redearslider.com

Hi

I would like to know, how often turtles are shedding their scutes?
When she came to my house she was shedding very heavily
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/36847542/DSCN0529_01_01.JPG
(that was in february 2013) all of her scutes were „open“.
Finally she stopped shedding in july 2013
In this picture you can see two last scutes that need to come off...
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/36847542/IMG_2076_01.JPG
about week later they came off.

Today..in the morning I noticed that she's starting her shedding prossess again, because there are bubbles under the scutes. Is it normal? And again I see they starting to come off same time, because there are „bubbles“ under every scute. Is that normal? They should not come off at the same time or is it?
And how long normally takes time complete shedding? A month? Two?

And also I know that The shell of a Red Ear Slider should be hard and relatively smooth... my turtle shell is hard but little bit wavy as you can see in the first picture. What can I to about that?
What is the water temperature? 25-26*C
Did you use a thermometer? Yes
Are you using a water heater? Yes
How much water is in there? 100L
Are you using a water conditioner? No
Are you using any filtration? Yes

I also answered some basic questions:
What is the basking temperature? 35-36*C
Is there a basking light? Yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? Yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? River rocks that are siliconed to the wood
Is there a UVB light? Yes Reptistar UVA/UVB light
All the light go on and off with timer.

Her diet so far:
Monday Reptomin, JBL Calcil
Tuesday veggies, or waterplants, dandelion greens
Wednesday Reptomin, JBL Calcil
Thursday veggies, or waterplants or dandelion greens
Friday Reptomin, JBL Calcil
Saturday veggies, or waterplants or dandelion greens
Sunday veggies, or waterplants or dandelion greens and sometimes something delicious like shrimp.

I'm not sure how often turtles should shed, but it is natural for the turtle to shell most of its scutes within a week or so.

I'm not sure if you discussed what happened in the first pic before, but it's not normal and a result from an injury or infection. It looks like it has healed up nicely. As for shedding, it's perfectly normal that the shed around the same time.

Hi steve

When she was found she already had that white "spot" on her shell that was last year september. I met her six months later, and about a week after that
(basking under proper heat lamp and UVA/UVB pulb also last two temporary homes didn't have any lightning or heating) it came off.
What happened or how she got it is unknown.

Here's a picture from the first day she was found:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/36847542/154457_411171632286760_601163815_n.jpg

But how long they are shedding I mean how long it takes to complete it? One week? A month? I ask because when I gor her (in february) she was shedding 2-3 scutes at same time and once she stopped one round she started all over again this process. Finally she stopped in july. I think six months is not normal

I think proper shedding probably frustrates most keepers. There are a lot of factors we don't understand... I wouldn't worry about it at this point, if they are thin layers then it shouldn't take long.

My turtles take about 2-3months to do a complete shed.

Thank you steve and Diamondbacks4Life