General Care Discussion :: Two years later no improvement :(

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

I've had Ranger for almost 2 years now. I got him from the pet store so his shell wasn't too great. Few months later me being a first time turtle owner not knowing much I saw him starting to shed so I was dumb and removed all of them myself left a some what uneven shell for him but never hurt him in the process. And ever since then two years later he hasn't shed nor improved. I feed him zoomed growing formula, reptomin, and wardly food every other day. I havnt given him any vegetables for over a year he's in a 40 breeder clean water and about 3 inches of water evaporates weekly so I consider that a water change and full cleaning every few months. He has a atba with a 10.0 uvb basking bulb and 75watt heat bulb. What am I doing wrong? Or need to do. I hate seeing him like this and lately I've been avoiding it due to hectic weeks. And need to fix this now! also he's 4.5 inches big maybe 5 years old? Maybe less.

[halfshell]

You need to do more of a water change than replacing what has evaporated. Turtles produce a lot of waste, and it's important to give them as clean of water as you can. I'd recommend no less than a 60% weekly water change. If you find it too difficult to do with a normal syphon, I'd suggest getting an eductor system.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... d=11147172

Something like this, which attaches directly to your sink faucet. It makes cleaning very simple, and will make life for your turtle a lot better.

[happycamper]

Have you tested your water? Halfshell is right, you have to actually remove water not depend on the evaporation. I have to take out about 30% of the water per week, even though I have a super awesome filter. Also real sunlight in the summer is a great! Supervised outdoor playtime, more water changes and veggies would be my advice. You can whip up some turtle shots if you don't like having to buy fresh veggies all the time. I added some koi pellets that contain wheat germ to my last batch of turtle shots, it may be all in my head but it seems like it's speeding up the shedding process.

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

Dang 40 bucks for some rubber tubes! Lol how much do the normal siphons cost? And okay how would I know what's 30% 60% etc? Just eye ball it? and mark it off for next time? Also I never tested my water what do I need to test it for? And Im going to do a better diet let me know what you think
Monday- Zoomed Pellets about 7 of them
Tuesday- Lettuce
Wednesday- Reptomin sticks 5-6 of them?
Thursday- Lettuce or carrots
Friday- Wardlely sticks 5-6 of them?
Saturday- Lettuce
Sunday- Luce carrots and maybe a cricket or two.
Is this good? Im unsure on the quantity of the turtle food, also other then romaine lettuce and carrots what else could I add or alternate with?
Also the turtle shots were a huge mess since my turtle loved to destroy them. And Im going to look into those Koi pellets

[halfshell]

50% would be half the volume of water you have in the water, so 60% would be a bit more than that. You can get syphones from the pet store for less than that, and do bucket changes. I find the eductor better for me, because I have a large tank, and it takes a while to do changes if all I'm using is a bucket, and a short hose.

The diet looks fine. Also be sure you're supplying him with some form of calcium in his diet. I've used nutrafin conditioner before, which contains calcium. But recently, I switched to cuttle bone, which you can pick up at any pet store. They sell it for birds, but you can use it for turtles. Or, there's calcium you can sprinkle on their food. But since they feed in water, it'll just wash off.

[SquidSox]

Less processed pellets more veggies. Pellets every 2-3 days and veggies everyday. Limit the romaine lettuce try green and/or red leaf lettuce,kale,mustard greens,dandelion greens.

Try a few fruits like grapes or apples once a week I hear blueberries are good for shell issues and shedding. The carrots are good esp for their eyes.

[SquidSox]

I would only do the meats I.E. Crickets,shrimp,mealworms ECT. Twice a month as a treat.

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

Okay cool thanks. Ill take out the crickets and do them monthly. Ill shop around for a siphon I think my Walmart sells them cheap