General Care Discussion :: Shell Shed?

[SpotsMama]

How often is a healthy two-year old male RES supposed to shed his scuts? Is there any way to speed up the shedding process?

[Wes_RES]

Depends on size...

And there is one surefire way to speed up the shedding process...

NO CALCIUM IN DIET!!!

[sonyj]

I'm not quite sure how often they shed their scutes since it depends on their growth. Slow and steady growth is what we need to focus on to keep them healthy and if that's the case shedding scutes will be a slow process.

Koopa is a year old and has been slowly shedding one scute for two months now. He's showing signs of starting to shed a couple more recently.

If your turtle is healthy and on track for growth, you don't want to do anything to speed it up and jeopardize his health.

How big is your turtle (shell length from tip to tip not including the curve)?

[missibsu]

I've had my turtles for over a year and they have never shed. They have grown about an inch each, and have shed skin, but not scutes.

[SpotsMama]

Spotty is about five inches long. When we first got him he was silver-dollar size (the old-fashioned big silver dollars) and he shed several scuts within a few months. But nothing since then (about a year and a half). I was wondering if that was ok. His shell is nice and hard but looks very faded. Could that be a sign he's getting ready to shed?