General Care Discussion :: Shedding tips, please? :D

[abbleyhart]

Alright, I haven't been on lately.
I now have two turtles- Turt and Zola.
Turt's two inches and Zola is one inch.
They bask regularly, and will be upgraded from a ten gallon to fifty five gallon tank [we're plotting what we'll need, like getting a fitlre, etc.]

Anyways, I think Turt's shedding but I can't tell.
What do they look like when they're shedding?
I searched and its hard to go though from one thread to another when its just leading me to shell fungus, etc. /=

I'll post pictures tomorrow, sorry for the delay.
^^

[TurtleLover_S&B]

Well,it just looks like little pieces of dead skin hanging off of them.You don't need to pull it off,it'll come off by itself.I can tell you if they're shedding or not if you post a pic.

[blulite]

when they shed is it just skin what turtles shed or do they shed shell too. as turtlelover_S&B will be aware i am having trouble with the shell of my turtle.

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18207

however quite regularly he sheds bits of his shell from the carapace. is this normal. he does seem to shed these plates very often. like the same ones will shed once or twice a week. some of them more often than that.

[TurtleLover_S&B]

They shed on their actual body,and their shell scutes.

[blulite]

ah scutes that was what i was thinking of!!!!!! the individual sections of the shell rite? ok so is it unusuall for them to be shedding as often as they are or do you think it may have something to do with the current shell problems.

i thought maybe it is due to the shell healing. like it is shedding the old damaged scutes to make way for the new ones. how often should the scutes be shed or it it an ongoing thing untill they reach full adulthood

[TurtleLover_S&B]

Yeah,that's what the scutes are.They keep shedding.I'm not quite sure how long the shed for.Well,I don't think that those pics. you posted are from shedding,but I don't think it's shell rot either,but your turtle might be shedding,but I didn't see any,but I tihnk it might be a fungal infection,or iit's just not being clean.I saw something on fungal infections that someone posted.Let me see if I can find it.If I can I'll post the link.

[TurtleLover_S&B]

Wait!!The fungal infections post I found was posted by you!!

[TurtleLover_S&B]

If you want to try what you posted on fungal infections than do that,but it might just be that the shell isn't being kept clean,but definately take an old soft toothbrush and scrub it under warm running water.Well,anyway here's the thing you posted about the fungal infection if you don't want to have to go back and find it!


Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 6:30 am

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

hi guys im back again having found this on another website. do you think i should try this and see what happens in a week.

fungal infections

Remedial Measures
1. Gently scrub the fungal patch (you can use an old soft toothbrush) removing as much of the
growth as possible.

2. Swab well, the entire infected area with a diluted (5-10%) Betadyne (or any other Iodine tincture)
solution. Keep a cotton swab dipped in the diluted solution on the infected spot for 10-15
minutes. Wipe/gently scrub the entire shell with this diluted solution.

3. Pat shell dry, apply a topical antibiotic cream.

4. Keep turtle in a 'warm-box' (maintain a temperature of 26-29oC or 80-85oF) that has no water
under a basking light for most part of the day, except for two 1-hr warm water soaks, during
which it can also be fed. Make sure you add multi-vitamin supplements to the food.

5. After soak let is swim for 30 minutes in warm water that has 2% Betadyne (or any other Iodine
tincture)

6. After swim repeat Step 3 & 4.

For established infections you can also administer (under vet supervision) the antibiotics
cephalosporins and amoxicillin orally.

[blulite]

i am totally with you on the cleaning thing. what i am refering to with the shedding is, is it possible that there is an increase in shedding if the infection is healing?

[steve]

abbleyhart, shedding scutes look a bit golden or a lighter tone.

There is also some shedding in mikki's pic:

[blulite]

ah yes there is quite a lot of that. besides the obv infection. does shedding occur more if the shell is healing or poorly? i can diferentiate between the two but as a new owner i am unsure as to how much shedding is done under different circumstances.

[steve]

I don't know if you can easily gauge how often they shed, though once a year is expected in most circumstances. Shedding is good when dealing with fungal infections, particularly when dealing with drug-resistant variants.

[TurtleLover_S&B]

Well,mine shed at least like 2 times a month.

[blulite]

@ steve shedding seems to be almost every week since we bought him. maybe half of the entire shell each week. we started treatment using clotrimazole cream three weeks ago. since then shedding has increased slightly. what is meant by drug-resistant varients. is that increased shedding due to drugs e.g treatments.

@ turtlelover how old is your turt or how big?

my turt is 2 1/2 inches long. maybe longer now as i have'nt measured him since the day after we got him

[steve]

If it is being described accurately, then it is not normal. Are you still referring to scutes? I though you were not using any meds... I really can't comment on that.