Other Turtle Discussion :: shedding

[kiwigerman]

hi, i was just wondering... how often do turtles shed their shell? george has been losing sections of his for about a week. we've only had him for a month or so. his shell looked horrible when we bought him but the bits under where he's shed look much better.

[camee1991]

Hi Kiwigerman! Congrats on the new Res!

The only thing I can tell you is that shedding scutes (shell) varies turtle to turtle. Mostly some say yearly or more also. But Ive had my girl since she was quarter size and she just shed her 1st time a few months ago! Took about 3 months also!

One thing, in case you dont know?! Try not to pick at the shell even if it seems tempting...lol No seriously. They can shed on their own. You could cause damage and bleeding if you help pull off the scutes. If one is coming off and you touch it or *GENTLY* tug and it smoothly comes off thats cool.

Its fun too....I have a whole turtle shell in a container! lol I need to make a puzzle or something and glue it together! Now that would be cool!

Congrats again on George and maybe someone else will come along and elaborate more on shedding!:)

Camee

[kiwigerman]

what a cool idea! i wish i had kept the pieces that had come off. oh well... there is always next year.

[camee1991]

Yup... Isnt it so neat when the BIG pieces come off? So nice looking and the shell is so pretty and NEW underneath! Gotta luv em!

Maybe if I put my "puzzle" together Ill post pics! Should be lotsa challenging fun!

Camee

[DavidY]

That would be really awesome!