General Care Discussion :: Various stuff

[Brown13Whiskey]

I'm a little new to the site. 'A little' in the fact that I've been visiting the rest of the site getting care information for our two yellow belly hatchlings. Even though it's extensive and very helpful, I still have some questions the rest of the site either didn't cover or I just passed over. But first, here are our turtles:

This is Bootsy, the smaller of the two, but has a much nicer shell



These two are of Mittens, she's larger by a few centimeters:





The questions I have are:
My turtles have a reddish tinge on their 'ears', but they were marked as 'yellow belly sliders' when we bought them. Could they be a hybrid of the two?

I have a heat lamp and basking spot for them, but does a standard compact florescent lightbulb produce UVB light?

Mittens is about an inch across, maybe 2-4 months old, and just recently one of the plates on her shell began to peel. Her shell has become a little dull of late, and doesn't look as colorful as it was when we bought her.
Is this normal and what should I do about it?

Bootsy doesn't seem to like pellets much and has trouble eating them. Often times, Mittens gets to the pellets before he can, so recently I've been separating them for a small time so Bootsy can get his fill, then I put Mittens back in the tank so she can eat up the leftovers. Is there any way I can make the pellets more appetizing or easier for Bootsy to eat?

Mittens doesn't bask often because she's scared of me and my girlfriend when we walk around our room. Is there any way I can make her more comfortable with the two of us?


That's about all the questions I can think of for right now. Our turtles seem very happy, and we love them very much. I hope you guys can help me out a bit!

[octpusgirl8]

Hi and welcome! Very cute little turtles. I'm not a turtle ID expert, but hybridization os totally possible. On the lighting issue, you need a special compact flourescent, marked with the percentage of UVB rays it produces. You want to get a 5.0. About the peeling shell, from what you describe it sounds like normal scute shedding. If you put up a picture of it we could tell you for sure. It's good that you're feeding them separately, mmake sure they both get enough to eat. You could try softening the pellets first in water and see if that helps. If he still won't eat them you can soak then in tuna juice (not oil), but don't do this if you dont have to or he might get spoiled. It's entirely normal for them to rocket off the basking dock when there are people around, you can block off a portion to give her more privacy if you feel she's not basking enough.

[Brown13Whiskey]

Until I can get the time to go out to the closest big pet store (about 35 miles), I'll take them outside to bask in the natural sunlight for about an hour every day it's nice out. I'm pretty sure the peeling is normal, but should I physically take the peelings off myself or let them fall off by themselves? I'll try to have a picture of the shell up soon, my camera doesn't seem to like to focus on turtles much. Could the peeling be lack of UVB?

[SpotsMama]

It's normal for the outer layer of the shell to peel off (shed) from time to time. Most of the red eared sliders seem to have their first shed when they are a little larger but there's no hard rule on this. The dull look just before a shed is normal. After the shed he'll look very bright. Sometimes when scutes get loose, air will get trapped underneath and make the shell appear to have metalic or coppery spots when under water. Also, sometimes water will get trapped under a loose scute and then if you press on it gently, you'll see the water ooze out.

Don't pull at the sections (scutes) with layers that are ready to come off. They should fall off on their own. If a section is very loose, and part of it is lifting, and it comes off very easily when you give it a little tug, then that's ok. What you don't want is to pull a section off before it's ready as that will damage the shell underneath.

By the way, very cute little turtles. Does Mittens really have little white speckles on her shell or is the white just reflected light?

[Bumby's Mom]

Are you feeding them Baby Reptomin or the Adult Reptomin? With the adult pellets you will definitely need to break them into thirds or more. With the baby reptomin you may have to break them in half but since they are smaller they should be able to eat them.

[Brown13Whiskey]

The sparkles on Mittens' shell are water droplets reflecting the flash of my camera, it looks quite interesting, though, almost like she's covered in glitter. I'm pretty sure what I have is adult, so I'll definitely start snapping or cutting the sticks before I feed it to them. That may very well be the problem, maybe the sticks are just too big for Bootsy to eat. We've had them about a month now. We've really fallen in love with them, they're so much fun to watch as they swim about the tank. Earlier today I took them both outside in the hot Florida sun and they both basked happily. Mittens basked more than Bootsy, to my surprise. Bootsy seemed more intent on discovering the rest of the yard and kept trying to get away from me. It was when Mittens was basking that I noticed the loose part of the scute, so I gently rubbed it and a portion fell off. I'll try and get some pictures of that scute up tomorrow to see what you all think.

[TheComputerGremlin]

If it's going to be too long before you can make it to a pet store, look online for a ZooMed ReptiSun or Exo Terra ReptiGlo 5.0 compact florescent/UVB bulb. It will only cost you a little more (or possibly less) and will get it to you faster. Never count too heavily on the sun for your UVB, I think they need a couple hours in the sun to get all of the UVB they need.

Oh, and if you are still worried about basking, you can put some tank background up around the basking area. But almost everyone's turtles dive into the water when they walk in. And if you like letting them outside for a bit, they'd probably appreciate it!!

[marisa]

Bootsy's got a nice carapace (so does Mittens)---I like those extra scutes.

The compact flourescent needs to specifically say it gives off UVB rays and run-of-the-mill compact flourescents don't. The sun gives off more UVB rays than most UVB lights, though, so if you can get them outside for an hour a day, that's great. It's helping your turtle to shed scutes, which is normal as they grow.

It's good you've separated them for feeding, it sounds like Bootsy takes longer than Mittens to eat. What pellets are you giving them? You might try a few different brands and rotate them for variety. What other foods are they getting besides pellets?

[Brown13Whiskey]

I'm feeding them Tetra ReptoMin. I also feed them freeze dried blood worms and sun dried gammarus baby shrimp once a week. Other than that, I put a lettuce leaf under one of the decorations in their tank so they can both munch on it whenever they want. Any suggestions on feeding? I started breaking the food up, and Bootsy is eating much more, but I think he's still so young, he has trouble eating and a lot of it falls out of his mouth. He does like the lettuce on the bottom of the tank, and eats that much more than Mittens does.

Here's a picture of Mittens I took yesterday when I took them outside. The arrow is pointing to the scute that shed, you can see a sort of crack-like area and that's where a small section came off.


What do you mean by extra scutes?

[marisa]

Look at the scutes going down his spine. Normally, you'd see one scute after another that extended to the marginal scutes at the rear of the shell. What I see is a number of smaller, irregular scutes. Don't let this worry you, though. It's not that uncommon---my RES has one extra scute (just above the rear marginal scutes) and I have an Eastern Painted who also has an extra scute. It just makes them a bit more unique.

I find that Reptomin softens fairly quickly, and when it does, it tends to stick to the mouths of my turtles. One won't touch the stuff when it gets to soft and the other will try to eat it but often spits it out. Perhaps that's happening with your turtle, especially if he takes longer to eat.

[Boogerbutt02]

Your in Florida like me!!! if you still don't have a correct light, do what I do and take them outside for a little walk... I would say not more then 30 minutes a day for little ones...(just my opinion) real sun is great for shedding too.... good luck

[Brown13Whiskey]

I got a bulb a few days ago, it didn't have an exact UVB measurement, and for now it'll work before I get a really decent one. It's a full spectrum compact florescent, and it has mercury vapor in it, so I assumed it was good enough. Along with that, I've been taking them outside in the sun on days with good weather. However, I'm concerned about Mittens' shell. Recently I've noticed when I apply (gentle-ish) pressure to their shells, they give slightly, so they're getting soft. Other than that, I'm concerned about the diminishing luster of Mittens' shell. If you look at one of the pictures above of her (they were taken about two days after I bought her) and this one:

You can see a BIG difference in her shell, and comparatively to Bootsy's. I know I'm a terrible turtle owner right now, but I think I've finally got everything they need. Advice?
The good news is, Mittens is basking much more, even with us in the room, althrough she keeps a close eye on us for signs of any movement. Sometimes, she's trusting enough to even close her eyes and relax for a spell. Also, I broke up the sticks as suggested and Bootsy is eating more easily.
On the subject of feeding, should I do it once or twice a day?

[SpotsMama]

Perhaps Mittens is also getting ready to shed and that's why her shell is getting duller.

On the UVB light, the bulb you have probably isn't producing a useful amount of UVB. Terms like "full spectrum" and "basking bulb" are misleading. Only when the packaging specifically says it's providing UVB and the percent (like 5.0 or 7.0) is it a good UVB bulb. (by the way, percentages of UVB below 5.0 aren't strong enough and 10.0 is too strong in most cases.) All compact fluorescents contain some mercury (that's why the public discussions about disposal of the bulbs are going on) but they aren't really the same as mercury vapor bulbs.

On feeding, what really counts is the total amount per day that the turtle gets - you can divide it into as many feedings as you (and your turtles) like. Young ones like yours get as many pellets per day as would fit in their heads if their heads were hollow, plus green leafies like leaf lettuce and cuttlebone.

On the soft shell, it's normal for little turtle's shells to be somewhat flexible. They should completely harden by the end of the first year.

[Brown13Whiskey]

I'm going to a pet store later today to see if they have UVB lamps. I really only bought the one I have because I at least wanted SOMETHING. I'm glad to hear that young turtles have flexible shells. I had really started to worry. I'll also ask if they have cuttlebone (I'm assuming that's for calcium?). I'll also go to the grocery store and look for some proper lettuce and perhaps even some dandelion greens. Unfortunately, dandelions don't grow in the ugly Florida sand that claims to be my 'yard', so I'll have to buy them. I usually put some romaine lettuce on the bottom, but the nutrition section of the main site says I should only use that as a filler. I'll start to split their feeding times up, too. I think they'll enjoy being fed two times a day, even though in their silly little heads they won't know their getting fed the same amount.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread, your advice has been invaluable.

[marisa]

Romaine isn't just a filler---it has nutrients in it as well. It's good to vary the kind of leafy greens, though. Most turtles enjoy red leaf lettuce. (And you're right, the cuttlebone is to increase the calcium in the diet.)