General Care Discussion :: new to forum with shell question

[DisturbedMaggot]

so i have a red eared slider. ive had him for about...8-10 years. we found him by a very busy road near no sources of swamp/pond/anything else wet. until yesterday, hes only ever had a regular household florescent 2 foot light bulb for light. now he has a 75w swamp glo heating light. hes never really been able to fully get out of the water because he was too big for the platforms i was able to find, and he made them sink. i recently figured out a setup for him to be able ot get all the way out, but hes dumb so he doesnt quite realize its there yet, but he was on it yesterday so i know he can get on it. anyways, i noticed that centers of the scales on his shell are looking white, and i can see more detail in the top of his head - spots/lines/etc.

hes always had little rocks in his tank, which after searching for help on the shell found this site and im taking his rocks out, even tho i got him bigger ones because of a whole different mess. i need more money for a uvb/a light from the petstore (not petsmart).

hes got a 55ish gallon tank, with filters that have always kept his water decently clean when i wasnt too lazy to switch it out.

i feed him reptomin pellets and occasionaly feeder fish. hes a little bit smaller than the size of a standard dvd case. hes hyper active, and dumb.

his shell isnt soft at all anywhere, and other than this new coloring, doesnt appear to have anything wrong with it


ill link some pics of his shell, and any advice would be appreciated. ill also put up the tank

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m228 ... 202416.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m228 ... 202118.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m228 ... 183046.jpg

http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m228 ... 231928.jpg

i think it might just be a new view with a better light, that got me to notice it, but i wanna make sure.

hes also been by himself the whole time ive had him, sorry im dragging this on, its just a love my george and i dont want anything to happen to him

[steve]

It looks like he's melanistic... a change in skin and shell color, the stripes become spots. My male RES's stripes became spots, his skin became greyish and some areas of his shell became darker. I don't think I've seen that exact pattern turn up, but that's what it seems like.

[DisturbedMaggot]

same with the shell color? cuz for as long as i can remember, hes been really really dark, but the light areas on the shell are whats worrying me, but the change that you had occur is comforting

[steve]

Well, my RES became a bit darker, but here are some with yellow:

[DisturbedMaggot]

so in you unofficial professional opinion, it seems to just be his coloring that i just noticed differently under proper lighting?

[steve]

The change due to melanism can be fairly quick, it took only a couple weeks for my turtle to have a very different look. It might just be a coincidence when you changed the light that you started to notice these changes.

[Doomed]

What are the causes of these 'Melanistic changes'?
Are they caused by unhealthy growth or lack of sunlight/basking lights?
Is it fatal for the turtle itself?
Is it preventable or have a cure?

I've seen some RESs in a fish farm who had these 'mutations',and i was dumbfounded at the sight of it and got me wondering.
Most of the turtles i've seen with this mutations in the fish farm are mostly on adult RESs.
Their skin around their necks,heads and legs,are grey and filled with many dark spots.
It even takes over the red portion of their heads.

[steve]

I'm not sure if there is a specific cause, but some believe it to be hormonal. So I don't think it's preventable or reversible... and it's perfectly normal to see them in the wild. But your last two sentences are what I'm seeing here.

[marisa]

Personally, I would attribute the way his shell looks as much to the lack of proper set-up (lighting, inability to bask, etc.) as his turning "melanistic."

Some changes are inevitable as they age, but I think your RES's is more extreme, made so by the set-up you described. You didn't say if you found him as an adult, but my RES is going into his 9th year, and I have noticed some different patterning on his head, but that's been it---his red ears remain vivid and I see no changes on his limbs or tail.

When was the last time your RES shed any scutes?

I find it hard to believe he's a "dumb" as you seem to think he is...

[DisturbedMaggot]

We found him when he was pretty small

The last time I noticed him shedding was probably about a month or 2 ago

And I just say he's dumb cuz of how he acts, its funny

And as far as his living area goes, I'm working on getting better lights, I just bought an 80 gallon tank, which ikm working on cleaning now, and then I'm gunna build him a better area to get out out of wodd and stuff

[Doomed]

[quote="steve"]I'm not sure if there is a specific cause, but some believe it to be hormonal. So I don't think it's preventable or reversible... and it's perfectly normal to see them in the wild. But your last two sentences are what I'm seeing here.[/quote]

Hey steve,i've been to the library and i read on this like 'encyclopedia of turtles' that when male turtles [RES] get older or old age,their skin tend to become melanistic,like turning darker or black,and to an extent that researchers once believed it was a turtle from a different species.
Thats wicked!

[marisa]

It is largely thought to be due to the change in hormones as the turtle ages, and males are affected more by it than females.