General Care Discussion :: Dose my turtles shell look healthy?

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

I think he is shedding he has for about 2 weeks. So i wanted to show you guys a picture of his shell when he is completely dry.
Here's the links for them:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51120416@N ... 7/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51120416@N ... 0/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51120416@N ... 6/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51120416@N ... 0/sizes/l/

Also how long dose it take for a RES to complete his shedding
And how many times dose he do it?
Dose his shell look healthy?

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

I also noticed a little bit of green stuff on his shell close to his back feed and tail. What is that? how can i get rid of it?
Also he has some black spots scatterd around his shell what are they?
How can i get rid of them?
Should i be conceared about this?

[Melvira_Fox]

From what I can tell, your turt's shell looks fine. The green stuff could very well just be algae. If you want to clean it off you could do so with a soft cloth or toothbrush.

I can't really see the black spots in the picture. Are they just your turtle's shell coloration?

I'm sure someone else will chime in with a second opinion.

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

I don't know if its the turtles coloration
when i got him the spots where already on him

[rsour24]

because the spots are symmetrical i would say you dont have anything to worry about

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

Oh ok thanks!
When will he be done shedding?

[untsmurf]

it depends on the turtle. some take a few weeks others take a few months. just don't pull any off, keep his diet healthy, and keep your temps where they should be.

your turtle will continue to shed scutes throughout his life, it's part of growing.

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

Oh ok thanks!

[Melvira_Fox]

it depends on the turtle. some take a few weeks others take a few months. just don't pull any off, keep his diet healthy, and keep your temps where they should be.

your turtle will continue to shed scutes throughout his life, it's part of growing.

You know it's strange... When we took our turts to the vet they pulled Korma's almost shed scutes off. So now the only ones she has left to shed right now are her marginals and she looks a bit goofy.

I thought that it was odd that they pulled those off...

[marisa]

If they were ready to come off to the point that there was no resistance, then I think no harm was done. I probably would have done the same.

[untsmurf]

Yes, pulling them off when there's no resistance is fine. At that point the only thing that is holding them on is probably dried algae.

when I said don't pull them off, I was recommending that you give the turtle time to shed on his own. They should be able to do it naturally without any assistance. The only time you need to pull them off is when the progress seems to have halted.

Also, if the scute is not ready to come off and you pull it off anyway, you can damage the underlying layer of scute.

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

How do you know if the progress halted?

[marisa]

I'm not sure I would try to take them off if the "progress seems to have halted." It could be that the scute isn't ready to come off.

Scutes that are ready to come off often have some of the edges lifted and look loose. If you gently lifted an edge, it would pop off without any effort. If there's any resistance, leave it alone.

BTW, when my RES's scutes come off like I described above, there is no dried algae holding them on. It's more that the scute has loosen to the point that air has gotten under it in some places more than others.

[Melvira_Fox]

Thanks Marisa.

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

I don't think any of my RES scutes are loose enough to take them off my self so i guess it's time to play the waiting game haha