Urgent Care :: turtle shedding question

[Jessica313]

hi
ive had my RES for about a year now. he has a 20G long tank , a fully submergable filter, a heater and a basking area where he can completly get out of the water with a UVB basking light his water temp is about 80 degrees and his basking area about 90.... he is shedding, and it looks normal to me but he has been shedding for a couple months now and i didnt think it was normal to go on for so long. does anyone know anything about this? im worried there might be something else wrong because its been going on for so long. i have been using dr turtle sulfa blocks for this whole time now but they dont last very long because he keeps eating them.
he is totally healthy otherwise, very active and a good eater.
please let me know what you think!

here is a pic of what his shell looks like when its dry



**note that i would NEVER keep my turtle on a plastic bag..
i just put him on there for a few mins to take a picture

[marisa]

Welcome to the forum. If I were you, I'd should stop using those sulfa blocks--they really don't do much, and long term use will make your turtle resistant to the drug in them. The form of calcium in them can't be readily used by your turtle even if he eats them. (They're basically a waste of money.) It could also be why he has that white residue on his shell (it doesn't look the same as the whitish areas caused by air trapped under the scutes that are getting ready to shed).

[Jessica313]

thanks for the advice on the sulfa block! i will def listen to that as they are pretty expensive
anyone else have any advice for me?

[marisa]

If you want to give him some extra calcium in the diet, get some cuttlebone (same stuff given to birds). Take off the shell/hard backing (the side you can't dig a fingernail into) break it into head-size pieces and let a few float in the tank. A better source of calcium and cheaper than those sulfa blocks.

[Jessica313]

i got the cuttlebone and did as u said. a few are still floating, but he ate a few too. thanks for the help

[industrial_girl_2000]

i got the cuttlebone and did as u said. a few are still floating, but he ate a few too. thanks for the help

My turtle eats the calcium blocks too. I have a waterfall filter & I throw a calcium block into waterfall filter (as it filters the water). That way, the calcium dissolves & goes into the water s-l-o-w-l-y without my RES chomping away at the block.

I have one of the larger waterfall filters, made for a 50-60 gal tank, so there is plenty of space for a calcium block to fit in it. The block usually dissolves in a day or two.

[Jessica313]

ahh, good idea. im going to do that. thank you

[sweet_sorrow004]

Make sure he has cuttle bone to nibble on. Also, the tank water may be slightly too warm, this can often cause excess shedding. Also, there are certain desseases whose symptons are excessive shedding. If it doesnot stop soon DO NOT go to the pet stores (who often know NOTHING) but call up a vet and get an appointement. Make sure its a reptile vet!