General Care Discussion :: RES shedding & shell growth

[Dennis747]

Ive owned a RES for about 2 months now, turned the light in the aquarium on as soon as the sun came up, fed the turtle seperately from the fish about 2 times a day, then fed the fish with fish food that the turtle also ate, although he spends most of his time in the water, there is a basking platform provided. Recently ive noticed the turtle shedding skin on its legs, tail, and head, and later noticed that the "seams" on the belly were slightly popping out. Is the shedding and shell normal or am i doing something wrong?

thanks,
-Dennis

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Nope everything sounds normal to me. Shedding of the skin is normal. Sounds like he might be shedding his scutes on his belly but not sure. A pic might help better with what you mean.

[Dennis747]

Glad to hear that the shedding is normal, and im sure that the shell is just part of his growth
-thanks

[SINI5T3R]

yeah its all normal. SMall turtles grow pretty quick depending on sex. The Females get big FAST. some Males stay the size of a 50 cent piece for like 3 years its crazy...I have a turtle that is a year old today and he is the same size as when I got him just about...

[Dennis747]

i hope he stays small, he has a 30 gal tank, hope i dont have to change the tank for another couple of years

[natealie]

My turtles have all grown quite a bit over the first year of me having them. I got 2 Mississippi Map turtles that were 2 years old when I got them but were BARELY getting any food. The one had growth problems because of that and he doesn't shed much and he stayed about the same size as when I got him. The other one has shot up in size, she probably grew 3 inches the first year I had her.

You REALLLLLLY just got to be careful with what you're feeding them, because it WILL effect their growth and shedding. However, constant shedding on the skin is absolutely fine! Not something I'd worry about, though it can make your water look gross when you go to clean it!

But basically...don't count on them staying small

[bushman]

In the past few days, my turtle has gotten air pockets under some of his scutes on the dorsal side of his shell. They are a golden colour, just like the main site suggests when they are about to be shed. I'm assuming this is just normal scute shedding, but how long does it usually take? He does spend a fair amount of time out of the water.

[steve]

The time could vary, but once the entire scute has the golden color, it shouldn't take much longer.

[R.E.S]

I got two looking like santa clause with a beard LOL mostly shedding around their necks