General Care Discussion :: hello again

[sx2r]

I've not been around in a long time.
So ill up date you on my green babies.
Well speedy is approx 5 inches and about 3 years old now (I got him/her as a hatching) I'm guessing from the looks of speedy that its probably a girl, short claws, bottom of shell flat. Has a bit of pyramiding on the shell.
And slow poke (also got as a hatchling att he same time as speedy) has always had a soft spot on the bottom of the shell, as he's grown the spot stays proportioned to him. He use to swim funny when we first got him but after about 6 months of having him he started swimming propperly. He's now approx 4 inches big, shell is nice and smooth. (These two both live togeather in my giant stock tank.)
The other day my husbands dad asked if we would take in his friends turtle (apparently approx the same size) I was unsure, didn't want my turtles getting sick, or hurt. So I said only if it came with everything. (Mainly a tank) so they people agreed. My husband goes to get it while its naptime for my youngest kid. And when he comes home he's holding a box and says, dad lied, this turtles way bigger! He opens the box... this turtle is just over 7inches! So glad I said it must come with its own tank!. He said the water was nasty, which I can see from the green all over the tank. Which I plan on scrubbing down when the kids go to bed. The tank is decent but I wish it was bigger. Its got weird dimentions so my husband calculated it to be about a 47g. The tank is so tiny looking compared to speedy and slow pokes. It has no heaters so I'm going to have to buy a heater. They told my husband they lost the uvb light and heat lamp, so I'm going to have to get those as well. It does have a dock to bask on though, but I doubt it basks. It has some pyramiding. Not too bad though! Ill get her some proper lighting. I think its a fem

[sx2r]

Whoops. I think its a female, the bottom of its shell is flat the claws are short. They told my husband its only a few years old, by the size I'm assuming older the our two. We decided to go with another typical turtle name. Shelly. So now we have shelly, speedy and slow-poke.

[steve]

Hey there! Glad the new addition appears to be healthy, is she a RES too? What does Slow-poke's spot look like?

[sx2r]

Yeah she's a res. About 9inches big I put pictures up in the picture forum. I'm going to try to get a picture of the spot on slow poke. Its really hard to get a photo of since he doesn't sit still

[sx2r]

K I got an alright picture abit of glare from my glass door but best I could do.


He's always had this spot and it grows with him. Stays porpotionate with him. I can't tell you how many nightmares I've had because of it.

[sx2r]

I posted a picture of this when I first got him and someone thinks it was from the yok sak not detaching propperly. I looked into it online and it does seem to be in thr right spot. So I'm assuming that's what it is. Slow poke is healthy otherwise.

[steve]

Does the area feel firm like the rest of the shell?

[devilduck]

Make sure the basking spot isn't too rough or has sharp edges, sometimes this can scrap up the bottom of their shell when they drag themselves up to bask.

[sx2r]

Not hard, its soft. I don't have anything small and pointy or anything in the tank I'm too paranode of him killing himself. Everything is soft and smooth. When he was little my finger touched it once and I could feel his heartbeat through it. It sheds like his skin does. So I'm guessing its skin.

[steve]

It's unusual, so I'd continually keep a close eye on the area.