General Care Discussion :: Another "not shedding scutes" question

[TurtleKeeper48]

So, I have two turts and my son has one. Mine are supposed to be 6 years old. They were in very bad conditions before, but we have kept them in correct conditions sinse last June. We feed romain lettuce, pellets in moderation, cuttle bone and blue berries. No sign of even starting to shed scutes. The bigger looks like it has signs of retaining scutes, but I'm not sure.

My sons turtle came healthy and young from a pet store and has not been kept inproperly, ever. She's had a good life. She mostly shed a few months ago - but 4 scutes on her back did not. I wouldn't be concerned - except for this: She had developed alot of alge on her shell. We upgraded her tank and got it away from sun light and gave her a better shaded area in the water... and then she started shedding, so we didn't worry about scrubbing her shell or anything. Well, like I said, she was shedding pretty good but seemed to have just stopped. She has just these 4 old scutes left and they are dark green. She's a pastel slider and the new scutes are staying clean and beautiful. The 4 old ugly dark green algea scutes do have bubbles and lifting edges a little bit, they just aren't dropping off...

Water and basking temps are correct for all three. UVB bulbs are in use and they all bask and behave normally in every way.

Should I be concerned about the two that haven't shed at all? What else could I do? What about the one that seems to have "stopped" shedding. Is she at risk of not shedding just those four scutes? I REALLY hope not, because the are ugly (and retaining scutes is not healthy).

We've been taking a wait and see approach for weeks if not months. Nothing seems to be changing.

[worldpeace]

From your post it seems that your setup is perfect. The only thing that comes to mind is how old are you uvb bulbs? It's recommended that they are changed every 6 months because they won't emit the proper amount of rays after that.

My uncle's turtles (around 10 years old both) don't get any uvb light and their diet has always consisted of pellets and raw meat. They get fed about once a week so they're not overweight. They are a few of the healthiest looking turtles I've seen. They shed regularly and their shell is absolutely smooth. What I want to tell you by this is that every turtle is different, and feeding her a proper diet and having the proper lighting doesn't necessarily make them shed faster.

My advice would be too keep up whatever you've been doing so far and continue to wait. They surely seem to be taking their time.

[SINI5T3R]

I was told by a Vet AND someone that worked in a pet shop that RES dont need the UVB Bulbs at ALL. they said the most important thing they need is WARM water and that will do all they need.

[planet.caravan]

Because I allowed my turtle to reain her old scutes for so long she developed shell rot - not on the top old scutes but under them on the new ones

To try to prevent that from happening to your turtles I suggest a shell massage with a toothbrush - doing it regularly helped induce shedding for my turtle. Its worth a try

Aside from that keep the uvb levels up, keep feeding them blueberries and also add sweet potato to their diet

[jwinters]

Because I allowed my turtle to reain her old scutes for so long she developed shell rot - not on the top old scutes but under them on the new ones

To try to prevent that from happening to your turtles I suggest a shell massage with a toothbrush - doing it regularly helped induce shedding for my turtle. Its worth a try

Aside from that keep the uvb levels up, keep feeding them blueberries and also add sweet potato to their diet

I agree with this. I clean my RES's shell with a wet toothbrush every time I clean his tank or it looks like he needs it. Just until it doesn't feel unpleasantly slimy any more. It not only gets the algae off, but sometimes scutes that are ready to come off fall off with the cleaning.

[Lilsaint]

I was told by a Vet AND someone that worked in a pet shop that RES dont need the UVB Bulbs at ALL. they said the most important thing they need is WARM water and that will do all they need.

Im not a vet nor do i work at a pet store. But warm water is not all.

[worldpeace]

I was told by a Vet AND someone that worked in a pet shop that RES dont need the UVB Bulbs at ALL. they said the most important thing they need is WARM water and that will do all they need.

They also need a dry place to come up on. But I agree with you. UVB is not a definite life-or-death thing.

planet.caravan- Retained scutes are not normally associated with shell rot. If the turtle dries of (under a heat lamp) regularly then there will be no shell rot. If she spends almost all her time under water and when she comes out doesn't dry completely...then that's the scenario for shell rot.

[planet.caravan]

She is a big, regular basker the reason she developed it (my conclusion) is because the retained scutes had formed pockets in which the water got in and got trapped so it just sat there alllowing them to rot.