General Care Discussion :: Shedding continuously for the past 3 months

[worldpeace]

There was a similar post about this a month or so ago, but since I'm starting to worry myself, I want to ask for your opinion once again.

Charlie is now around 2 inches, and since September he's been shedding his skin non stop. I found out that this can be caused by higher than normal temperatures, overfeeding, and poor water quality. I'm only feeding him a head-size amount of pellets, some lettuce every 2-3 days, a grape or blueberry once or twice a month, and he always has a few pieces of cuttlebone in the tank. Temperatures used to be at 76-77 degrees but I lowered them to 75. I'm using an Aquaclear 200 filter that is rated up to 50 gallons ( tank is only 10 gallons ), and I do small water changes every weekend.

I've heart that it's normal for small turtles like my to shed more than adult turtles, but isn't this too much?

[blackforces get you]

that usually happens when the temperature changes. its common

[MoreBloodWine]

Shedding continously for 3 months is far from common but then again anythings possible. One thing to do is make sure your temps arent to high. Someone said somethin a while back that high temps can induce a somewhat constant shedding.

[worldpeace]

That's why I reduced them. Is 75 still too high?

[gwennie]

No, 75 is not too high for a turtle of that size...

I'm thinking it's water quality - how often do you do water changes? Do you use a dechlorinator? Do you let your water sit for a day before you add it to the tank?

[Diamondbacks4Life]

When its just the skin shedding its usually caused by to much vitamin A in there diet. Its really nothing to worry about.

[worldpeace]

I do small water changes every weekend, anywhere from 10% to 25% of the water. I let the water sit over the night when I do bigger water changes, but I think I should start doing that every time.

I've noticed that the shedding is not as bad now as it was a month ago since I lowered the temps. Before he looked like there was a cloud of flapping skin around him and it wasn't to pleasant to the eye.

Thanks for the reassurance.