General Care Discussion :: How does my turtle look?

[r0w4n9]

I was hoping you guys could take a look at my turtle Tuck and let me know if he looks healthy. I am concerned about a few of his scutes being concave. Is this normal? Am I doing something wrong? Also, he doesn't have red ears, but he has all of the other characteristics of a red eared slider. Is it possible for a red eared slider to NOT have red ears?

Here are the pics (if I don't mess this up):


I was hoping having him near the sun would help you see the scutes I am talking about. He doesn't normally hang out on the windowsill. hehe
TIA!

[SpotsMama]

What an adorable little turtle! He reminds me a lot of another turtle named Serra. Here's some photos:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... ight=serra

Your turtle doesn't have red ears because he's not a red earred slider. He's a closely related type of turtle called a cooter. When he's full grown he (or she) may be larger than a RES. His care will be the same as a RES's.

In the photos I can't see the concave scutes. Can you point them out?

How long have you had your turtle? Do you know approximately how old he is?

When there are shell abnormalities they are usually a result of dietary imbalances. If you haven't already, why don't you read through this info and make sure that what you are feeding him and how much you are feeding him are within the guidelines.

[r0w4n9]

We got him in the beginning of January from a petstore. I have no idea how old he is. He is an inch and a half long if that helps.

When we bought him, he was labelled as a "med ear slider". After googling a bit, I never found what that was supposed to mean. How can you tell the difference between a RES and a Cooter?

I circled the ones I was talking about in this pic. These were the best pics I could get before my camera batteries died.

[r0w4n9]

I forgot to add that I feed him 6 baby reptomin per day split up into three meals. He also gets blueberries, carrots, lettuce, and tomatoes once a week or so.

[steve]

I can't tell much from that pic, can you post a different one?

[Take-One]

If you look at the last pic you can see it in the back of his shell.

[SpotsMama]

We could see what you're worried about better in a photo is you could get us one in profile, like the photo in the thread above on Serra, the second from the bottom. Your turtle doesn't have to be in the water like Serra (who turned out to be male, by the way, and got his name changed) but the angle of Serra's photo is good.

In Serra's photo, the second from the bottom, you can see that the scutes on the side near the back are completely flat, or even very slightly convex. Serra was a very healthy turtle - no shell deformity there. If your turtle looks like Serra, then he's doing fine.

You can tell if a turtle is a red earred slider because RES always have red ears (except an albino or pastel) and no other turtle (except a RES hybrid) will have red ears. In some RES, the red is lighter or orangey and in others, especially older turtles, the red turns blackish, but in one form or another the red ears are always visible. Several types of turtles look very similar to RES - painted turtles and cooters - but they lack the red ears and the strips on their skin and shells are a little different.

[marisa]

How long have you had him? Have those scutes always been concave (I'm taking your word that they are)? Since it's the same scute but on opposite sides of the shell, I'm wondering if it possibly is how he's growing and when the scutes shed the concaveness won't exist or be less noticeable or if somehow the shell was press in those two places, if, for example, he was trying to squeeze out of a tight place and got pinned...

Just a note---painted turtles, at least EPs, don't look anythink like RES.