General Care Discussion

Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 9:29 pm **Turtle Itchy?**

Goodday

My one RES lately has been finding anything and everything to scratch his/her shell against. Roughtly 2.5" shell length, and yeah, he/she will be scraping/scratching the top of the shell against anything hard. Could he/she be trying to shed?

Any help is greatly appreciated,
Matt.steve

Posted: Wed May 11, 2011 5:15 am **Re: Turtle Itchy?**

That's what some people believe is happening.

Posted: Wed May 11, 2011 4:17 pm **Re: Turtle Itchy?**

Mine do that as well. A couple of times they rearranged the filter intake!

Posted: Wed May 11, 2011 7:32 pm **Re: Turtle Itchy?**

Thanks, Glad to know its nothing serious!
-Matt.steve

Posted: Wed May 11, 2011 8:03 pm **Re: Turtle Itchy?**

My RES, who is the very same size as yours was doing the same thing a few weeks ago. His shell was shedding and all of the old scutes since peeled off. I have not seen him rubbing on anything in awhile so I believe his shell must get itchy while shedding.

My vet also suggested that I assist with peeling the scutes off as long as they peel easily. He said that sometimes debris can get stuck under retained scutes and cause a problem. I was a little apprehensive about doing it the first time but with a little common sense and a pair of tweezers I did just fine.

Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 4:21 am **Re: Turtle Itchy?**

I dunno, from what I hear here you should just let nature take its course when it comes to shedding.

Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 2:06 pm **Re: Turtle Itchy?**

Don't peel the scutes off. With regular basking and good water quality they should come off on their own.

Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 10:14 pm **Re: Turtle Itchy?**

I agree that the advice I was given from our vet sounded odd but I figured that he knew more than I did. I would never consider trying to force them off but when I did help peel them, they came off easily and caused the turtle no harm. Hopefully, the next time he sheds they come off a bit quicker as this last time it was several weeks with little progress. Again, I do agree that peeling the scutes sounds strange.

Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 3:57 am **Re: Turtle Itchy?**

Yeah, sometimes Vets are just good for diagnosing an illness and curing it. They don't always know how to take care of turtles.

Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 10:13 pm **Re: Turtle Itchy?**

Well, I wasnt gonna help him, figured they could do it themselves. Seems like its all fixed, hasnt been scratching for a bit now

-Matt.steve

General Care Discussion :: Turtle Itchy?

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