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I saw that some people were asking what shell shedding looks like, and also me and eddie, xsavingsaturdayx where having a discussion of what a translucent scute looks like... I thought since the pics were pretty clear of showing this translucent scute, it can be a good reference when there are questions about it.




The circled part is the "translucent" part. Its the yellowish looking part at the very tip of the shell. You can actually see the new shell underneath, and im surprised to see its growing inferiorly to the old part.



It looks like the shell is chipped where the arrow is pointing, but its only part of the old "translucent" part that is falling off. As you can see below, right above the blue lines, you can see the new scute underneath. It is perfectly rounded. At first I freaked out and thought she chipped her shell, but that part just fell off. She may have chipped that old part, but it was bound to fall off anyways.



Here is a pic of more scutes. The yellowish part are also starting to become translucent, and this corresponds with what steve is saying about the translucent shell being superior and inferior. Notice where the "outer" scutes meet the "middle" scutes. Its starting to turn a good dark brown. This was the first to shed, before any scutes, and it was a whitish color. I was nervous at first seeing this, I thought that she was banging her shell, and it almost looked like that part was sorta chipping (hard to describe).. but I am now happy with the results!I am pleased to see the BEAUTIFUL colors coming in on my baby.

wooo!!
thanks!!
great great help =D
so if the edges are turning yellow that means they are shedding scutes?

The translucent edges are how my RES are, but there are no "chips" as to what you have described. I think it may be an actual chip She looks very healthy and a little camera shy

turrbee, you can see a bit of shedding on the bottom pic. Nice shots Jessica.

Thanks! Steve, thank god she only chipped the old part... the new shell underneath is perfectly rounded

Interesting pictures, but they are better pictures of scutes that have been retained than actually shedding (but I can see where air is trapped underneath some of them, indicating that they're lifting).

A picture of the shell dry would show more. I'm not sure what is meant by the translucent shell being superior and inferior...As the marginal scute underneath grows, it pushes the one above it outward, and that's where the increasingly "translucent" edge comes from. The shed scutes are themselves translucent.

Awesome,jessica.That was exactly what i was talking about! Oh and karelyn(i think thats her name) is a cutie!

Superior, inferior, like top and bottom part of the shell... not anterior, posterior.