Other Turtle Discussion :: Question about my RES's shell.

[trishanye87]

i have a red eared slider that is about 5 years old. Her shell has some shinny spots that you dont really see when she is out of the water but as soon as she slides into it they are very noticable. they look like air pockets under the first layer of her shell. Her scutes havent been comming off in full pieces either they are very thin and its more like little pieces are flaking off. She also has had what looks like a crack in her shell for a few years but it hasnt seemed to bother her and it hasnt gotten any bigger. She is still very very active and eats normal. If any one has any info or comments please let me know her is a link to an album showing pictures of her. Thanks again. Trisha

http://s1019.photobucket.com/albums/af3 ... e87/Koopa/

[steve]

It looks like are pockets, and is part of the shedding process. Not sure when that'll happen, but it's a good sign.

[trishanye87]

shes had these pockets in her shell for a few months now so it doesnt seem normal.

[Kemul]

Some turtles take quite a while to shed. Just keep providing good food and UVB
for basking. Food that encourage shedding are, for example, blueberry and
sweet potato.

[theartbook35]

My two hatchlings have spent the last, I'd say sick months shedding their scutes. Turtles just take a really long time to shed, and it's different for every turtle. You can feed your turtle blueberries one or twice a week, and also give chunks of cuttlebone, to speed up the shedding process a little bit.

You will notice to that sometimes, when you move a turtle to a new tank, they will start getting ready to shed their skin and scutes.