At her "final release" visit I mentioned to the vet that Penelope's shell was dull in comparison to the polished look before she finished the dry-dock adventure.
The vet attributed the dullness to the fact that Penelope is preparing to shed her skutes (how she figured that out, I'll never know) - all I know is that after a close look-over, we (the vet, tech, and I) saw a little shed starting on Penelope's lower beak.
Anyway, Penelope is showing all the typical pre-shed signs (i.e., golden color under skutes when under water, seams between skutes appearing wider than usual, etc).
I was checking her out today and was sad to see that her shell is so dull - much duller than when she was at the vet, and definitely NO signs of disease or fungus.
She has had the most meticulous healthy diet possible, so I strike that as a cause.
It really looks like hard water deposit, but the water here isn't really that bad (of course, it is enough to leave its traces on the shower walls over time)
So questions are:
- Do skutes get duller as they prepare to shed?
- Could it be hard water removing the "shine"?
- Any thoughts on a monthly "maintenance" soak and scrub down?
Truly not a freak-out situation; more like curiosity.
I can post pictures, but basically we are talking about a high-polish shoe shine gone to looking like a shoe soaked in a tub and air-dried.
