Urgent Care :: Pleural carapace scute issues : Shell indentations !!

[kklemesrud]

I don't know if this is urgent or not, but I am a first-time turtle owner and I am worried. I have two turtles that both have dents in their shells!

About the turtles:
The turtles are from the same clutch, one has grown much larger than the other (one is about 3-4 in., other is 2.5-3 in.). Both have same food (pellets fed by hand), romaine lettuce, occ. sweet potato or carrot, occ. cuttle bone, light (basking and UVA/UVB), basking area, filters, 20 gal. tank. Their tank water is usu. around 75 degrees.

Pics of the turtles and their set up can be seen at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kklemesrud

Pics don't show the dents well. If someone responds I'll post pics of the dents.

About the dents:
The smaller turtle has had some mishaping of his shell, which I've posted about before. They are both acting normal, vigorous, and generally happy. They eat well. However, now the turtles both have indentations on their shells. The pleural scutes of the carapace on both turtles are indented in places, but not soft. (Although, I'm not exactly sure what a "soft" shell would feel like, so I don't know if I am gauging it properly.)The dents WERE NOT incurred by any injury, such as falling.

Is this an issue of them not being able to shed scutes? Is this an issue of them not having enough of something? Too much of something? What can I do to fix is or reverse the problem? If it is because they can't shed scutes, what should I do?

ANY HELP WOULD BE WONDERFUL. Thank you!

[SpotsMama]

OK - I'm posting. Could you please show us a picture of the dents? I'm not really able to visualize them. Could be an issue of not shedding properly. Could be pyramiding. Could be metabolic bone disease. Could be something else altogether.

Best to have photos of the shells when they are completely dry.

As an aside, you can leave cuttlebone in the tank all the time for them to nibble on when they feel the need. They need lots of calcium.

Have they shed before? Do they bask regularly so that they dry out completely - top and bottom?

Tell us a bit more about the light. What brand and strength is the UVB bulb? How old is it?

[marisa]

Not the clearest of pictures, but I get the idea. In addition to anything they make be lacking in their enclosure, it looks like a diet issue to me. You posted in a previous thread that you were feeding them once or twice a day, 12 pellets at a time. It was recommended that you not feed as much and vary the diet more. What's their diet been like in the past 5 months or so?