General Care Discussion :: Skin Shedding?

[xstefanx]

Donnie seems to be getting use to me a bit, he doesn't run and hide hardly anymore when I come to see him. I just sat down in front of the tank and he was sitting at the front wall staring at me and I noticed that there is something brown hanging off his right shoulder/neck area, it looks to be attached in some way. As he was swimming away this also looks to be around his tails as well. I highly doubt I can get a picture of this for you but I'll give it a try. He's so small that its hard to get my camera to focus on him let alone the small stuff on him.

[BullDog]

Shedding skin is usually whitish/translucent, not brown. If you can get a pic, that would best.

Can you see the brown piece when he's out of the water?

[xstefanx]

He's still rather terrified of me while he's out on his dock, so I can't get close enough to tell. He actually just started basking yesterday or today. Today he's been out quite a bit but any big movement in the room and he's back in the water like that.

I'll grab my camera and start snapping pictures

[xstefanx]

Here's what I could get









Looking at it again while I was taking pictures it really does look like skin, translucent brownish color though. I was going to pick up some cuddle bone today while we were at petco since he wasn't eating anything else I thought I'd give that a try, put it back down though, that help him shed skin as well as his shell?

[theartbook35]

Looks a lot like a cumberland slider...

Anyways, It does look like skin. But I don't know how healthy it is if it is brown. I've never seen this before. Is the skin slimy to the touch, or have a foul smell?

[xstefanx]

Sorry, Keep forgetting to mention that he's a rio grande. I haven't really had much contact with his skin honestly, he's only been here for 3 days now. I'll catch him in a bit to see if it smells badly, and see if he's slimy.

[gwennie]

It probably is just skin shedding. Sometimes new water conditions can cause them to shed their skin, it may be what happened with yours, or it could be just time for him to shed it. I wouldn't worry too much about it unless it sloughs off heavily.

I would think that when you take him out of the water, any shedding skin would be obviously slimy to touch XD It'll still be wet.

The cuttle bone won't help him with his skin, but it will help promote a healthy shell so I always have one in my tank. Sometimes my turtle even surfs on it lol ^^

[xstefanx]

I noticed that the cuttle bone FAQ tells you to break it up. Do I actually have to break itinto chunks or can I take the backing off and drop it in?

[marisa]

For smaller turtles, it's usually easier for them to eat if you break it up. The pieces I put in are head-size or smaller.

[xstefanx]

I got some tonight and pulled the backing off and while I was doing that I broke a piece off on accident that was maybe twice the size of his head and its the only thing I've seen him eat off the surface of the water, but he loved the stuff. Is it possible for him to eat too much of it, or will he only eat what he needs to eat?

[marisa]

Mine have pretty much eaten it when they need it, sometimes it's gone quickly, sometimes it sits for days until it sinks.