General Care Discussion :: NOT SHEDDING

[queenjane]

Tank is a year old male and he has not shed his scutes in over 9 months. His skin peels as normal and he is growing at a normal rate, but not a single scute has turned golden and fallen off in over 9 months. He seems to be "itchy" and often rubs his shell against dull edges. His shell is covered in white flakes that look like fingernail dust, more or less.

His diet, habitat, temperatures, et cetera are normal. I can't get him to eat apple peel or blueberries which are supposed to be shedding aids.

[marisa]

What kind of UVB light does he bask under and how old is it?

[queenjane]

Mercury Vapor Bulb. Brand new. Seriously, EVERYTHING is up to par as far as his environment and diet. There is no reason he shouldn't be shedding.

His health and behavior are all perfect... aside from the fact that he is not shedding.

[marisa]

How much has he grown? Does it look like scutes are being retained? If not, then I wouldn't be too worried about his not shedding. From what you wrote, he shed when he was 3 months old?

[queenjane]

He used to shed like crazy, up until his first birthday, and he has not shed since. Scutes do appear to be retained, but I have no idea why this would happen, considering everything in his hab and diet are perfect. I have some video posted online (there's a link to YouTube in my signature), so perhaps you could look at that and tell me if you think he's got any shell malformations.

[queenjane]

Anyone have any advice??????

[gwennie]

I have a turtle about the same age, actually a few months younger and he hasn't shed yet.

Everything in his set up is correct, he's a good basker, good diet, loves veggies, etc.

I've been feeding him blueberries now and then lately in hopes that it would encourage him to shed.

He's definitely going to soon now, has a couple of loose scute edges popping up.

There's not much you can do other than to make sure everything in the set up is as good as it can be - you might want to add some foods that are high in vitamin e and antioxidants to his diet, like blueberries.

Everything I've read on other sites suggests that RES shouldn't eat fruit often because of the sugar content, so I don't really feed them that often. Maybe once a week if that.

[jenyip33]

Is the turtle pyramiding? It looks like that to me