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hello RES.com,

this is my first post. i would like your thoughts on my 3 1/4" RES' shell over which i've spent quite a few weeks stressing about. truth is, even after doing a ton of research i still don't think i really understand the difference between piled up scutes and pyramiding. i know my guy's shell ain't perfect. he's been tryin to shed those scutes for over a month now. and i can tell from the one big wave and irregular hexagonal stacking on his shell that he hadnt been well looked after before i got him a few months ago. is this pyramidding???










any thoughts would be appreciated. thanks! great site, btw.


sagar

Welcome!

To me, it looks like he/she is getting ready to shed some old scutes, which is good.

I can't see it in the picture, but does he have both a UVB light and heat for basking? That will help him shed.

It's a bit hard to tell from the angle of the pics, but he may be starting to pyramid a bit. Could you describe his diet?

It's usually not recommended to have a rock like that for basking. They can be rough, and it can cause sores on his plastron. I would suggest switching it to something not as rough, such as cork bark or driftwood if you want too keep it natural.

Look's like Balu is starting to shed scutes. When my RES Jaws scutes are really loose, I peel them off. But only when they peel off with barely any force.

Welcome to the forum. In the second pic, it looks like your RES is really ready to drop some scutes. The shell looks quite different than in the first pic, where it looked like some pyramiding was going on. Once those scutes are off and you have a picture of the carapace with no glare on it, it would be easier to tell.

NEVER, EVER peel scutes off a turtle's shell!
Scutes will fall off when they're ready. If you pick, pull, or peel them off, you run the risk of exposing the underlying bone. Once the bone is exposed, your turtle will be vulnerable to infection.

Although I've heard of turtles surviving losing a scute, but the scute never grows back.

I think when a scute is really ready to fall off (as in the pic above), the underlying scute is already in place and no bone will be exposed. Some of my RES's scutes have been so ready to come off that they've literally popped off when I've checked the raised edges on them.

I don't know. I guess I've just read so many horror stories, the thought of picking even a loose scute makes me cringe :S

Ralph's never had a problem with shedding, so I don't usually check on loose scutes.

Never Ever Pull Off The Scutes, no matter how loose you think they are. Let's say only half of the scute is actually ready to shed but the other half is good and fixed on, and you go and yank it off. Suddenly you see internal organs. It Happens. Just don't do it, please!

I think the turtle looks like they need a good shed and then figure out pyramiding. What do you feed your turtle?

Bump up the blueberries and apple peels and cuttlebone, make sure your UVB bulb is fresh and current, and let the scutes come off on their own.

Personally i don't think your turtle is pyramiding, however it could be retaining some scutes.

A great treat is to freeze some blueberries and drop a couple in the tank once a week. the turtle loves going after the frozen blueberries and it helps to keep them longer.


Geez, a quick google search revealed NO good pics for pyramiding or retained scutes. no wonder you're confused! Lets see if i can explain this well enough for anyone but me to understand. feel free to correct me.

Pyramiding is where each individual scute on the turtle's shell becomes raised, sorta like a pyramid. so instead of being smooth, the shell will be bumpy with many 'pyramids'. pyramiding occurs a lot in sulcatta tortoises.

retained scutes is where only a small part of the scute will shed instead of the whole thing, usually only a small portion of the center of the scute will shed off. The rest of the scute stays on and eventually builds up and can look like pyramiding.

my turtle has a problem with retaining her scutes. i recififed this problem by getting a better UVB bulb and by feeding her blueberries once a week and apple peels. it's taking some time, but we did have one full scute shed off! yey!

hi to all,

thanks so much for your thoughts, they've been extremely valuable to me, not to mention comforting! note that this was the way i got balu as he was a gift. at that time, i was so busy with work and ignorant about turtles that i just threw him cheapy indian pellets everyday. that practice lasted a few weeks and i'm sure it didn't help his situation. but i think i'm taking decent care of him now. i feed him lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, reptomin (hard to find), and occasionally some shrimp, fish, and guppies. i'm looking for duckweed, dandelions, and other greens which are not exactly available in india. i'll take the advice of blueberries, thanks!

i do NOT have a UVB bulb. instead, i keep the tank outside on my balcony where he gets a few hours of direct sunlight everyday. if i make another tank on the other balcony like i'm planning, he'd get a few additional hours of morning sun as well. its always sunny in mumbai! (except 3 months of monsoon) however i am facing some issues with this as it gets very hot in the afternoons and i've seen the water temp as high as 86-87degrees. i've read that this is approaching the limit and i'll try to get some ice pack in there or something.

thanks again, i hope to hear more from you.

sagar desai

Here are some photos of pyramiding:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... A&start=15 (page 2 of thread)

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15940

Here are some photos of scutes that need to shed:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14952

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14904

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16520

There's often some overlap - where you see one condition you also see the other.