General Care Discussion :: Any suggestions for a name for my turtle??

[grey goose]

What kind of filter are you using? The shell and skin problems look to me like they are water quality related. Also the gravel should be removed.

[Buddy777]

a tetra brand filter but i change his water twice a week. Can i use bigger gravel or something on the bottom so that he can get to the rock, also do i have enough lights, i keep reading about a uvb bulb i dont even know what it is. I want to make his little home as best as i can make it, you dont realize how much you can get attached to them in such a short time. Oh last night i was rubbing his shell checking out the white spots and they flake off, almost like the varish peeling off of wood, is that shedding or something wrong??

[marisa]

He should be able to get on the basking area without having to climb gravel...Get rid of the gravel, please. If you use bigger rocks, they're just going to take up more space. If you pile them up, they're likely to shift and move as your turtle tries to climb up them.

How big is your turtle and how big is her tank? If you have to change the water twice a week even if you have a filter, it sounds like either the tank is too small for your turtle and the filter can't keep up with the waste being produced or the filter is too small for the tank.

She needs a bigger and better basking area, one with an angled edge or ramp so she can get on it easily. A number of people use turtle docks or acrylic basking areas. If you look in the Photo Gallery, you'll see what they look like.

Where the scute is flaking off (the white spots)---are the areas soft at all if you gently press on them? Is there any smell to the areas? If not, does the shell underneath the flaking areas look healthy?

I can't see the sores on the top of her head, but the one on her chin looks almost like a blood blister to me. They look the same on the top of the head? I'd clean them with some Betadine and put some Neosporin on them (keep your turtle out of the water a bit (30 min. or so) to let some of it be absorbed.

Your turtle needs a light for a heat source (can be a regular lightbulb) to keep the basking area at 88-90F. Your turtle also needs a UVB light, which is flourescent and which provides UVB rays which your turtle converts to Vit D3 to help her absorb the calcium in the diet, which makes for a hard and healthy shell. I see two light fixtures. I'm assuming the dome has some kind of heat light in it. The long tube fixture has a flourescent light in it? If so, unless the bulb specifically says it gives off UVB rays, you need to buy your turtle a UVB light, one that emits 5% UVB would be good.

[kimberly183]

What about Queequeg (from Moby [----])? I always thought that would be an awesome turtle name. Think of some old literary characters - Oliver, Dodger, Archimedes.

Also (and I pass this along as a word of caution because I got busted for it, too!), small gravel is not good for turtles. They can and most likely will eat it and it can get impacted in their system - causing all sorts of trouble - even death. Lowe's has pond rocks for $3 a bag - you just have to wash them first.

Hope you figure this illness out! His shell looks a little rough, too.

[Buddy777]

Thanks thats a good idea about the rocks. I will check it out Also about her shell, I just recently found out from the owner that he found the turtle walking around his neighbor, and decided to take it in. I dont know what kind of enviroment he had her in, and only had her for two months. So I think it is adapting to the new enviroment and severly shedding, when it basks you can see the shell and the scales on her limbs look flaky. Has anyone tried that shell conditioner-polish on there RES? and if so when do you use it, can you use it while they are shedding?? Oh by the way i named her Delila, but my two year old calls her gobble gobble (like a turkey)

[SpotsMama]

That shell polisher - there's a brand call "Vita Shell" - is actually bad for the turtle's shell. It may make it look pretty and shiny when you first put it on, but shells have pores and need to breath just like skin and the wax or oil just clogs up the pores. Over the long term it can do a lot of damage to a shell. When a shell is healthy it will look beautiful on it's own without shell "conditioner".

What you can do is very gently wash the shell in some clean water and rub it - gently! - with a soft toothbrush. If there's loose stuff on the shell or dirt it will come off. There are nerves in a turtle's shell - especially in the lines between the scutes - so you have to be careful not to hurt them.