General Care Discussion :: am i doing this right??

[zoologist]

i got Torti two years ago this month and she was 3 inches exactly. Now she is about 4.5.

how come she's only grown an inch and a half in 2 years? it doesnt seem like enough.
she has a varied diet, she has had a UVB bulb for the past 4 months. she eats cuttlebone regularly....

what the heck am i doing wrong?

also, her shell. i took pics, you can't tell anything is wrong other then a bit of pyramiding that as happening when i got her 2 years ago, but there is a small drop in the shell that she's also had since i got her. doesnt seem to be improving.


why isnt she growing?

[zoologist]

here is a pic of her shell

[SpotsMama]

Have you checked out her diet compared to the guidelines on this site? How much food does she get and what does she get?

Has she ever been tested for internal parasites? Internal parasites are a common cause for a turtle to grow slowly. The test is easy to do - take a fresh stool sample to a vet. It shouldn't cost much - my vet charged $18.

She's a very pretty girl. On her shell, it doesn't look like she's shedding her scutes at all. I can't see that there's any infection, thank goodness, but those layers and layers of scutes do need to come off. Right now they don't even appear to be loose. One thing that may help is the addition of foods containing vitamin e to her diet (if she doesn't already get them). Vitamin e helps a turtle shed scutes. Here are some good ones for a turtle:

Tomato
Sweet potato
Turnip greens
Blueberries
Apple skin

[Chrisbarnett]

What spotsmama said

I'm thinking of taking squirts stool to the vet to have it checked out. Just in case.

BTW, your hand looks really small in the picture!

[Azfar]

Your turtle name sound almost like mine but different spell.. Totti.. hehe

[industrial_girl_2000]

Are you sure Torti is a female turtle? Reason why I ask is because the males often grow slower than the girls.

[zoologist]

Spotsmomma- torti is fed every other day. she is fed my very special gelatin turtle muchies, which are well balanced with many veggies and a few fruits. Torti has never been to the vet, its over an hour away and now i realize a vet appointment is overdue.
Honestly, i've never seen her fully shed her scutes. She sorta is now... to an extent. How can i speed this process up?
Chris- it is, i have naturally small hands.. lol
Azfar- Torti is actually pronounced "Tore-tie" not tortie like most people think, lol!
Kristen- i'm pretty sure Torti is a girl because of her nails and tail being so short. however, since she is only 4.5 inches i guess it could be possible she's a male?

[zoologist]

how in the world do i collect my turtle poo!??!?!

[marisa]

She's got a beautiful head, but she really needs to shed those scutes. A quick web search said that gelatin is a "protein substance"---if the food you're making for her is the staple in the diet, are you sure it's not lacking in some nutrients?

What are the temps in the tank?

[SpotsMama]

On your question about how to collect turtle poo - lots of turtles poo right after eating. You might try feeding her in a separate bowl, then waiting around until she poos, and collect the poo with a little fish net or a turkey baster (you don't want to use this particular turkey baster any more for basting turkeys ). You can store it in a little plastic storage container or a plastic baggie.

By the way, if it's very difficult to get her to a good herp vet, you could ask your regular dog/cat vet to check the sample. I don't want to discourage your also seeing a herp vet but in a pinch, any good vet should be able to check a stool sample. Beyond this, you'll need a herp vet for any sort of turtle health problem.

One more thing - I prefer making good quality pellets the main component of a turtle's diet. It's very difficult to recreate just the right balance of protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins and minerals that a turtle needs with a home made diet. Reputable pellet makers have done research and know precisely the balance of nuitriants in their pellets. I also believe even good quality pellets need to be supplemented with fresh veggies and other foods. I would see your gelatin based food as a supplement to good pellets rather than the main food for your turtle.

[zoologist]

the reason i use gelatin is because i read that turtle's shells are made of keratin and that the gelatin would help to keep the turtles shells hard
i feed her a blend of turtle pellets. the majority are made of rep-cal, i also use reptomin and haikari. they're blended into the veggie gelatin things i make. Is that balanced?

the temp in the tank stays a constant 74. basking is a constant 90.

however, i rarely catch Torti basking.... which bothers me. im sure that could be the reason why she isnt shedding her scutes.

[zoologist]

here is torti when i got her.


don't worry about the circles. i was wondering about the marks but they turned out to be superficial scratches that went away with the next shedding.

[zoologist]

Torti's set up:

29g tank (too small, i understand. she'll be upgraded to a 55 gallon rubbermaid tub in less then a month!) filled to the top with an ATTBA. the basking are has a heat lamp and a 10.0 watt UVB lamp. the substrate for both the basking area and tank is sand. water temp stays at a constant 74. i use a rena filster XP1.
Torti is fed every other day. one gelatin thing and some pellets.

[SpotsMama]

On Torti's diet - it sounds outstanding.

On the basking, you are correct that lack of basking can cause shell problems. The temps sound good but some turtles prefer warmer basking temps. My turtle needs a basking temp around 94 to really inspire him to bask. You might try raising yours a few degrees (by lowering the heat bulb) and see if it makes a difference.

On the sand substrate on the basking area, is it possible that it irritates him skin or plastron? Natural turtle habitat is usually muddy rather than sandy. I don't know whether this would be a factor or not.

[zoologist]

i dont know either. she seemed to have no problem with it... basking right on the sand as opposed to the actual turtle dock part of it. recently though all basking activty has gone down to a point where i havent caught her basking in over 2 weeks.

in fact (the truth comes out!) i havent seen her bask since i got the UVB bulb. weird, huh??