General Care Discussion :: Shedding and Scrubbing

[cutepanda86]

Hello all!

Sheldon - my little crazy turtle - isn't so little anymore. That being said, she has yet to shed her little scutes. Now, I can see them shrinking and some of the ones on her sides are really close to coming off. I feel that I need to ramp up my scrubbing. That being said - Sheldon hates scrubbing. I don't want to stress her out but scrubbing once a week doesn't seem to be enough. How often should I do it? 2 times? 3 times? Everyday?

Now, you ask, well what are you feeding her? This is a sticky widget due to the fact that my little princess is a picky eater. She eats lettuce and pellets - that's about it. She refuses to eat blueberries, carrots, or kale. Now I've had an idea that I thought might work. Back when Sheldon managed to eat her basking platform, the vet had given me high fiber medicine with a syringe. If I filled said syringe with pureed blueberries, sweet potato, and tuna - do you think she'd eat it? I had to force feed her but I also don't want her to get a fungus again - which I read could happen when the scutes don't come off like they should.

I'll post pics when I can after she's been drying for a while but I don't think the questions need them for answers.

Thanks!

[theartbook35]

RES naturally rub their shells against rough objects underwater to loosen up their scutes. None of my turtles have ever liked scrubbing, they react by scratching and snapping which at their size is very unpleasant for us. Maybe get a few large river rocks in the tank, that Sheldon can rub up against instead.

[cutepanda86]

I have a few but I worry they'll scratch the bottom of the tank since I don't have any substrate. Do you think that I would need some substrate?

[steve]

Scrubbing.... when did that become part of her routine? If she had a growth spurt in the past, then you'll have to wait till she sheds the whole scute.

[cutepanda86]

I've been scrubbing her once a week for about 6 months since the last vet visit - mind you I'm not using sandpaper or anything on her, just a brush. She had a massive growth spurt after we got rid of the fungus which was about 2 years ago. Now her scutes have been shrinking for about the last year but they haven't finished what they started.

[steve]

I don't think scrubbing will encourage it to come off and I don't think blueberries does much either. Plenty of basking is the main requirement.

[cutepanda86]

Oh see now I had read somewhere that blueberries would help. Sheldon has basking down - no troubles there.

Is there anything I can attempt to feed her that would help?

[steve]

The blueberries thing has been going around for awhile, so it is mentioned regularly. It can't hurt to try. Wheat-germ (koi pellets) is thought to help as well, but there's no science behind it. It also adds a bit variety to the diet.

[cutepanda86]

Well I know she enjoys the koi pellets but I can only get those in 1 lb bags - it lasts a long time. I guess I'll just make sure her diet is varied.

[steve]

I'm sure she won't disagree

[theartbook35]

I don't have a substrate in either of my tanks, and the river rocks have never scratched the glass. My turtles move/kick those rocks around a lot, too. The larger ones, that you can find on beaches, are actually easier to deal with in terms of cleaning, too, believe it or not. (I soak Sadie's rocks in 1 part bleach, 2 parts water, then soak them for 30 minutes in straight tap water, then rinse them before putting them back in her tank). I think Sheldon would enjoy these And what Steve said about basking.

[cutepanda86]

I'm sure she won't disagree

I'm sure she won't. When I buy more filter supplies I'll scoop up some koi pellets. Thanks Steve!

I don't have a substrate in either of my tanks, and the river rocks have never scratched the glass. My turtles move/kick those rocks around a lot, too. The larger ones, that you can find on beaches, are actually easier to deal with in terms of cleaning, too, believe it or not. (I soak Sadie's rocks in 1 part bleach, 2 parts water, then soak them for 30 minutes in straight tap water, then rinse them before putting them back in her tank). I think Sheldon would enjoy these And what Steve said about basking.

Oh Sheldon will move them - no worries there. Now the trick is to remember if I put them in my cubby hole downstairs or if they are in the storage shelves next to the tank. Thanks for the cleaning tip. I've always been afraid to use bleach around my turtle stuff. Thanks theartbook!

[theartbook35]

You're welcome, no problem. I forgot to mention that you should rinse until you can longer smell any bleach, too. For the rocks, it's fine. For anything sponge-like in texture, cloth-like, or has a lot of holes in it (not porous like a rock), should never be cleaned with bleach.

[cutepanda86]

Very good. Thanks! I'm going to get the rocks into the tank when I clean the filter.