Urgent Care :: Turtles shell is pyramiding

[monte$mom]

there shells are not flat like they should be.... one minute it looks like there shedding then again i dont ever see the schutes floatiing or anything...anyhow My basking area is the right temp i have the uvb light they dont have a water tank heater thing there water usually in the summer is pretty warm but now its winter months for them soo i dont know. what should i do?? any advice is greatly appreciated, i just wanna know what i should do as far as the tank goes..my man has them swimming around in a 50 gallon tank FULL of 50 GALLONS of water !! everytime i look at somebody elses set up they have less water more land, SHOULD I DO THAT?? i dont think they wanna swim all the time and bask all the time what if my female needs to lay eggs in the future?? i dont know i thought i was doing everything right ....guess not the pyramiding scares me...please help!

[marisa]

Do you have a winter where you are or does it get signficantly cooler where you are this time of year? If so, they need a submerisble water heater.

I'm assuming you have RES. They're aquatic and need water and a basking area that's easy to get on (and big enough for how many RES there are). I doubt you're seeing RES enclosures with more "land" than water on this site...If the tank is completely full, you have to make sure they can't escape. Or, you could lower the water level until you're sure they can't climb out.

How big are they (shell lengths of each without the shell curves)? Has the female (you're sure you have a female), shown signs of being gravid (needing to lay eggs)?

A picture of the shells dry would show what you're talking about (whether they're pyramiding or shedding).

What is the temp of the basking area ("right" temp doesn't really say much)? How old is the UVB light?

What do you feed them, how much at a feeding and how often?

[monte$mom]

It gets pretty cold I live in northern california. They have a good basking area it gets between 85 to 100. The uvb light is about 6 months old. there about 1 1/2 years old . My turtle isnt gravid..They eat lots of greens,lettace,Romaine MAINLY. on the occasion blood worms, i give them these frozen turtle food cubes,bout 3 times a week i have another post on here with pics (search my name you will find it) of rent pics ! i feed them about 3 times a week now because i did have a habit of feeding them every day.. and treats. i cut them off treats for about 4 months now and i took them off pellets... Cause i heard the pellets can give them protein disease!

[monte$mom]

another Question,WHAT BRAND AND PRECISES BULB FOR EAT SHOULD I GET THEM?? I WANT THE BEST OF THE BEST NOT WHAT SOME GUY AT PETCO SAYS WORKS FOR HIS TURTLES WHICH ARENT EVEN THE SAME AS MINE..lol but i want my turtles to have the best care i feel like a bad caretaker because my greatest fear was there shells pyramiding, and i go to pet shops and see how awesome there shells are and there set ups @ pets mart arent anything compared to mine...they dont have a good light and there mainly on LAND!

[steve]

What kind of basking area do you have setup? Can you post a picture?