General Care Discussion :: Lumpy Dark shell

[pitym]

Hi I went to the aquarium center today to buy supplies for my turtles, Myrtle and Gyrtle..they came from Myrtle Beach (the size of silver dollar and very green). Anyway, my turts don't look like the ones in the store. Mine have dark lumpy shells with jagged edges. I have not had a UVB light in the last couple weeks. Mine burned out and I think my husband replaced with a regular bulb. Which I did not know until yesterday. I think my water is a little warm too, about 85 degrees, so I turned that back. I am working on a larger set up for them, they are currently in a 30 gallon which is way too small for their sizes. Trying to setup an indoor pond that is acceptable in my new family room. As soon as I read how to post pic I will do that too. May need my daughter for that. Thanks for any thoughts.
Patti

[pitym]

Here are the pix of Myrtle, 6 inches front to back

[flutterby]

Your water should be about 75 degrees for turtles of that size. They also look like they have a bad case of pyramiding.

What is their diet and the rest of their set up like. They need a heat source (a regular house lightbulb) in addition to a UVB bulb for basking.

[pitym]

Thanks for the reply. Myrtle looks huge in these pictures ( I had to take with cellphone) They are in a 30 gallon tank, and they do have a heat lamp and a UVA/UVB spiral looking lamp. Submersible heater (which I have turned down) a 30-60 gallon whisper filter system and a Zoomed dock which they eat and are too heavy for!. They get Reptomin pellets mainly a few everyday, romaine lettuce, occasional peas, dry shrimp/krill and cuttlebone, which they devour. Gyrtle is actually about 5 inches and seemed to be the one growing faster than this one, however this one is bigger now.
Of course, we did not know what we were getting into when we got them but they are the only ones still alive that came home from vacation. Both my niece and nephew's died.

[flutterby]

I would look into getting a bigger tank, a stock tank is cheaper for the amount of space you would get. (You need 10 gallons per inch of turtle.) They're not as pretty but they do the job well.

I would cut back their pellets to every other day and continue with the romaine lettuce and cuttle bone. The shrimp should be a rare treat because of the protien content.

Also out of curiosity, what is your basking temp?

[CountryGirl68]

How much cuttlebone do you give them and how often? I recently was told by my vet that turtles that are "craving" calcium will eat the turtle docks because some of them are made with plaster of paris, which is calcium sulfate. I'm not saying that is the reason your turtle is eating the dock but if you only feed the cuttlebone occasionally, that could be why they are eating the dock. I feed my turtle pieces of cuttlebone every day.

Flutterby is right: only feed the pellets every other day and give the veggies every day.

[grey goose]

Oh, that is some serious pyramiding there and the jagged edges indicate a growth problems. His shell can't keep up with his growth! I'd say he's been fed way too much of the wrong things.....
Look here:
http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5821
Same situation, although not as profound......

[missibsu]

The high water temps can cause excessive eating. That combined with overfeeding is likely the cause of your problem. Like the others have said, a more balanced diet and proper set up should get you on the road to recovery. While the pyramiding won't go away, it will lessen with time and healthy growth.

[steve]

I can't tell how big he is in that photo, but that pyramiding might be permanent. As stated, it might improve over time, but it would be a slow process.

Extremely fast growth has other health consequences and puts a strain on internal organs, especially the kidneys. Improving the diet is the first step you need to take...

[pitym]

Thanks to all for your help and the thread from grey goose, I would not have looked at that b/c I did not think mine were shedding.
The first thing I did was turn the heater down, now at about 78 when I left this a.m. and told everyone no feeding the turtles! I am not sure what the basking temp is, I am at work now. They currently only get cuttlebone maybe once a week. I think the shrimp and krill were being fed almost daily at one point along with the pellets (not good). I have been looking into new tanks/stock tank to see which my husband will let me get away with in the new family room. If I go tank, is shorter and wider better than taller and deeper? I think the aquatium center has their turtles in a longer, shorter tank with only half full for the turts to swim. Not sure if that is good. And here I thought I was doing a good job! NOT!!!

[flutterby]

You have cuttle bone floating in their tank all the time, its not going to hurt them. And you're educating yourself which is a good thing, don't be hard on yourself.

[pitym]

Does anyone know of a direct picture of indoor stock tank setups I can get ideas from? It seems all the ones I've looked at have aquarium tanks. And I've been looking at alot of pictures.

[missibsu]

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... tock+tanks

[marisa]

Could you possibly post a pic of the shell dry? I see the raised areas, but I'd also like to see the rings (if there are any) on the scutes.

[ZooKeeper]

Regarding your turt being to heavy for the dock...

I had the same problem when I got Tilly, she was way to big and heavy for the ZooMed dock she came with. So I got creative and made a new, sturdy basking area. Once she realized she wasn't going to fall off, she started basking all the time.

As I'm sure you know, there are a lot of idea's in the photo gallery.