General Care Discussion :: Turtle Growing or Sick?

[Yayita]

Hi guys!

Long time without posting, I went back to NYC for a months vacation and amd back in Madrid.

About 2 months ago I started noticing strange pattern changes on my RES's shell. Not sure how to explain it but normally they have symetrical pattern on both sides so they look exactly alike on the left and right. In my turtles case one of the quadrants (not sure what they are called)scute square maybe?? on the right top side of the shell suddenly divided and the same ocurred on the bottom left side. So now she does not look exactly the same o both sides.

I turned her over to look at the Plastron and the middle seam line that separates left and right is beginning to expand as well as the seam lines that separate each individual quadrant. Does this mean she is sick or is she just growing? Her last check up was in February 2006.

One more thing, summer is almost over and she still has not shed her scutes, I've only found 2 of them thus far. She is also developing rings on her scutes... I think this is normal though, maybe annuli which I believe determines age.

Thanks for your help and hope you all had a great summer!

[steve]

Are you saying that a scute has divided into 2? I've seen a few aquatic turtles with an "extra" scute but am not aware of it happening after they have hatched. Can you take a picture and one of the plastron?

Scutes shed at their own pace. Is she shedding a thick layer or a very thin layer? Thick layers can take a very long time and there really is not timetable to determine when it will shed. Just make sure your turtle is basking and getting plenty of UVB.

Rings around scutes indicate growth, not age. If there are a lot of rings or if the rings are raised or bumpy, then that is pyramiding.

[Yayita]

OK, Ill take a pic... she is not basking enough at all. I took her dock away because she keeps eating it. As a result I take out and put her in the sun but she runs away from it.. Shes being a bad girl lately.

The 2 scutes she shed are thick

[steve]

Just curious, how did you transport her back here? And since you're back in NY, you should have a lot more options for suitable basking areas.

[Yayita]

no, I was in NY for vacay, she staid in Madrid and I came back last week. She had a good turtle sitter.

[Yayita]

Here are the pictures Steve

This is the lower part of the turtle, notice how the scute on the bottom right side has split compared to the one on the left side that has not split. Therefore it does not look symmetrical

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i100/ ... rRight.jpg


This is the upper part of the turtle, notice how the scute on the left hand side has split and does not match the right side.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i100/ ... erLeft.jpg


Here is the Plastron, notice how the seam line has become wider in the middle and also the seam lines for all the segments have grown appart. Ugui just turned 5 this summer and has grown an inch in the last 6 months.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i100/ ... astron.jpg

[Yayita]

Can anyone help me with this? Seems like no one is in here. It's Saturday

[CountryGirl68]

Hopefully someone with more knowledge can give a better answer. My guess is that the turtle is just growing by the pictures. Hard to tell since the shell was wet. Can you get similar pictures of the dry shell?

[scripta_elegans]

He looks very healthy to me. I second Country girl's opinion, though I am not the more knowledgeable person aforementioned.

[Yayita]

thanks country girl and scripta, I hope is just that

[steve]

Oops, I misread your original post.

The shell does look healthy, although those divisions are curious. They only started to develop a few months ago? The plastron does look like it's from growing a little too fast, but I think your turtle is healthy.

[Yayita]

Thanks Steve, I do think she's growing to fast and I am concerned about Pyramiding, her shell is starting to look odd in some areas and uneven. As a result I am going to feed her less to see if that helps. Man I always panic about this turtle, I think I'm tking her to the vet again.