General Care Discussion :: How does my shell look?

[mat012]

With all of the talk of overfeeding I thought I would ask you all to give my guy a look over. Does he seem to be growing too fast? Any problems you might see that I am missing? We have had him or about 2 months now. He was found on a parking lot at church. Yes I made the mistake of bringing him home before I read anything about turtles (subtext - I had no clue how much $$ or time the little ones need and gave into the kids ). But he's part of the family now.

I think he is about six months old. He measures at 2-2 1/4 inches. Eats well and is active. He does not bask too much. But he has been moved around a good bit in the last few weeks. I hope that will come. Thanks so much. We're really happy tutrle owners!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3059/261 ... 1299_b.jpg

[TheComputerGremlin]

His shell looks good from that angle, but to see pyramiding (and overfeeding) you would probably want a shot more from the side. If he's only 2 or 2.25 inches, I'm sure you aren't overfeeding, that's still slower growth.

[Take-One]

Hey, thats your turtles shell not yours! (Look at topic)

It looks perfectly fine to me

[marisa]

He's got a nice-looking carapace. I do see some translucent edges to the marginal scutes, which indicates he's growing.

[mat012]

Super! thanks guys. I will try to get pic from the side. He has grown "taller" as well as wider. He is not a flat as her used to be. In fact the center line of his shell peaks a bit. perhaps this is normal but I will post soon to be sure. Thanks again - as always everyone is very helpful.

[Azfar]

Your turtle is cute and his shell looks fine...

[steve]

Looks good so far. Since you still have a little squirt, you might want to make a measurement/growth chart

[mat012]

Steve,

Great idea! That would not only be good for Tuck but would also be a good project for the kids. Since he was found we dont know exactly how old he is but he was only about 1 to 1 1/2 inches when he came home. So I assume he was a rather new hatchling

Melissa

[steve]

I plan to make my own chart someday (sigh) but here's one you can download now (from Turtle Rescue of Long Island):
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/4AVoSLhU-5 ... schart.pdf

[mat012]

Hey Steve - the link doesnt pull it up.

[steve]

Sorry about that. It simply lists the:

Name
Description
Size
Weight
Date

[RonnWilliams]

This is an interesting thread. I may start charting my little Timmy's growth. I'm in a similar boat as mat012. I found my turtle a few weeks ago around 1-1.5 inches long with natural pyramiding. Any idea of how to decrease this?

[zoologist]

i have a "chart" drawn on my bathroom wall in pencil (don't tell my parents) it consists of a foot done in inches drawn on the wall and a drawing of my turtle's outline to see if she is growing. i just stick her up against the wall and mark her height!

[Nettle]

It's surprising that a 1.5 inch turtle already has pyramiding. He's a hatchling.

Pyramiding is permanent, but can decrease and become less noticeable as they grow bigger. The only thing you can do is to correct their diet and offer good basking and cuttlebone.

One user from Paris made the coolest chart of her turtle's growth by months and it was really interesting to see how they changed. Can't remember who it was, though.