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Ranger still! has not shed. I've made a couple of threads about this in the past but no progress has been made and I've followed everyones advice.
Ranger is about 2 years old and has never sheded. He's about 4.3 inches and is in a 40 gallon breeder filled to the max with fake plants bubbler etc with sand substrate I change every 3-4 months. I do weekly 30-50% water changes mainly 30% but sometimes 50%. He has a magnum h.o.t. filter pumps 250gph has bio media and sponges, also a aquaclear power filter with bio media and sponges pumps 200gph. He has a ATBA with a 50 watt heat bulb and a 5.0 UVB bulb. He basks normal and swims normal. I feed him, zoomed, reptomin, wheat germ, and wardly turtle food. Some cuttlebone and crickets once a month as a treat.. Romaine, green and red lettuce about 3-4 times a week. What am I doing wrong???? Please help his shell is just getting worse.

Hey Ranger, can you link to any threads with older pics? This update looks pretty bad, and I would take him to a vet. Most of that rough pitting goes away with good shedding, but there are a few areas that look like actual breaches in the shell. One small spot is usually not a problem but since there are several areas of infection, his condition is clearly not getting better.

Here are the areas that look like breaches:

Here's a really old one I found.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=28419&hilit=rangers+shell
I couldn't find anything after that But yeah those 3 spots you circled are concerning me. It's hard when I touch it and when I rub my nail onto it he doesn't seem to be harmed by it at all.

But I don't understand why he isn't shedding or his shell looking healthy. Im doing everything I need to in order for him to live a happy healthy life. Are some turtles just prone to bad shell condtions then others?

Ranger The Red Ear Slider wrote:Are some turtles just prone to bad shell condtions then others?

I think this is the case. It happens, you really can't control it sometimes and you have your work cut out for you. Any idea when those breaches showed up? It's possible it's a bone layer (if it feels rough) and those would be my main concern.

You stated you are doing everything correctly. What do you consider "everything correctly" just curious.

Sorry for such the late reply. The white spots feel rough and hard but when I touch them it doesn't bother him or seem to hurt him. And everything I stated in my original post.

Considering the progression in a good habitat, he really needs to be checked out by a good vet.

Okay thanks Steve. I'll see if I can get him to one this week. What do you think is wrong with him?

Ranger The Red Ear Slider wrote:Okay thanks Steve. I'll see if I can get him to one this week. What do you think is wrong with him?

Nothing really its just a possible problem from not shedding. The bacteria/fungus is stuck in between the unshed scutes and new scutes. Even though he may bask and dry completly out. In between scutes the moisture stays so it never kills the bacteria/fungus which normal basking is susposed to do.

In your case most likely the fungus/ bacteria is holding the old scutes on. Something normal basking and the wheat germ pellets wont help with. See what the vet does. Most likely something treat the shell which will kill anything bad on it then the scutes should start coming off. Which is why i totally skipped that and take a small blade and pop the scutes off manually if something like this occurs. I just had did that to my western painted. His scutes werent shedding and then fungus became visiable. When poping off the scutes it stuck exactly where the fungus was like glue. Of course i dont recomend doing that at all because you can do more harm then good if you dont know what your doing.

I actually was able to peel off half of his scutes. I don't normally do it but they were so thin and didn't take anything to take them off. Im going to call around today to see who takes in turtles.