Urgent Care :: Is Steve shedding or is something wrong

[Ryano]

Ok, so Steve has this white flaky look to his shell. He also has small white strands coming off of his skin that you can only see in the water. They are like stringy and see through. If you take him out you can not see the strands on his skin. Steve has been like this for awhile approx a month, and I just figured he was shedding. Its been so long now though I'm starting to worry. I will answer the basic questions needed and post pics for you guys to see. Sorry I could not get pics of the strands in the water because they are so hard to see. Please help me out with this one as I hope Steve is just shedding, and this is nothing major.

How big is your turtle? 3.5 inches
How long have you had it? About 1.5 years

What is the water temperature? Approximately 76 degrees
Did you use a thermometer? Yes, I use three. On the high side one shows 78 on the low side one shows 74 so I figure it averages out around 76.
Are you using a water heater? Yes, an Eheim Jager
How much water is in there? 125 gallons
Are you using a water conditioner? I use Prime when I add new water
Are you using any filtration? Yes, I have an FX6 set up like the FX5 recommendation in one of the filter threads here.

What is the basking temperature? 92ish
Is there a basking light? Yes it is a MegaRay 100Watt self ballisted
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? Yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? Acrylic, its an above the tank basking area with a ramp with slots. He has no trouble getting up there
Is there a UVB light? Yes, read above.

What have you been trying to feed it? He has a feeding schedule I stick to:
Sunday in the AM he gets red leaf lettuce the size of his head. In the PM he gets 1 freeze dried cricket
Monday he gets 1 jello shot the size of his head (as made in the thread here)
Tuesday in the AM he gets red leaf lettuce the size of his head. In the PM he gets Reptomin pellets half the size of his head
Wednesday he gets 1 jello shot the size of his head
Thursday in the AM he gets red leaf lettuce the size of his head. In the PM he gets Omega One pellets half the size of his head
Friday he gets 1 jello shot the size of his head.
Saturday in the AM he gets red leaf lettuce the size of his head. In the PM he gets either Omega One or Reptomin pellets half the size of his head, they alternate weekly

When was the last time your turtle ate? He eats every day.

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 125 gallons. 72x18x21
Is the tank near a window? Across the room from one
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? Semi amount of activity, like we walk through it to go to the kitchen.

Have you read the Basic Care section? Yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? Yes, that's why I believed it was shedding.

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? None that I see he acts normal.

I will post pics now these were taken today when I took him outside so he was dry and I had light. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. If you need other pictures also feel free to ask.

[steve]

The skin shedding sounds normal. The scutes are a bit off. There is some shedding going on but it's very uneven. Some keepers have experienced a bacterial infection* that causes pitting throughout the shell. In most cases, the shell is completely normal after one or two sheds and this might be an early case of it.

*Unconfirmed that it's bacteria

[Ryano]

Any ideas on what I should do or should I just keep observing. He is very active and eats. He doesn't act sick at all. Also is everything I'm doing ok or should I edit something to fix the scute and shedding problem?

[steve]

Plenty of UVB (if outdoors, then even better) and make sure your turtle is basking. Check regularly for soft or exposed areas. The chipping of the marginals is unusual... keep an eye on that as well. As long as the pitting is limited to the very top layer of scutes, you should be OK.

I'd skip Prime and use Purigen and carbon. He can probably take more lettuce. I'd move away from Reptomin and/or mix in some wheat-germ koi pellets. Everything else sounds great.

[Ryano]

He is indoors. I see him in the basking area sometimes but as soon as I walk by he goes back to the water quick. Unsure how much basking he does while I'm at work but I know he gets up there because the decorations are moved around. I see no exposed and feel no soft areas so that's good, and I'll watch the chips. The pitting is very shallow that I see also.

A couple of questions. Should I add lettuce to the days I feed jello shots? The shots themselves contain lettuce but that seems like the best day to add it. Also I fill my tank with a python so how can I use that and skip the Prime? I do use carbon in my fx6 but I don't want the chlorinated water to reach my bacteria colony. The wheat germ pellets, I've never heard of, would that be like Hikari Pellet wheat germ fish food?

[Kansasslider]

This is what some of us use to filter tap water.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=33171

[steve]

Yes, Hikari is good. You can probably offer some lettuce every day. The filter Kansasslider linked is pretty good, everyone seems to like theirs.