Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok I have a question for you all. Have any of you ever seen a box turtle shed a piece of scute & there be nothing underneath the shed spot that looked abnormal?
I've read in the books that if they have SCUD or any type of infection then when they shed a scute you'll see either white colored shell or you'll see oozing..whatever you do see it'll be something that does not look normal.

This has happened to Charity my giant girl, she shed a little piece of scute on the very top & center of her carapace & what's underneath looks exacly like what came off. This looks exactly the way my painted turtle sheds, a very thin layer of scute & what's underneath is normal because for a painted it's normal to shed as they grow.

I've scrubbed her with chlorhexidine just in case but then I realized this didn't happen until she got to spend a lot of time outdoors in the pen. Then I got to wondering could it be caused by the low humidity outside that she's not used to? Could it be that she scraped her carapace on the ceiling of the brick house I built for them?

Her vet didn't think anything looked wrong with her, her vet also said it's always possible that they do shed a little but we don't notice it happening... but she also told me that if I start to see anything strange bring her back in.
I just wonder have any of you ever seen one shed a scute & find that nothing was wrong?
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PHRatz

I haven't had that happen here (yet). Keep an eye on it, but it sounds like you were lucky that there's no underlying problem.

>>I haven't had that happen here (yet). Keep an eye on it, but it sounds like you were lucky that there's no underlying problem.

Yes I think we are lucky. I really don't think there's anything wrong with her but I'm going to worry about it either way.

I've noticed too that in tiny spots on the sulcata's carapace I'll see a bit of shell peeling off once in a while that I don't think most people would notice.
I tend to examine everyone closely every day, shelled ones, rats, sausage dog... all the pets. I notice these things so I will be watching this like a hawk.

I see the same thing in the sulcata I'm seeing in Charity, any thin bit that peels off looks normal underneath just like Charity.... but this does happen in the areas around the sulcata's bullet holes so I've never really known for sure if this is normal or the result of her being wounded.
I think possibly Charity's small amount of peeling isn't going to turn into a problem. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
I'll post it if anything changes
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PHRatz