General Care Discussion :: Healthy shell?

[WyredHardware]

Hello all,
I just noticed that a few days ago that Kokoro's shell is looking a little odd to me. It almost looks like it is shedding like a lizard or snake would shed its skin. I thought turtles flaked rather then shed.





Both pictures were taken outside when his/her shell was dry. She/he is less than 1.5inches and I bought her from a guy in at a flea market. I know.. but this is Japan.. flea market turtles are everywhere.

[camee1991]

Hi!
Looks like your little one could be about to shed. His top and bottom layer of scutes will start coming off slowly. (Dont try to pull them off....its tempting, but it can do it itself ) Also, RES shed skin also, all over. It freaked me out at 1st also, but it is normal. It looks like whispy clearish stuff in the water and hanging off the turts head, neck, legs... If its water temp is too high (over 82ish) it could cause a little excess skin shedding.

He looks just like my baby. (not the one in the pic.. she is my BIG girl, lol, I have a new teeny baby also.) Very beautiful! My baby's plastron (shell) looks almost identical to yours. With the gray areas between the scutes on top and all. Soooo cute. Mine's about ready to shed his scutes also.

To me, the shell looks healthy. Im sure others with more knowledge will comment soon!!!

Welcome to the Board!

[SpotsMama]

Looks to me like he/she's getting ready for a good shed. Does he/she bask regularly under a good UVB light? That's very important for shell health.

I'm curious Camee - where did you see a picture of Kokoro's plastron? All I see are two pics of the carapace.

Speaking of the plastron though, Wyredhardware, how does Kokoro's plastron (bottom of the shell) look?

[marisa]

You can see the scutes that will be shedding---they're a little smaller and slightly raised above the seam. The whitish areas are air that's been trapped between the scutes as they begin to lift off. The scutes coming off in one/larger pieces is preferable to little pieces just flaking off, which often indicates a problem. Your turtle's shell looks good and will look even better once he loses those scutes.

[WyredHardware]

Hey all,
I have a pic ok Kokoro's plastron right here. Her water temp is 81, a bit high but then it is 84 ish in the shade at 830am in Japan. Her basking temp is right on the money. I have her in a 60l tank... so about 18gal..ish...
I tossed in 2 bright guppies and 3 small white fish.. sorry the name was in kanji and I can't read those characters. I have a halogen UVA/UVB light above her basking area with her infared heat lamp.

[camee1991]

Spots...I was typing fast and just meant shell not plastron..still trying to get the plastron and carapace thing straight! Thanks for the heads up! But nowwwww.....I see it!

[megcornell]

It looks like your turtle may be growing a little fast? I may be wrong but I think the wide growth lines on the shell and plastron indicate that the shell isn't growing at the same rate as the turtle...
how much do you feed her and do you give her any veggies such as the ones listed in the nutrition section of the forum?

[marisa]

The wide space down the middle shows that your turtle has been growing, and you can also see the scutes that haven't had the time to come off. The slight pink tinge to the shell, especially near the seam, also indicates that the growth has been rather quick.

[WyredHardware]

hey,
The slight pink tinge is probably coming from my infrared basking lamp. It it right beside my UVA/UVB bulb where I took the pic.
I feed her mini pellets once a day equal to the size of her head not including neck. I also toss in some lettuce and the occasional piece of carrot. I have Anacharis in the tank as well.