I have a young alligator snapping turtle. He hatched in 2003 and I received him when he was about 6 months old. He was blind in one eye so I named him Popeye. I just upgraded his tank as my old one developed a leak. When my husband took him out to move him to a temporary tub he noticed that some of his scutes seemed to be flaking off. It appears to be just the top surface. It reminds me of when a finger nail splits and a layer comes off. Is this normal? I suspect not, so what am I looking at? Is this an infection? What do I do now?



Presently he is in a 75 gallon tank that is about half filled with water. He has a new flouresent light, as of today, the tank has a filter that is capable of filtering a 90 gallon tank. The water temp is between 70 and 75 degrees. He shares teh tank with a trio of musk turtles. There are several hiding spots. I have water hyacinth and water lettuce floating on the calmer side of the tank. I am going to add some arrow root and a few other plants in the next few days.



He eats gut loaded superworms, rosies, and feeder guppies regularly.



He has a great personality and he is one of my favorites.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Angela

PS below is an old photo of Popeye in his old tank.

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