General Care Discussion :: Are these spots normal?

[Silvermist464]

I've had my turtle for a good four or five years now. He's my little buddy. Yes, he's a painted turtle...

He's four inches, or maybe one cm over 4 inches. But I know for sure he's at 4 inches. He has a 29 gallon tank. I'm actually upgrading him tomorrow to my new 40 gallon breeder.

He has a new basking light (old one burnt out) that gets quite warm. He seems to be enjoying it, though.

His tank is not heated. I know, I know, he needs a heater. But the only time I worry about him is at night when he doesn't have the light. I'm considering adding a heater but putting it on a timer so it comes on when the light goes off. His water hovers around 74 with this new light, and drops back to 70 or 72 at night (when I get up in the morning, at least).

I feed him ReptoMin. He gets maybe 5 adult sticks 2x a day. Am I overfeeding? He doesn't seem to have too much fat on him...

He's hungry, active, and, except for the shell, a healthy turtle. He swims fine (pretty well, I might add). He basks. He sleeps under water. Half of his water is changed ever week. I haven't changed the filter in who knows how long. I do rinse it as needed, though.

I'm thinking this is nothing to be concerned over, but I thought I would ask anyway.

Here he is:

First up: The slight hole near his shoulder:


It's tiny and is the only one I can find, but it's also slightly concerning to me.

Next: The patches on his shell and the white outline around the scutes. The patches in this picture are in the middle and bottom middle scutes. The lighter patches and splotches.



These are shiny looking in the water, like loose scutes are.

Then we have: The patch on his top right scute. This one is much like the rest.



Finally: The patches on the outer right scutes;


So, what do you say? Should I be concerned? I'm thinking the white outlines could be hard water stains (I do have very hard water....)

[steve]

I'm not sure if I'm looking at the same part of he picture as you're describing but it looks like the start of some shedding. I would check into the seams (the part between scutes) and make sure it is hard water or something identifiable. Does the whiteness go away in the water?

The feeding sounds a bit conservative but fine. I would however feed more than just pellets and try a different brand. Reptomin is good but Omega One and Mazuri are considered to be better. It's also fine to add some wheat-germ koi pellets, as some believe it aids in shedding. At the very least it adds some variety.

[unclejoe]

Hello Painted Turtle owner. I can't advise you on your issues. But since you have a painted turtle I feel a kinship.. Philbert is only an inch and a half to two inches right now. So much younger then your guy. But I do know he has one hole indent like the one you show in the first picture. Phil's is on one of his bigger scutes not the edge one. But like your turtle he only has one, and his is just shell color.. no build up in it yet. Maybe the hole is just something that painteds have.. Their shell is sooo smooth and one color its easy to see any indentations, unlike the RES with all their different types of marbling..

I would love to see full body pics of you guy since he is much bigger. You said he is 4-5 yrs old, so I am gathering that Painteds grow much slower then the RES do. Which is fine with me..lol

Phil loves just about anything I put in his tank.. He gets lettuce daily, but will eat worms, fish, corn, tomatoes, he loves banana.. but I only give that to him vary sparingly.. Gave him a blueberry the other day.. He took it, but I found it at the bottom of the tank later.. Can't blame him Blueberries are boring without whip cream.. haha.. I bought him Omega One Veggie Rounds last week, he really likes those too. Right now he is on baby Reptomin Stix as well..

[Silvermist464]

Yeah, the white goes away in the water. The spots, I thought, did look like the way his scutes do just before they shed...

Skit (my painted) enjoys munching on plants, I've found. But I've never tried to get him to eat anything besides the occasional worm (which I don't feed that much any more) or baby guppy from my 55 gallon fish tank.

My painted hasn't grow too fast, that's for sure. Of course, he's growing. I know someone that takes horrible care of their turtles (no light, wet basking area, no heater. Water's probably 65 degrees. Fed on guppies and the occasional freeze dried shrimp) who's painted are as old as mine but still right around an inch in size. I've done what I can to tell them to treat them better. Now the poor things have shell rot. They have added a light, though, at my suggestion. It's a step in the right direction...

Anyway, I'll start a new topic with my turtle and his new tank.