General Care Discussion :: I need advice on what to do.

[Rosepruner]

what about beet greens?

[marisa]

Jociellen, can you take a q-tip and clean some those scutes with algae on them? Also, in the last pic, it looks like the marginal scutes are turning upward a bit, which can indicate being overfed, usually with a diet that has too much protein in it.

Bobbysmom, think the Vit E is better taken internally via food rather than being applied to the shell.

[CaptainFiggi]

you do need vitamin E. but pyramiding is also a sign of lack of UV rays. Is ur turt basking? if he isnt u should rais the basking heat a degree or two.

Oh, and u should lightly scrub ur turts shell with a toothbrush and water once a week for the algea and it can ease the scutes to shedding. you should not completely peel them.

If his shell doesnt look any better in a few months, u should consider seeing a vet. As I always say, a vet visit doesnt hurt anything but ur wallet.

[TurtleLover_S&B]

They don't look like they're pyramiding too bad,but you want to start feeding them cuttlebone and veggies right away.If you don't,the pyramiding will continue.

[SpotsMama]

I don't know about vitamin e oil on the shell. In general, we need to avoid putting oil on shells because it clogs them up. Shells need to "breath" and the oil will prevent this and, over time, cause shell damage. So if it were me, I wouldn't but instead give the vitamin e orally, preferably in good food.

[Bobbysmom]

SpotsMama - so the shell is kinda like a really hard skin with pores.

[SpotsMama]

Bobbysmom, yes, though it's ok for us to put oil on our skin. The difference is that our skin evolved to produces oil as a lubricant whereas turtle shells didn't. Some years ago, turtle salespeople would paint pictures of palm trees and ocean islands on their turtles' backs. Looked cute and sold a lot of turtles, and of course over time the turtles died. Turtle shell is bone with a thin, hard epidermis of keratin, a protein.

[marisa]

The scutes that make up the shell are basically made out of the same material as fingernails (keratin).