Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently moved to Los Angeles and it's VERY warm out here...I also bought my 4 turtles a huge 50 gallon tank and since then, have noticed that all of them have been experiencing a little bid of feather shedding around their skin. I was wondering if this shedding's due to the increase in temperature, and size of tank. I've heard that turtles can grow too quickly which is bad for their insides...but I don't think I've been doing anything wrong. The shedding skin makes the water gross and the turtles are nibbling at each others' sheddings. So is this shedding ok and will it ever stop?

shedding can be caused by overfeeding as well as an increase in water temperature. the water temperature should be in the high 70's while the basking area should be in the 80's. as long as you arent overfeeding your turtles and giving them a variety of diet that they require, this is probably caused by the increase in heat.
Incase you dont know: the turtles need a varied source of foods. they are only supposed to be fed protein about every other day (older turtles need less protein and more veggies and fruits), and they should be offered veggies and fruits everyday. they should also be fed calcium to help their shell develop correctly. this can be done by either getting a cuttle bone and scraping off the hard outter part and being fed small pieces of the soft cuttle inside, feeding them pieces of eggshell, or also a calcium powder on food (this can be difficult considering they are fed in the water).

Hope this helps....
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~ Evie

Pets:
German Shephard {Dusty}
German Shephard/Collie mix {Shadoe}
2 RES turtles {Booger and Snot}
African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
Snail {Gary}

>>shedding can be caused by overfeeding as well as an increase in water temperature. the water temperature should be in the high 70's while the basking area should be in the 80's. as long as you arent overfeeding your turtles and giving them a variety of diet that they require, this is probably caused by the increase in heat.
>>Incase you dont know: the turtles need a varied source of foods. they are only supposed to be fed protein about every other day (older turtles need less protein and more veggies and fruits), and they should be offered veggies and fruits everyday. they should also be fed calcium to help their shell develop correctly. this can be done by either getting a cuttle bone and scraping off the hard outter part and being fed small pieces of the soft cuttle inside, feeding them pieces of eggshell, or also a calcium powder on food (this can be difficult considering they are fed in the water).
>>
>>Hope this helps....
>>-----
>>~ Evie

Can you just explain to me how to feed them the eggshell? Do I just break it into small pieces or do i need to do something special...I don't want to cut his throat or anything on the way down.

Thanks

im not a specialist in this area... but i have heard that you just need to break it into small pieces and mix it with cooked egg... and the turtles will eat it. i prefer feeding my turtles the small bits of cuttle bone... they like it and it's easy to do! hope this helps...
-----
~ Evie

Pets:
German Shephard {Dusty}
German Shephard/Collie mix {Shadoe}
2 RES turtles {Booger and Snot}
African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
Snail {Gary}