Reptile & Amphibian Forums

notice the thick lines between his scutes? what is that? they keep getting larger. his shell is real soft above his tail, i have been putting calcium powder on all his food for about two weeks but he has stopped basking as of late, should i force him to bask?

another picture

That is a perfectly normal and healthy turtle. The spaces between the scutes are just signs of growing. All turtles get that. The shell usually is softer where the tail is because that is the part of the shell that is thinner that everywhere else. Ask anyone else and they will tell you the same.

I agree. Your turtle looks healthy. As long as the temps are good and she is eating then all is okay. The thick lines that you see are indeed your turtle growing and the shell usually doesn't completely harden for a while. However, instead of putting powder on your turtles food I would give her cuttlebone instead. I don't know if you tried this or not but you won't have to worry about the powder coming off of the food in the water this way. you can get cuttlebone at any petstore that carries bird supplies, just make sure to take the shell off before you break it up into the tank.

i keep trying cuttlebone but he refuses to eat it, is there anything i can do to it to make it more apealing to him?

Also, you are using uvb lighting correct? If you use reptomin baby pellets, you dont really need to worry too much about calcium especially if you are using powder. Reptomin pellets by tetra are the best aquatic turtle food you can feed your trutle, and the baby version is smaller, and also has alot more calcium to help growth. My hatchling cumberland was raised on reptomin baby, and 3 years later hes very heatlthy and happy, and growing bigger everyday.

thats what i feed him is reptomin baby turtle food and i make sure there is calcium on them and i have a uvb bulb, it said so on the package it was about $27 if that means anything.

What is the brand name of the UVB bulb? Reptisun 5.0, which looks like a florescent light, is the most common brand out there. How far above the basking spot is it?

If you can, you might want to give him some time outside in a Rubbermaid container. Since he's still so small, make sure it's supervised time. Even half an hour a day could help that soft spot near his tail. Leave the cuttlebone in the tank even if he doesn't eat it now. He might decide to eat it later. You might consider adding some dark leafy greens to see if he'll nibble on those. Just make sure to remove the hard back before putting it in the water. I also like salmon pellets, but I've only seen them for sale at reptile shows.

Katrina

its not the reptisun, i couldnt find one of those but it looks like a flouresent bulb and its about 6 inches form his spot

Umm, mine is ESU UV bulb. It has UVB and UVA in it. Thn I have a heat/UVA lamp directly above his basking spot. I have had him for about 2 months, he's doing wonderful, no soft spots or anything. ESU works wonders. I have it in the strip light fixture, and heat lamp.

Umm, mine is ESU UV bulb. It has UVB and UVA in it. Thn I have a heat/UVA lamp directly above his basking spot. I have had him for about 2 months, he's doing wonderful, no soft spots or anything. ESU works wonders. I have it in the strip light fixture, and heat lamp.

here is a comparison photo.This is a yellow-belly at 4 months.He ate well and grew fast.He has those "lines" also.They are from new growth.He has since been released.Hope this helps