General Care Discussion :: Retained Scutes...

[steve]

Well, if your turtle sheds regularly, then the only thing you might need is a good, clean habitat. It seems there are only a few medications that work, SSD cream in particular. However, on my turtle, the fungus appears to have re-emerged and is resistant to the medication. That's why you need to make sure that the tank is perfect and that your turtle can bask regularly to avoid a relapse.

[Cim*Forever]

Thanks for the reply Steve, but my turtle doesn't shed regularly. In fact, I have never seen her( so used to saying him) shed her shell, just her skin. Do you think another vet visit is in order??

[steve]

Well, SSD is only available by prescription. First and foremost, you need to make sure your tank habitat is a good as can be, and that your turtle gets a good amount of basking. Getting her to shed regularly is what I would focus on. Is it still spreading? Getting thicker?

[Cim*Forever]

It moves very gradually, but at first it was only in a few spots and was only shiney and shimmery, and now its thick and white.

As for his setup, I posted pictures above, but I think I've got it as good as I know how. Its 45 gallons, the water is always crystal clear, her basking set up is one of those large zoomed docks, a uvb bulb, a direct heat bulb and a bulb that spreads heat out (so that she can pick her temperature). She doesn't bask as often as my boyfriends turtle, so I wonder if she doesn't bask enough? Fixing this would be fiddling with the basking area, perhaps she doesn't like her uvb bulb? I heard some turtles are picky about that.

I really want to fix this, anymore thoughts or which uvb bulbs I should try?

[SpotsMama]

Try raising the temp to entice her to bask more. Some turtles like it warmer - mine isn't really interested unless the temp is in the low 90's.

On the UVB bulb, the Reptisun compact fluorescents - the 10.0 especially but also the 5.0 - are the ones that turtles sometimes have a strong negative reaction to. A bulb that has not caused problems is an Exo Terra Repti Glo 5.0 compact fluorescent. Get the 26 watt version - the 13 watt bulb is too weak to do any good.

Is there any way she can get some natural sun? That's the very best thing for a turtle shell. I see you are in Canada, so I suppose it will be getting cold there soon, making outdoor basking less feasible. Too bad.

If she's not basking enough and is having shell fungus, you may need to treat her as Steve suggested and also dry dock her periodically. Do you have a good place to keep her in for several hours at a time to give her a chance to thoroughly dry out?

Not shedding can be a big part of the problem. Besides getting her to bask and dry out, making sure her UVB light is good and perhaps trying medication, you can also give her foods containing vitamin e, which will help with the shedding. Here are some:

Tomato
Sweet potato
Turnip greens
Blueberries
Apple skin

One more thing - what's the ph of your water?

[marisa]

If you've got a 45 gallon tank, you might want to think about getting a 100-watt flood mercury vapor bulb the next time you change bulbs (T-Rex and Mega-Rays are especially good). They give off quite a bit of heat and usually aren't used in tanks that are less than 50 gallons, but if you've got an open basking area that gets a little air circulation (not a breeze, just that the air isn't trapped) and make sure the temp doesn't get too high, your turtle's shell would most likely respond more to basking under that than a Repti-Glo, especially if you can't take your turtle outside regularly for some sun (the 5-gallon difference isn't that much, depending on the basking area). I use them for one of my eastern painteds, who's in a 40-gallon stock tank.

[Cim*Forever]

Hey guys

Thanks for the replies.

Im not sure of the ph level right now, but I can find out for you soon!

I wanted to take her outside this summer but the temperatures weren't reaching high enough temperatures...having said this, what IS a high enough temperature, I thought it would have to be about 80 + ? I think I will have to start dry docking her if the change in UVB bulb doesn't work out(thank you for a brand suggestion maria). So what kind of conditions are good for dry docking? Is there already a thread somewhere with what a dry docking area should be like?

Thanks guys!

[marisa]

I've taken my turts outside when the temp has been about 70F or above, if there are no breezes. If it is breezy, then more like 75F+ (and I try to shield them a bit).

You can dry dock in a variety of containers. When my RES was injured a few months ago, he was kept in a 10-gallon tank (and was very unhappy at first, but after a while didn't mind being under the light). That said, I would first try the MVB bulb and see if your RES likes it.