Urgent Care :: My turtle's shell

[imderanged]

I had a feeling he was a she...is it wrong to still call her seymour?

She looks like a girl to me too. ButIi don't think she cares if you keep calling her Seymore. If it really bothers you, you could call her Seymora!

[planet.caravan]

nah I think seymour is good

[munkly]

i also think tht yr turtle is a SHE ... hehe .... shez alot like keechu specially her claws nd tail ... nd my turtle i.e KEECHU is also a SHE

[marisa]

Not at all. My male RES is called Tilly.

[LaurL55]

So, I have a uvb light now and have been feeding seymour red leaf lettuce. But now his shell looks like there is some pitting between the chutes. What am I doing wrong.

[Sir Max]

So, I have a uvb light now and have been feeding seymour red leaf lettuce. But now his shell looks like there is some pitting between the chutes. What am I doing wrong.

her*** shell! haha

[LaurL55]

Ok. Her shell. What do you think though. The space between the schutes is wider .

[marisa]

The widening space between the scutes indicates growth. Not sure what you mean about the pitting, though...

[LaurL55]

I thought maybe it was pitting bcause it does not look right. Are the schutes supposed to move farther apart?

[marisa]

Hmmm---I'm really not sure what you mean by pitting. To me, it means little pin-like holes in the shell. Where are they on your turtle?

Yes, the scutes (no h) do not lie exactly next to each other as your turtle grows. The space in between the scutes eventually becomes part of the the new scutes and the old ones are (or should be) shed.

[LaurL55]

Ok. it is not pitting then. It just that the space between the schutes has grown a bit wider and looks deeper than it was before.

[LaurL55]

Here are new pictures. I now have a uvb light and have been feeding him/her 4 reptomin pellets and red leaf lettuce daily. I am upgrading to a bigger tank next week. Do the spaces between the schutes look wrong? Should I bring him to the vet or is this normal? He's eating and basking fine. Some schutes came off and his skin in also shedding.

IMG]http://i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac243/LaurL55/Seymour2/closebask.jpg[/IMG]

[LaurL55]

[marisa]

If scutes are being shed, that's good. Your RES needs to shed scutes.

[LaurL55]

Thank you everyone for all the help! Seymour shed and her shell looks really good now. It even has more yellow in it and looks smoother. I have a uvb light, filled the water up much more, and feed her veggies regularly. Next- I am going to get a bigger tank & set up. Thanks to everyone, again.