General Care Discussion :: Shedding...

[adam85491]

I have looked shedding up but cannot find how often they should shed. My turtle basks for about 8 hours a day, and it seems that in a week he sheds a few scutes on his shell. How often should this happen? The water temp. is 78 and the basling temp is 85-88.

[adam85491]

A few sections of his shell come off, and I now notice this once I got a more proper set-up. He is growing and is about 2 inches and is about 2 years old, I believe.

[marisa]

They shed as they grow, so there really isn't an exact timetable to go by.

If you've improved your turtle's set-up, you might find him shedding a bit more than before (improved set-up/better living conditions = faster growth).
What exactly did you do to improve it?

A SCL of 2 inches at two (really?) years of age is a bit small. What is he being fed? How much and how often?

[adam85491]

I'm not gonna lie, before I found this site I wasn't taking very good care of my turtle very well, but I didn't know that at the time. I used to have about 4 inches of water and nothing else. I have spent all my money on what I could since I am only fifteen. I now have a ten gallon tank, a basking bulb in a fluker's clamp lamp, two thermometers, a tetra whisper filter rated for 20 gallons, and a fake plant. The temperatures are normal, the only thing I need is a UVB bulb, but sadly, that is just out of reach. I am doing the best I can, and they are happier. I also have a zoo-med basking dock. I feed them HBH pellets daily, but I have been giving them dried shrimp or crickets once in a while now. They have cuttlebone in there and I actually saw him try to eat it today. I gave them some pear and they were trying to eat it, but I am aware that is a once a month thing. I am trying to encourage vegetable eating and am taking the advice to get a veggie clip to encourage this.

[marisa]

I appreciate your honesty, and I'm glad you're trying to improve living conditions. I have to ask, though---they? How many do you have in the tank?

Since I know for sure about the one turtle, I'm only to comment on his diet. Rather than the HBH pellets being a staple, I'd make them more of a treat along with the dried shrimp and crickets (dried as well?). I'd get a pellet like Reptomin or something similar that's reputable and make that a staple. The turtle is small for his age, and rather than the pears, I'd concentrate on leafy greens that have more nutrition than fruit (dandelions, red-leaf lettuce, anachris (aquatic plant) as well as some foods that are high in beta carotene (one fruit is good here---cantelope, as well as thin carrot peels, pumpkin, sweet potato, for example. You can lightly steam the last two veggies.)

Did you mention regular potato in another post? If you did, I'd skip it--too starchy.

Work on getting that UVB light. In the meantime, if you gave them something like Reptomin, they'd be certain to be getting some vit D3 in the diet (I don't know what the HBH pellets have) as well as a little calcium.

[adam85491]

It's actually two, both are pretty small and are young. They both lived together in the poor environment and never fight usually, at least, I have never seen any problems. I am improving them and I do expect them to grow , so I already am going to work on saving any money I ever get for a larger tank. I know they need vegetables, and I was thinking about getting them a bag of those mini carrots and an anarchis plant if they have them at the local Petco. Would those carrots work? They are already peeled and would be lightly refrigerated. I have a tough time giving them vegetables because my Mom uses frozen or canned veggies for most things except cabbage, onions, and iceberg lettuce. If I could pick up romane lettuce, and know it would keep for a while, I would get it. How long would that last? Like, in a refrigerator. I know the crickets and shrimp, both dried, are treats and are given in moderation.

[adam85491]

And on the shedding, what I am noticing is that he sheds thin clear layers and they go to the bottom of the tank. It looks like he is constantly doing this now and it is basically drying up and falling off, I don't know if that is normal. He is fine, active and everything, and jumps in for a swim periodically, while the light is on.

[marisa]

If the new scutes look good and the shell looks healthy, I'd say his shedding is a very good thing.

Is the other turtle also two years old and is the shell also two inches long? If so, both of them are small for their ages.

They need vegetable matter, yes, but since they're small and it sounds like they might not have had the best diet before, a good, balanced turtle pellet is also important (check out the Reptomin when you get a chance---I think it might be cheaper than the HBH pellets, especially if you get it at Walmart).

I give my turtles carrots about once a week. The mini carrots would work but borrow your mom's vegetable peeler and cut thin strips of the carrots-make them look like worms. Carrots last longer in the fridge than leafy greens do.

Red leaf and romaine lettuce last about a week for me. If you buy some and it's wet, it won't last as long as if it hasn't been sprayed with water in the store (I dry it with paper towels and put it in a fresh plastic bag--take a couple of extra bags---to make it last longer). If it gets wilted, let it sit in water to perk it up again. The anachris (comes in a bunch) will be fine if you just keep it in a container of clean water and feed a stalk to your turtles once or twice a week as part of the diet.

When you go the the supermarket for the lettuce and carrots, look around and see if they have an area where they sell fresh veggies at reduced prices (they're usually very ripe and won't last long). I always look for this section and often am able to get foods like red bell peppers and mangoes much more cheaply than paying regular prices. Both are OK for your turtles. You could also ask a manager (very nicely, of course) if they have any leaves of lettuce, etc., that they've trimmed off the produce (you don't need a lot). It's amazing what you can get if you tell people you want the food for turtles. (If you do this and get some leaves, wash them well before giving them to your turtles.) Hope this helps.

[adam85491]

Thanks. Actually, te other one is about an inch big. It's my fault that they are a little small, and I feel awful. I will definetly try the carrots and hopefully some leafy greens. I have not seen reptomin pellets here, but I also have nutramin sticks. Would it be ok to feed them a small amount of pellets every day and leave some veggies in a veggie clip everyday, with a treat mixed in once a week? I appreciate your patience and help. When my turtle sheds, it seems like he is already doing it again. The shell is green and brown in certain areas but is nice and hard. I would love to take a picture, but my scanner didn't work last time I tried, and I am not sure why. I'll see what I ca do.

[adam85491]

His scutes are well defined but are kind of spaced a bit. They are not high or anything, but are kind of spaced.

[marisa]

Nutrafin? That would be OK. The one that's an inch is also 2 years old (I'm hoping the answer to this is a no)?

Even though the one (both?) are over a year old, I'd feed them daily for now. Maybe not a head-size amount, though. Try for a little less than that for each of them. If you see a lot of sudden growth, fed less. You can give them some plant matter daily. A weekly treat, depending on how much, would be OK If you give a treat, don't give the pellets.

I'm not sure what you mean by your scute description. A pic would be helpful...

[adam85491]

No, that one is about a year old. You know how a turtle has like, lines along its back that make the scutes look like a jigsaw puzzle? Mine have thicker lines so it looks like individual islands are spread out. So I can give them daily pellets, or no?

[marisa]

Did you read all of my post? (Read it again, please.)

All I can imagine from your description is that the seam (line in between the suctes) is widening, which will happen as they grow. When they're in the water, does the line in between the scutes look light/whitish?

[mkoby]

Some stores sell greens such as "spring mix" in bulk. This is what I purchase. It's a mix of green leafy lettuce, red lettuce and dandelion. It's sold by weight so I can get a small amount at a time so it doesn't spoil and go to waste. Some stores also have really good salad bars that are priced by weight. This also would work.

[adam85491]

I just saw something at the store that might work. There were these bags of lettuce mix. They had the trio, a mix of iceberg,romaine, and green leaf lettuce. They also had romaine and iceberg and I think green leaf and iceberg. It came in a bag and in another ziplock bag looked like it might hold for about ten days.