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Hellooo everybooody, my turtle has retained scutes/shell damage/soft shell/PROBLEMS. here are pictures. :|
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II think i should change her diet, but to what???

That's A LOT of fast growth. Definitely cut back and offer more veggies. What's she currently getting?

mostly pelets :P

that is a creepy gremlin in the last picture

Can you describe the softness? That's not normal. Does the turtle squirm when you press it?

steve wrote:Can you describe the softness? That's not normal. Does the turtle squirm when you press it?

its soft enough that if i press on the line with my finger it leaves an impression. she squirms a tiny bit when i press on it kind of hard.

Time to up the calcium/uvb/basking with her. Growth does occur at that area, but shouldn't be that soft at her size.

steve wrote:Time to up the calcium/uvb/basking with her. Growth does occur at that area, but shouldn't be that soft at her size.

i meant if i press in it with my fingernail. sorry. is that still too soft?

ill still up the calcium though

steve wrote:That's A LOT of fast growth. Definitely cut back and offer more veggies. What's she currently getting?

Can I jump in here and ask a question Steve? I have seen several threads where you say there is a lot of growth, or your turtle is growing to fast. Can you explain from these pictures how you can tell that? What are you seeing that we should watch out for with our own turtles?

Thanx

new diet

Photography!

unclejoe wrote:Can I jump in here and ask a question Steve? I have seen several threads where you say there is a lot of growth, or your turtle is growing to fast. Can you explain from these pictures how you can tell that? What are you seeing that we should watch out for with our own turtles?

Hmmm, I replied but I don't see my post. Grrrr. Anyway, lots of growth "rings"... it should be much smoother. It's usually obvious with the scutes on the carapace, but here we also see it on the plastron as well. The marginals are also jagged. This happens when they didn't have a chance to shed yet. There are also ways to tell from breathing, pudginess, and even some of the patterns on the shell.

So am I understanding this right, I thought that you are supposed to be able to see these "rings" I read somewhere that you can determine age of turtle similar to rings in a tree trunk.. Guess that false if they are produced too rapidly.. But anyway, they are there but should be smooth?? And when you speak of Marginals you are talking about the outer scutes? I have seen the pudginess before, but how can breathing be a sign? What is off about their breathing?

Rings should not really be noticeable nor are they an indicator of age. Yes, marginals are the outer scutes. It's normal if there is a little jaggedness towards the back, but it's way too much in those pictures. Some overweight turtles might produce a whistling sound from heavy breathing.

So in younger turtles feeding to much cause to fast a growth.. Ie jagged Scutes or pronounced rings.. but in an older turtle they become pudgy and may breath funny.. Ok, I will try to commit that to memory..lol