General Care Discussion :: Don't like how his shell and plastron look.....

[Zarjulius & Miaomiao]

Hi....

I haven't been liking the way Brown's shell looks for a while now.. the top seems to have a lot of discoloration, it's not really green but there's yellowish areas, even almost reddish. Recently little parts of it have been shedding off... it's strange, I don't know if that's normal, thought they only shed skin (which he does, a lot). Also, the bottom part looks not too clean either, there are a lot of growth lines as you can see in the pics, which I think is good, but lately there have been greenish areas forming, almost looking like algae? Not sure. Maybe just bad bacteria. He has a good appetite, and I am feeding him this T-Rex Aquatic turtle Dry formula, which he seems to like and I have read good reviews about. It's pretty clean and yummy looking. About 10 or so pellets a day. Just got him a new tank, 55g, and you can see my basic setup here. I am going through the new tank syndrome now, water is cloudy. Any specific suggestions to help alleviate this? Filter is new Fluval 4 Plus, and the carbon insert pads are on their way, right now just has the foam pads. I got it to direct the water flow up so some bubbles will form, aerating the water. Turtle's skin otherwise looks pretty good, I guess. He has been shedding. He likes to eat his poop, the fool. He also never seems too content and always always runs up against the glass. Even in this big tank. Anyway, hope you can give me some answers to these many questions. Also, any suggestions regarding a private cave area to get for him that would be safe for the water? I think I need to put more stuff for him in the tank.... Thanks everyone! Pics:

Here you can see the little shell shedding that I mentioned... in the back, like little pieces floating off of it.. not a good pic, sorry



Another pic of the shell, you can see the weird colors of the shell as well as white strips in the connections... those are the ones that seem to also fall off/shed



Some images of the bottom... Notice in the back, right near his tail, in the middle line, some green buildup there...



My current set up.... any advice is welcome!


Thanks!!!!!

Brown: About a year and a half old (estimate), about 4 inches

[mikee]

Your turtle looks okay to me. The shedding is the scutes that come off as they grow. Try and not over feed as that will cause pyramiding on the carapace. Pay attention to the temps. lighting and filtration and your turtle will be.

[SpotsMama]

I don't think his shell looks bad either. He has a very pretty, vivid pattern on his carapace. The color is unusual - lots of yellow is showing on my computer, maybe it's just the photo or my computer - but it doesn't look unhealthy.

The white between the scutes looks to me like he's undergoing a growth spurt. Also, it's normal for turtles to shed the thin top layer of shell from time to time as well as to shed skin. If you want you can wash him very gently with some Hibiclense diluted to half strength with water and a very soft toothbrush and perhaps some of the white and flakiness will come off. Be gentle because he can feel sensation in his shell and the seams between the scutes are especially sensitive. Keep the Hibiclense off his face and eyes. Also, be sure and rinse him very thoroughly after a hibiclense wash as the hibiclense is irritating if left on. Hibiclense will make him slippery - be sure he's held low over a sink so if he gets away from you he won't fall.


That's a nice big tank - bet he likes it a lot. You can put several more inches of water in it easily. He will appreciate having more swimming and diving room. Fill it as full as you can without getting the water so high he can get his claws on the rim of the tank and escape. You'll probably have to adjust the light fixtures to be a little higher if you raise the water and basking platform level.

If the white between the scutes gets more pronounced or starts to spread, let us know as it may be that something else is going on with the shell.

[Take-One]

HE IS A VERY GOOD LOOKING TURT. HIS PLASTORON IS RED BECUSE OF HEALED INFECTION. HE LOOKS GREAT

[marisa]

I really don't see a problem with his shell. A few scutes on the plastron look like they may be loosening, but no problem there.

Your set-up needs some greenery.

[Dein211]

Looks like a normal growing boy to me I was going to suggest adding more water but spotsmama got there first! after all if you have the extra space, why not use it? looks pretty good to me otherwise

[Zarjulius & Miaomiao]

I don't think I'm going to add more water because there's no easy way that I can tell to raise the light fixtures if I do. They are resting against the tank and I don't want to have to hang them from my ceiling...... Anyway the water level is definitely adequate for him now, it's not like he is standing out of the water like he did in his previous tank. Thanks to everyone who confirmed he looks good, though... Any suggestions for nice and safe greenery? Or some sort of a cave? any recommendations?

THANKS!!