Hi turtle people,
I was hoping some of you might weigh in with opinions on Sedge's weight / shell health etc.
I rescued him from a friend who had him for maybe six months and wasn't taking proper care of him- especially in that he had no basking lights.
Some of you have seen his set-up, which was a 20 gal long with recent addition of home-made turtle topper. He has grown a lot since I got him (he has been in my care for a little less than a year) and is somewhere between 3 and 4 inches now.
Newest update is that I upgraded him to a 29 gal tank that I got on Craigslist! He's got a few danio "friends" and the tank is doing at least a mini cycle currently.
Anyway, I think I was overfeeding him a bit at first. I've gone up and down with food based on how I thought he looked.
He has been on 10 Mazuri pellets (which is at least a little smaller than his head) every other day, lettuce most days, and the occasional cuttlebone ( and sometimes a couple of dried mealworms when he gets upset because I'm messing with his tank too much). He turns up his nose at most other veggies but cucumber and carrot are growing on him. Especially shredded carrots.
I decided to go up to 12 pellets a few days ago because he seems a little skinny to me. He's really into glass swimming / begging whenever humans are in the room.
I think he has some (mild?) Pyramiding. But it seems that he's been like that for a while, since before I regulated his pellet diet (before 10 pellets every other day, when I wasn't keeping track as precisely)
He's a nervous basker but is getting better. I'd like him to bask more, so a couple of his pellets go on his platform on pellet days (he gets them and brings them into the water. Seems to get him a bit more used to the platform).
My problem with the flat shoulders method of determining his weight is there after I feed him a bunch of lettuce, they are bulging... but otherwise they seem a little sunken, so it's hard for me to tell.
I worry a bit about the top of his shell looking bumpy also. But it was like that before I put him on the 10 pellets diet, and I know it will take a while to flatten out.
Also, for the second time since I've had him, he seems to be doing some big-time skin shedding (I can only see it in the water but it still seems like a lot). I think that will go away on its own just like it did last time though.
I've never actually posted pictures of him close-up, so I thought I would get opinions from some experienced folks on his shell health / weight etc.
Thanks!!