General Care Discussion :: Pyramiding ?

[pmkls1]

Hi folks,

I just "rescued" two little guys a few days ago from an acquaintance and have a question about the shell of the larger one. I'm fairly certain from what I've read that it is pyramiding, but just wanted confirmation. I already have some fresh veggies to supplement the reptomin sticks to reduce the protein intake and resolve the issue. Thanks in advance,

Phil

[unclejoe]

I have no experience with what pyramiding looks like on a turtle, but I can see it looks like some of the scutes are trying to peel off/Shed.

Nice name Phil.. We named our painted Philbert aka Phil

[pmkls1]

Lol Phil is my name, the turtle is strawberry shortcake, but I can see where it would look like it was her name. The scutes are peeling for sure but it was the possible abnormal growth pattern I was concerned about.

[steve]

It's not pyramiding, but more of a combination of retained scutes and excessive growth. Her shell should look much better after a few sheds.

[pmkls1]

Ok then, a lower fat and protein diet along with better portioning should curb the growth. She is shedding like crazy now so hopefully that's a good thing. I'm finding more scutes in the water than I thought were shedding, but given that she was static nearly her entire life I guess it's to be expected.

[unclejoe]

From what I have read and seen on this site.. You should pat yourself on the back. Many stories of turtles with retained scutes and its has been a long process for them to shed them all and catch up. The fact that she is shedding so well and so fast means you are providing what she needs to do this process. Proper lighting and drying spot and vitamins to get the job done. I have often wondered how this makes a turtle feel getting rid of all these tight scutes that don't fit no more.. I imagine it feels pretty good to get all cleaned up.

[pmkls1]

I've had them less than a week so I'm not ready to pat myself on the back for any progress just yet. That being said, I would credit the shedding to just the basking because it took me a few days to get them more than just the reptomin pellets. But thanks for the nod in my direction anyway I have actually been wondering if the retained scutes don't itch or something because it would make sense for them to feel weird in one way or the other. I also want to sit there and peel off the loose stuff because it just looks uncomfortable, but I'm not going to actually try that unless someone actually recommends it. I have been interacting with them increasingly and giving them a little scratch on the back with my fingernail like I have read that they enjoy. They appear to be warming up to everyone ok and are gradually getting less skittish as people approach. I moved their tank over to a stand yesterday and out of necessity it is consequently placed in a high-traffic area. I'm also wondering if that is a good thing or a bad thing. My thoughts are that it should help them acclimate to human interaction more. So far they are a bit on the skittish side as can be expected, but they are allowing me to handle them a little and luckily they don't appear to be prone to biting as some are. I can actually sneak in a little rub on the head occasionally without them sucking their heads into their shells or snapping at me so hopefully that's a good sign.

[unclejoe]

its is recommended not to peel off the scutes, because if they are not quite ready they may do some damage to fresh skin underneath. unless you can tell its hanging by a thread so to speak.

As for high traffic areas, I watched some youtube videos on how to tame turtles and that is the one thing they suggest to do.. put them where they see people and movements.. Only time I may remove a turtle from this situation is if it appears so shy it won't bask or eat at all. Then for the health of the turtle I would put it in a private spot. But it sounds like your two are adjusting pretty quickly. I honestly believe the more time you put into them the more you will get out. RESs tend to be very people friendly for the most part, especially the girls, so as long as they appear to be dealing ok with the extra attention why not? I suspect as soon as those two girls realize you bring the food,, they are gonna be all over you when you come near the tank..lol

My god Philbert is a begger.. its kind of cool when we look into the tank he is at the bottom and he sees us and comes swimming right to the surface,, cause heck we might have food right?? They ain't stupid..lol

[pmkls1]

I've had several RES before just not very long and all of them were people friendly to a degree. I used to catch wild ones and play with them then let them go all of the time when I was a kid. I grew up across the street from a small private lake and I've caught dozens of all sizes. I also had a very short stint with two as actual pets, but let them go after realizing that I was far from prepared to care for them properly. My ex-wife and I got suckered by a tourist-trap place selling hatchlings to impulse buyers. That place rotates between alligators and turtles to avoid the law. The two little guys we bought were precious and they would beg like crazy. Here's a pic of the tank in it's new location.

[unclejoe]

Looks good.. They seem to be adapting to it.. Basking already.. I am wonder about the distance of the light from the turtles? Will wait for someone more experienced to advise on that.. I think I read somewhere about the lights being to close and their eyes and stuff.. but I am not 100% sure. They sure seem like they are trying to battle it out to get closer..lol

I have tonnes of experience with pets as a kid,, but never turtles or any reptiles for that matter. Where I come from the only wild turtles I ever came across were Painted turtles and Snapping turtles.. You sure didn't mess with Snapping turtles..lol

I lived in Florida for 4 yrs never saw an alligator once in the wild and we were surrounded by three large ponds.. But its How we got to spend so much time with wild turtles there. It was amazing how the different species were in such close proximity to each other and no aggression accept for the Softies.. The large Soft Shell females would snap at each other for better position to the food. But they never snapped at the other species just each other..

[pmkls1]

Well not that it's any better, but it's only a 60 watt incandescent bulb in the fixture for now. I've already picked out a zoo-med kit for aquatic turtles and the accompanying stand unless somebody advises against it. But, they can't seem to get close enough to the current light. I've caught a couple snappers and once caught a hatchling softshell and it blew my mind. At that point I had heard of softshells before but I thought they were an exotic species so I was amazed that they were living in the lake across the street. Speaking of snappers here's a pic of one that I fished out of the creek to show my daughter this summer. I didn't get a shot of him out of the water because he was pretty angry lol. He had a shell length of about 24" so he was decent sized, but he was no monster by any means.

[unclejoe]

This is Zilla ( Godzilla) we didn't know he was a boy the first year. We learned all about sexing turtles that year. This guy was a small male by Florida Snapping Turtle standards, but he was still impressive and gentle.. We couldn't get over how gentle he was.. He never ever attacked any of the other turtles or even went for any of the fingerling fish on the edge of the pond.. but I swear I saw him try to take a duck down one day.. Duck got away that time..

Anyway the snappers I was used to seeing where I am from were 40 lbs on a good day.. Couldn't pick them up if I tried..lol

Zilla was only one of 14 we used to feed on a regular basis..



Momma (Moss) made an appearance at the end.. Yellow Belly Slider and that was Snowy the duck..

[unclejoe]

This is Goldy. I drew the line at feeding large female florida soft shells by hand.. they were a little bit to intense,, but we did feed the juveniles and the males by hand.. We had three of these large females come to feeding times on a regular basis.. Goldy was the oldest by far.. she was covered in battle scars.. My husband was ok feeding Gamera by hand, but Goldy was too unpredictable even for him.

[unclejoe]

As for zoo med bulbs, I think i have read on other threads that there are better UVB bulbs,, it sounds like from all the comments I see on here that Zoo Med may not be the best quality in reptile accessories.. But I didn't know that when I bought my 5 wt Zoo Med UVB bulb.. So that is what phil has for now.. When I need to replace it, I will research which brand is better.. I am using just regular 60 watt incandescent bulb too and man was it a devil to even find a regular incandescent bulb.. went to three stores before we finally found one.. I didn't realize all bulbs were florescent now.. I have no clue which heat lamp bulb is considered good for turtles.. Have to find that out too.. But Phil seems to love what he has now.. He spends hours on his basking rock.. One thing I want to mention when you get UVB its important to place that at right distance.. The box says 5-8 inches away, so I put it about 5 inches away and Phil would crawl out under it.. and walk right through and go back in the water.. Finally realized after talking to people on here I needed to move it a bit further away,, and now he can't get enough of it.. So you will have to figure that out with your guys where the right distance is.. Be prepared to have to move it further.. so consider that when you buy your dome or lamp that it can be placed at different distances from the basking spot..

[pmkls1]

Zilla appears to be a little smaller than the guy I fished out of the creek, but he's definitely a lot nicer lol. Snappers can be fairly peaceful at times even when being handled it just depends on several factors. There is also a difference between a common snapper and an alligator snapper and the latter grows a lot larger iirc. Softshells are usually a bit aggressive from what I've heard. I think that part of it is due to the fact that they are more vulnerable without the hard shell for protection. I just know they can be fairly nasty and they are extremely fast. I came across some impressively docile snappers while on my honeymoon in the Outer Banks many moons ago. They were in an area that was frequented by tourists and despite the signage people regularly fed them. They were to the point that they could be dangerous because of their lack of fear of people, but they appeared to be pretty gentle. None of these guys were huge, but they were fat. I managed to dig up a picture of a couple swimming under the little bridge. They came up in droves begging for food.