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Shell discoloring baby RES

PostPosted: Sun May 04, 2014 2:40 pm
by nismoasfuh
hey guys so i have attached 2 images at the bottom of this post in hopes to get some input from you guys. my turtles shell has gotten a good amount of discoloring on the back edge of his shell mostly. Its almost like a metallic gold, which is a lot easier to see when he's in the water. He acts perfectly normally, and his shell is hard but i figured this much discoloration warranted a little bit of worriedness. Please guys let me know what this could be.

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Re: Shell discoloring baby RES

PostPosted: Mon May 05, 2014 10:19 am
by steve
A golden color is usually some shedding going on (air gets under the top scute layer). If its whitish, it's usually fungus. It's hard for me to positively tell from the pic, its a bit blurry.

Re: Shell discoloring baby RES

PostPosted: Mon May 05, 2014 6:22 pm
by nismoasfuh
hey! thanks for the response!
yea its definitely a gold almost metallic gold. is it not weird that its only happing on some parts of his shell?

Re: Shell discoloring baby RES

PostPosted: Tue May 06, 2014 12:04 am
by steve
Their first few sheds don't always go smooth. I also noticed some jagginess and large growth seams, you might need to reevaluate his diet.

Re: Shell discoloring baby RES

PostPosted: Tue May 06, 2014 2:19 pm
by nismoasfuh
oh man thats not good to hear :/ the seams are the lines between the scutes? yea they seem dark and wide. and the jaggedness of his shell definitely is present. I feed him reptomin baby pellets and feed carrots/ leafy greens.

Re: Shell discoloring baby RES

PostPosted: Tue May 06, 2014 2:30 pm
by steve
Yes, the seams are between the pieces of scutes.

Re: Shell discoloring baby RES

PostPosted: Tue May 06, 2014 3:49 pm
by nismoasfuh
what are some of the things i should be changing to hopefully resolve his condition

Re: Shell discoloring baby RES

PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 9:46 am
by steve
Less protein/pellets and more veggies. Use a good brand of pellets. Does he have a UVB light?

Re: Shell discoloring baby RES

PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 6:14 pm
by nismoasfuh
yup 13 watt exo terra 5.0 about 7-8 inches away from his basking spot, which has the basking light as well. ill calm down on the pellets even though i really give him 2 a day tops. he has a balance of romaine lettuce and carrots as well. thanks for the responses Steve!

Re: Shell discoloring baby RES

PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 9:44 pm
by steve
2 is not much, how many is he getting now? Any possibility people are sneaking him treats/food?

Re: Shell discoloring baby RES

PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 11:14 pm
by nismoasfuh
should i be upping his daily pellets then? I give him 2 a day, along with either a piece of romaine lettuce/carrot usually

Re: Shell discoloring baby RES

PostPosted: Fri May 09, 2014 8:28 pm
by steve
I don't think his shell would look like that if he were only getting 2 a day. How long has be been fed like that?

Re: Shell discoloring baby RES

PostPosted: Fri May 09, 2014 10:46 pm
by nismoasfuh
as long as i have had him; like 2.5 months. i am giving him a piece of carrot or lettuce everyday too though, maybe i should cut that to once or twice a week?

Re: Shell discoloring baby RES

PostPosted: Sat May 10, 2014 7:10 am
by steve
Carrots once a week, lettuce everyday. Still a possibility people are sneaking him treats/food?

Re: Shell discoloring baby RES

PostPosted: Sat May 10, 2014 1:35 pm
by nismoasfuh
definitely not, thanks for the advice. 2 pellets and lettuce daily, piece of carrot once a week. lets see how it goes. appreciate it once again Steve.