General Care Discussion :: Turtle Shedding. Any problems?

[redearedowner]

I just took these. Aren't the eggs stored right in front of the back legs? She has never had this before, so I am taking her outside to see if the dirt will entice her to dig.

[Caphits]

She looks pretty fat to me. Make sure she isnt eating a bunch of fatty foods, or too much food.

PS, Boys for the win!

[redearedowner]

haha. yes she is quite chunky. I used to feed her only pellets so she got big. But now I feed her mainly romaine lettuce, with pellets and carrot shavings sometime. That is, until this last week. But I dont feed her anything fatty.

[SpotsMama]

She looks kind of fat to me too. Don't starve her to make her lose weight, just make sure that going forward she has a healthy, balanced diet and over time her weight will adjust.

On being gravid, it is also quite possible she's expecting eggs. You can tell by her behavior. A gravid turtle gets very restless, wants to get out of the tank really badly, loses her appetite. If you haven't already, read up on what to do for a gravid turtle on this site. At the bottom of the page on reproduction there are some links to other sites which give more detailed info on nesting that you should also read up on. Most turtles seem to prefer laying their eggs outside in softened dirt (like in a flower bed) in a sheltered area (like under some bushes).

The eggs aren't exactly stored in front of their back legs - they are stored inside the turtle's body - but you can sometimes feel them by pressing very gently in the area in front of the legs. That is, if the turtle will let you do that. Most don't like to be touched there at all.

[redearedowner]

yup, that is my plan. I have been feeding her healthier for probably a year, but she is still fat. like I said, she is a piggy. she used to devour anything I gave her, so I probably fed her too much when she was younger.

She has definitely lost her appetite right now for anything but pellets, carrots, and blueberries. I am going to try making the jello shots tht zoologist posted to get her eating some veggies.
http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17486

I took her outside yesterday and put her in some soft soil in the shade, but she would have nothing to do with it. She loved running around in the grass and climbing over everything in her way. And I live on the river and she kept heading right for it. I am going to make a nesting box for her soon, but I figured I would let her try out the great outdoors first.

[theartbook35]

The way her scutes have a pointed growth like that, makes me wonder if that might be pyramiding.

They do shed parts of the shell from time to time. But it looks to me like a part of her shell either has died at random, or she may have an algae build up as said.

Give her a good shell cleaning, and if she doesn't improve, see a vet.

[redearedowner]

i think it is pyramiding too. I discovered that condition a few years ago, so I started feeding her less protein. And as I previously stated, I tried to gently clean her shell with a toothbrush. Other than making her mad, it didnt do much. Not much algae came off at all.