorrow.

Oh they sound adorable! I'll have to look them up.