Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi..I'm a bit stumped and would like to know about the tetra vitashell for soft shell.
I have two RES that I adopted about 5 months ago. They are still baby size but could be over a year old (they were kept in an unfiltered fish dish). They are now in a 39 gallon tank with a canister filter and about 25-50% of the water is changed weekly. They have UVB and UVA .. with a basking area (which they love). They also have a water heater and the temperature is between 76-78 degrees. I feed them every-other day ZooMed aquatic turtle food...everyday they have greens (zuccini and kale)...and I break up some cuttlebone.
The one turtle has grown significantly and has a nice hard shell. But my other guy is still small (about 3 inches) with a fairly soft almost slimy tummy and the back scutes are very flexible. Please Help

Hi,

Don't bother with the vitashell (waste of money)

Your set-up sounds good. When you say UVB, sometimes there
is some confusion with new turtle owners. Make sure it
is something like the Reptisun 5.0. Please keep in mind
that small turtles should have a somewhat flexible shell
especially back by the tail. This is nothing to worry about.
Is the shell soft everywhere? I have practically raised
my 2 hatchling RES on Reptomin. They will be 4 years old
next month and never had any health problems. Make sure
that each baby gets enough to eat. When mine were hatchlings
one of the females was a little more aggressive about taking
the food so I separated them to feed for a while. Now I
feed them together and they are both pretty much the same
size. If the shell seems "slimy" you can use a little betadine
that you can buy at the pharmacy to clean the shell. Just
put a little on the shell and clean gently with a soft
tooth brush. Make sure to keep it away from the face of the
turt and then rinse well under water at the sink.
Watch things but it sounds like you are doing a good job

Hope this helps.

Thx for the help. I won't waste my money on vitashell then. As for UVB light ... its an ESU that is equivalent to the one you mentioned. I usually feed them together in a seperate tank and don't really watch them. So maybe I'll start feeding them seperately. Thx again.

Sometimes no matter what you do you get an individual like this. They do not respond to treatment and eventually die. All you can do is continue the good husbandry practices you have and hope for the best. He may come around. Also if you can get him outside in a Tub with water and basking area where he can benefit from natural sunshine it may help as well.