General Care Discussion :: Scutes not shedding right

[erwynn]

Copernicus has been shedding his scutes again, but the problem is that they never come off. You can see all the "golden lines" beneath his scutes where all the air is, but I've always had to assist him in getting them off. Is this normal that he never sheds them himself? He has a basking area and UVB and all that. He's trying to get them off, but is never successful. He's shedding from both his carapace and his plastron. He's also been really restless and trying to escape and I'm wondering if the two are related. I'm thinking about getting him some bubblestones for enrichment. Any advice/thoughts?

[marisa]

How much do you have to "help" him---are the scutes just about ready to come off, or are you actually peeling them off? If it's the latter, I'd leave them alone. My RES sometimes has had a few golden spots under his some of his scutes, but shedding hasn't always followed that quickly after.

How frequently does he shed? I would think a 13-year old slider wouldn't be shedding as often as you seem to be implying, since he'd be growing very slowly, if at all.

What is his diet like? A lack of Vit E in the diet has been implicated in a turtle's retaining scutes.

Have you noticed him rubbing his shell against any objects in the tank? They will sometimes do this to help remove loose scutes.

[erwynn]

I have to generally peel them off, but they're just about to come off. He always has peeling scutes going on. I figured at his age he shouldn't be shedding so much as he hasn't really grown in over 5 years. So I don't know why his shell is like that. I just bought some vitashell to rub on his shell to help it as it always looks horridly dry. He gets reptomin pellets, generally 8 a day. I need to start supplementing him with some cuttlebones and veggies. He tries rubbing his shell throughout the day, but it doesn't do anything.

[SpotsMama]

You can skip the vitashell. It makes the shell look pretty and shiny but it does damage over the long run. Shells need to be able to breath and the oil in vitashell stops up the pores so it can't.

On his diet, reptomin pellets are good quality pellets. Like it said above, a shortage of vitamin E in the diet has been implicated in retained scutes. You might offer him foods rich in vitamin E and see if it helps. Blueberries are good sources as are turnip greens and dandilion leaves. You need to stay away from spinach and broccoli though because even though they contain vitamin E they also interfere with a turtle's absorption of calcium.

Can you post of picture of your turtle's shell when it is dry?

[erwynn]

I don't have a camera anymore so I can't take pics. But I will try supplementing his diet with some vitamin E foods and whatnot and see if that helps. Thanks.