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So, I don't know if it's just me, but this seems to happen to me a lot... Friends/family get a pet without doing any research. I try to steer them in the right direction, they completely blow me off, I end up trying my best to help, but getting nowhere, they think their way is ok, but then they realize eventually that said animal is suffering and beg me to take the animal and rescue it.

SO, that said. I have a new turtle! Lol I haven't had a turtle since I was a kid, and didn't know how to properly care for them back then, so I'm pretty much starting from scratch, besides the fact that I'm now kinda an obsessive researcher. I'm hoping to get some advice on how to get her health back on track.

Here's what I know. She's about 7.5-8" CPL, they've had her for a year and a half, maybe two years, she's been fed cheap turtle sticks, guppies, and (not gut loaded or dusted) crickets, the biggest home she's ever known is a 29gal with a turtle topper, cheap little HOB filter, no heat for the water, not adequate UV/heat for the basking area, etc... Her eyes look clear and bright, her nostrils are clear, she's heavy, no soft shell, no real noticeable pyramid to her shell, etc... But her shell is in TERRIBLE shape, there's gotta be layers and layers of stuck scutes, it's peeling and chipping away now, but it needs some attention badly...

I'll be putting her into my 120gal and building a basking area on top, upgrading her lighting (still trying to figure out which bulbs/fixtures will work the best for our setup). I have a filstar XP3 running now, I had another, but it broke, I'm waiting to get a part so I can put my Eheim Professional (2229) running as well. We're removing all the gravel as I type this.

I'm just trying to cover all my basis and make sure I've thought of everything... Any tips/advice? Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you're on the top of your game. Is she a good basker? have you done any shell maintenance/cleaning?

I JUST got her, I'm not sure about her basking really, my SIL really didn't tell me a whole lot. She really had no clue about turtle behavior. She's still just getting used to the tank and checking things out. I haven't been able to build the topper yet, so I have the penn plax turtle topper rigged up for now and she's been too nervous to go up there so far. She keeps going up to the ramp and chickening out. I turned the lights in the tank off and turned her basking lights on. So hopefully she'll try it soon. She seems pretty healthy other than her shell! I don't really know where to start with her shell. I heard feeding wheat germ can help. I planned on getting some. My friend said brushing her turtle's shell with a toothbrush and baking soda helped? I was going to look into that. She's skittish and nippy if you approach her, but comes right up to me and seems curious, so this should be interesting... She's shedding really bad right now, and I can see air trapped under layers and layers of her shell.

Can you post a picture of the shell?

Several good sheds would help immensely. How old is she?

My guess is around 2-3 years? I don't really know how old she was when my SIL got her. Glad to hear there's hope for her shell!

Sorry for the crappy pics, these are the best I got. She's not easy to photograph! Lol she wants to be ON the camera.

Most of the marginal scutes are retained, so her shell will round out after that sheds (those in my opinion take the longest). The bumpiness at top will take some time to smooth out, but I don't think it will completely smooth out. I'd consider using a MVB as they should help with shedding as well.

Well, she keeps trying to bask, but that dock is just too small for her. She gets up there, but can't get get rear end all the way off the ramp, so she teeters and gives up and slides back into the water. :-/ hopefully we can get the topper finished this weekend so she has a much more roomy basking area and an easier ramp for her. Considering dry times for paint and silicone, I'm thinking I should set up a dry docking area for her to spend some time in to make sure she's getting time to dry out.

Can you post a picture of the entire setup? Is this the 120?

Sorry for the delay, it's been a crazy past few days. I was trying not to jinx myself by mentioning it and hearing it might not work, but I was TRYING to get her to room with my 2 old stunted oscars I rescued years ago... All went so great in the beginning, but one day I didn't feed her when I stood by the tank for a while and she was begging and next thing ya know I'm pulling her off my oscar's tail. Since then she has only has supervised visits to the 120 and has been dry docking some and I set her up in her old 29gal setup with upgraded filtration and heating for now. This weekend we'll be buying her a tank of her own, or the supplies to set up an indoor pond, depending on what deals we find, so she won't be in here for long. I added some (better) pics of her and a pic of her current setup to the link I posted earlier.

Also, now that she's back in the smaller tank, she does get most of the way into the turtle dock, but won't go all the way in (she leaves her back feet on the ramp even though she has the space to get all the way in), and won't stay long, maybe a couple minutes. She's definitely not letting Herself dry out completely. Think I'm going to have to go back to giving her some dry dock time. Hopefully once she has a bigger basking area and better lighting she will get all the way out and stay out for a bit.

Are you using the topper? You might need to place some food up there to entice her.

Yes. The small setup pictured is where she's at now. She seems to be going up there more often now. She's SUPER skittish though and if I come within 10' of the tank, she dives back down into the water, so I really don't know how much time she's spending up there since she'll only bask when I'm not around.