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Hi there. Now that I'm off my ammonia-nitrite-I'm-killing-my-turtles kick, I"m on to a new one.

I mentioned before that Lily is shedding her skin. Now Herman has started. I've had them since this summer, and this is the first major skin shed I"ve seen. They are both eating, active, basking etc. so I tdon't hink something is wrong but...

are there any other possible reasons, health-related, that the skin may shed? Besides growth? Just so I can worry.

Thanks!

The most common cause for skin shedding is water temps are too high. What are your water temps?

THANK you spotsmama! I normally do keep it on 75. However, looks like the turts managed to spin the knob because it was up to about 78. Is I placed it in a better location. It was near some fake plants that they like to go behind. My guess is one of them stepped on the heater knob and spun it. Must check this more often! Is 78 warm enough to cause shedding?

78 will definitely cause more shedding. I keep Sheba at around 76 and that helps A LOT.

Whoo hoo! Great. Glad to hear it. Now for the love! Maybe just maybe I can stop annoying the little ones. Thank you!

Maybe this is why Willy is shedding so much. I have his water at 80degrees cause he is sick. Should I lower the temp, or just leave it at 80 until he gets better? What should the temp be for a healthy hatchling?

Here's the info on water temperature:

http://www.redearslider.com/index_water_quality.html

As long as Willy is sick and for maybe a month afterwards you should keep the temp at 80 at least or even a couple of degrees higher. It will cause him to shed skin but that's ok because the heat boosts his immune system.

The recommendation is to keep the temperature high for the little bitty turtles because they are so subject respiratory illnesses. It will cause skin shedding but that's more a nuisance than a real problem.

SpotsMama wrote:The most common cause for skin shedding is water temps are too high. What are your water temps?

just a question... i know shedding is from growth, but is it like a molting stage as well? like cats, birds, we ''shed" a lot more during the warmer months...?

I don't know. Probably. When the water temps are high they shed noticeably and continuously - I've seen this on Spot. When the water temps are cooler I think he sheds a little sometimes but it isn't as noticeable.

Lily has already stopped shedding as noticeably. After lowering the temp for one day only! She still has little "ghost wings" of skin hanging on but they aren't floating all over the tank!

Rickiew04 wrote:Maybe this is why Willy is shedding so much. I have his water at 80degrees cause he is sick. Should I lower the temp, or just leave it at 80 until he gets better? What should the temp be for a healthy hatchling?

I have to agree with Spotsmama on this one. I only keep Sheba at 76 because she is an adult & the adults tend to like it a bit cooler. Hatchlings like it to be 78-80 degrees. They are so small, they don't have much skin to lose!

Skin shedding can be a problem for my Sheba because she is so big & has a lot of skin to shed (has lots of skin surface area. I would call her "phat", LOL!). If the water is too warm, the filter clogs up like crazy with shed skin! It's really annoying!!!!!

interesting

industrial_girl_2000 wrote:I have to agree with Spotsmama on this one. I only keep Sheba at 76 because she is an adult & the adults tend to like it a bit cooler. Hatchlings like it to be 78-80 degrees. They are so small, they don't have much skin to lose!

I've actually been surprised at how much skin Willy can shed. At first I didn't know what was all over the water, but I saw he was shedding, and some of it coming off him. It's not as bad as it was a few days ago though.