My pair of one-year-old RES occasionally shed their skin in large ghost-like clumps. When I say large I mean about 1/2 cm. in diameter. I'm concerned because my book says that shedding shouldn't be noticable. They are in a 55 gal. tank with a Fluvial 404 filter and I maintain weekly. Could it be a problem with the water? What are the safe levels for nitrite, ammonia and pH? Does anyone else have turtles that shed in this manner? Thanks.
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Shedding skin
maryC
Aug 25, 2003 09:44 PM
Replies (6)
Fusiongt
Aug 25, 2003 10:24 PM
Dont' worry about it.. turtles shed a lot and your book is wrong. You can definatley see it.. they are really big and it's shed often. Of course I noticed when my turtles became 4 years old that the shedding became a lot less. But still when I do water changes and stuff I can see it pop up from the gravel even though I don't see it hanging off them anymore.
It's also due to stress that's probably the main cause. I wouldn't worry about your pH levels and stuff since turtles are fine with your faucet water. Make sure they don't fight a lot (if u have more then 1 turtle, I forget) and be sure they like their environment - ie: bask, swim around, not just swim in one spot.
So it's natural and I think they'll be fine later on. Maybe their young and just scared of stuff which is why their stressing
mariza
Aug 26, 2003 01:06 AM
i don`t think it should be that noticeable. What`s the water temp.? Excessively warm water encourages shedding.
dsgnGrl
Aug 26, 2003 10:17 AM
Excessive shedding is normally caused by overfeeding or overwarm water. How much/often are you feeding them?
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MaryC
Aug 26, 2003 10:30 AM
The water temp is 82 F and I feed them (2 one-year-olds) about a tablespoon of pellets a day.
dsgnGrl
Aug 26, 2003 01:07 PM
How big are they? The water is very warm, and it sounds like they are being overfed, the rule of thumb is an amount of pellets equal to the size of their heads once per day. If they are over two inches long, cut back to once every other day.
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MaryC
Aug 27, 2003 10:47 AM
Daisy is 5" long and Tom is 4 1/2. That's assuming that you measure the longest part of the shell. I'm also assuming that they are one year old. I bought them nine months ago when they were about two inches long.
I've turned the temp down and will reduce their feed. Thanks for the help.
