General Care Discussion :: shell condition?

[str1p]

hello, i was able to catch my turtle basking for the first time the other day( ive only had him a little over a month) and i noticed that when his shell was dry it looked a little funny. i adopted him from a lady that couldn't care for him anymore, and i dont think he had proper uvb light. here are some pictures, there not the best cause they were taken on my phone



and

[scottpkura]

just looks like shell shedding.

[SpotsMama]

Looks like he's never shed before in his life. The little bitty scutes on the top look like his baby scutes.

What does his plastron look like?

He should be shedding scutes periodically. The scutes are the sections of shell and what should shed is the very thin top layer. The reason your turtle's shell has a layer cake look is that the scutes have just been piling up as they get bigger and bigger instead of falling off.

It also looks like they may be loosening - which is a good thing. Just a warning - when they do start to shed my guess is they will shed in thick layers rather than thin ones because they are piled up so deep. Don't give in to temptation to pull them off. If a scute is pulled off prematurely, it can damage the healthy shell underneath.

There doesn't appear to be a lot of fungus or other infection. That's good. What often happens is that water gets under scutes as they loosen and get ready to shed and then, if the scute doesn't come on off, bacteria and fungus start to grow where it's wet and can't get dry.

To facilitate the shedding:
1. Keep water very clean
2. Turtle must bask under good quality UVB bulb
3. Turtle must dry out completely when he basks - top and bottom - and must bask frequently
4. Good balanced diet
5. Cuttlebone in the tank at all times for calcium
6. Periodic servings of vitamin e containing foods (once or twice a week): steamed sweet potato, blueberries, turnip greens, tomato, apple peel are good.

Good luck! (Really cute turtle by the way - what's his name?)

[str1p]

thank you for all the information! his name is filburt by the way lol

my fluval 405 keeps my water almost crystal clear and he has a reptiglow 5.0 uvb bulb above his basking spot, hes starting to bask in front of me more often now! hes so cute lol but i will start to introduce some vitamin e foods like you suggested, and dont worry, i have no intention of yanking any of his schutes off, poor little guy

heres another pic for ya spots

[theartbook35]

Definitely shedding the baby scutes.

Aside from a little bit of pyramiding, which is by no means your fault, your turtle seems to be in good hands now. And, it looks in surprisingly good shape, too. Good luck with your new baby

[mikee]

st-p I would stick to the rules of the road with you temps and uvb lighting. I would suggest the you feed evey other day and add a lot of calcium to his diet. He need to shed some of the scutes that are hanging on the carapace.

[str1p]

the water temp is 74 and his basking temp is 89, are those ok? also what is a good way to give him more calcium

[Kemul]

Str1p,

The temperatures looks alright.

The best way to give calcium is by giving your turtle cuttlebone. It can usually be
found in the bird section of a pet store. The turtle will eat it when it feels like it.
I just let some float in the tank daily, like several people do here.

[mikee]

Strp -- Those temps are ok, but since your turtle is having issues I would suggest upping the water temp to 78 and the baskinb temp to 91. Every little bit helps.

[marisa]

Nice blue eyes. Since he's not a hatchling and if he's basking, I think the temps are fine where they are. If/when it's warm enough it would be good to get him out in the sun for those UVB rays.

He really does need to shed those layers of scutes. If you gently press on any of them after he's been in the water a while, do you notice any water seeping out from any (especially the ones in the second pick)? If you do, the layer where the water comes out is the point where the scute will shed from.

[str1p]

im gonna get some cuttlebone tomorrow, i would love to take him out to get some sun, but i do believe that its gonna rain all weekend, but as soon as weather premits ill try to get him some real sunlight.

[mike hill]

I see where mikee is going with the temps and that little bit would not hurt and will help some. The little extra heat and calcium will help

[str1p]

i put some cuttlebone in his tank today and he seems to like it, i caught him nibbling on it a couple of times lol i raised to temps a couple of degrees as well. i guess that because this is his first shed, this is going to be a very long process, so any advice on how to make him more comfortable/help him would be very helpful.