General Care Discussion :: Shedding and shell question

[Starchick]

Hercules has been in the process of shedding for a few months. His back seems to be shedding really well, the scutes are coming off easily on their own. The fresh scutes underneath are a much lighter color, which you'll see in the pictures. However the marginal scutes and his plastron seem to have many layers built up, like he hasn't shed them in a long time. When he's dry his belly is peeling all over the place, 3 and 4 layers in some places, but they're not coming off on their own. I don't think the marginal scutes are ready to shed yet but they're starting to lift at the edges and I'm seeing the same thing, many layers lifting together. So I'm wondering if anyone knows what's up with that and if there's anything I should be doing about it. This is the first time he's shed since he's been with me (ie with proper heat and light and swimming room)

I'm mainly concerned though, that some of the marginal scutes have white stuff along the edges. It wasn't there before he started shedding, so it's fairly recent. He had some odd spots before he shed that worried me (which came off when he shed, and were different from this) so since then I've been washing his shell with hibiclense or betadine once a week as a preventative measure. I'm hoping it'll all come off when he sheds those scutes, but I'd like to know what I'm dealing with. I'm hoping it's just mineral deposits or something harmless. Anyway, here are the pics, see what you think. (Sorry it's hard to see, it didn't show up so well in the pictures, also, the whitish spots across his back are just air bubbles, so don't worry about those!)

[steve]

The marginals are usually the hardest ones to shed. Both my RES had retained scutes so it was even more difficult for them to come off. Since Hercules' shell looks real good and smooth, you just need to wait. I had to give my RES a little help, and as you can see in your pic, it's really that translucent edge that makes it tough to shed. If there is space beneath the entire marginal and it's being stubborn, you can gently tug it up and down to see how loose it is. If its not budging, then I would leave it for a few days, then try again. Just another thing, since you have males and you will need to hold them for this, be extra careful of some fanning due to a bit of distress.

*edit* I'll PM you for a more specific idea of what I did.

[steve]

I completely skipped over the "white stuff" part of the question. I wouldn't worry about that until you see what it's like after it shed.

The fungal/yeast infection I had to deal with started at one specific area then spread outwards. If all of the retained scutes have it, I would think that it is some trapped mineral deposit under the scute.

[Bumby's Mom]

I was just going to post the same thing about my adult Painted. She is in the process of shedding as well and I was worried about her plastron. Is it safe to use hibiclense when they are shedding (I don't know if some can get stuck under the scutes and then contaminate the water)? If so, what is the proper dilution of it?

[lotsofpets]

I was told to use a 50/50 Hibiclense/water solution. Let the turtle soak for about 20 minutes, and then rinse well before you place her back into her tank. I don't know about for just shedding, though. My turtle had some minor shell rot issues.

[SpotsMama]

Hibiclense is a disinfectant. I don't see why it would make any difference to normal shedding but of course if there is some infection present it wouldn't hurt. What helped Spot to shed was lots of basking and dry docking so his shell dried out regularly and good UVB. I've also read that if a turtle is having difficulty shedding it may be due to a need for more vitamine e.

[Tenodera]

Wow...Do painted turtles normally have scutes like that? like the lines are all bumpy and the scutes are all jumbled.

[Starchick]

Hercules is special He has a bunch of extra scutes down his back, and they're much more irregular shaped than Napoleon's.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Hercules looks great, even with only 1/2 of the scutes shed!

The white on the scutes looks like normal mineral deposits to me. As long as the shell isn't pitting or soft in those white areas, then the white should just fall right off with the scute when he sheds.

The scutes on the belly are the hardest to shed. Sheba only sheds those once every 4 yrs or so (!). One thing I am told is that shedding is easier when the turtle has a good Vitamin E source. Fresh blueberries are a great source of vitamin E so I keep those handy as treats for her (plus, I like to eat them too, LOL).

[Bumby's Mom]

I wasn't going to use it for her shedding, she has a lot of damage on her shell that I thought I had cleared up about a month ago but it isn't looking so good anymore. She is shedding though and I was concerned about using it when they are shedding since I don't know if it is a good idea or not. Maybe I should post some pictures of her shell so everyone can give me some adivce? She has already been to a vet and was given antibiotics in case she had an infection and they told me to put Tricide on her wounds and let it sit for about 30 minutes but I was also putting on aintibiotic ointment and letting that sit for about 15 minutes before returning her to the water. It cleared up and was looking good for awhile, I guess I just didn't use it long enough?

[marisa]

The white along the seam (not on the marginal scutes) looks like a very thin layer of scute that hasn't come off yet. The wide translucent area on the marginal scutes shows that they've been pushed out quite a bit by the new ones. They should shed at some point.

I've found that painteds' shells are more prone to developing problems compared to the shells of RES.