General Care Discussion

Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:44 pm **question...**

Should I be worried that my turtles haven't shed their shells yet, and I've had them for almost a year? It worries me because I am afraid that they will start to pyramid really bad. I can already tell that they have some going on, and they just keep growing faster and faster. I've limited their diet and feeding them romaine lettuce, and I only keep their water temp about 78 because I know that if the water temp is too high it will cause them to grow faster and it could mess up their internal organs. I'm just worried. Please let me know anything.

Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 11:03 pm

I've had mine about a year as well, and mine have not shed either. Last major cleaning, I went ahead and lowered the temp of my water to about 74. Keep pushing the veggies, and less of the protein and hopefully they will grow out of it.

Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 9:36 am **Re: question...**

khobbs wrote:Should I be worried that my turtles haven't shed their shells yet, and I've had them for almost a year? It worries me because I am afraid that they will start to pyramid really bad. I can already tell that they have some going on, and they just keep growing faster and faster. I've limited their diet and feeding them romaine lettuce, and I only keep their water temp about 78 because I know that if the water temp is too high it will cause them to grow faster and it could mess up their internal organs. I'm just worried. Please let me know anything.

They don't necessarily have to shed once/year. My turtle's main food for 16 yrs was Tetra Reptomin foodsticks + calcium blocks and her shell shows NO sign of pyramiding (and she is as healthy/active as can be!). NOT saying you should only feed your turtle only foodsticks, definitely continue to vary the diet with the veggies, & have a good basking lamp around, but don't freak out. The shell will change in shape a little bit as the turtles grow, that's normal.

Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 9:49 am

Koopa is a year old and a few weeks ago he began showing signs of one scute lifting a little. Each time I look at it it's just a little more visible that it will shed but it's a slow process and it's just the one scute so far.

Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 5:36 pm

Thanks, I'll just keep an eye on them and see how it progresses. I just don't want to damage their shells or anything.

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