Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is my painted turtle Goulash. He/she was hatched early summer 2004. All has been well until about a week ago. Goulash has gotten lethargic and rarely enters the water. I think he has stopped eating but it is hard to tell since he is not the only turtle in the tank. I have not seen him eat. He can still move fast when he want to so I do not think he is weak. The main subject of this post is that he is loosing the outside edge of his shell and it has me a bit concerned.
I am including a link if you wish to see a larger version of the image.
Ted

Goulash the Painted

Its hard to say without knowing the living conditions. What size tank is the turtle in? How many other turtles are in the tank? What sort of lighting do you have? What temperature range? etc...etc...

I havent had much experience with painteds before, only RES, but it sounds nutritional.
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1.0 green iguana-Deitrich
1.1 Common Boa-Un-Named, Ursula
1.0 Ball Python-Anabell (go figure!)
1.0 Red Tegu-Uteg
1.0 Albino Cal King-Pig
0.1 Mexican Black King-Morticia
1.1 Bearded Dragons-Unnamed, Hanabil
1.0 Albino San Diego Gopher-Unnamed
0.1 Hermans tort-Esio
1.1 JCP-Milton, Medusa
1.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Snow Corn-Unnamed
1.0 Hypo Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Motley Okeetee-Unnamed
1.0 Western Hoggie-Wyrm
0.0.1 Rose Hair Taruntla-Unnamed
2.0 Leopard Geckos-Reptar, Pogo
4.1 cats-Tucker,Poe,Abhib,Emerald, Felicity
0.1 Bullmastiff-Asha

There are two turtles in a 20 gal tank.
The other turtle is a painted hatched spring 2003 by the name of Herbie.
The water temp is 78F degrees the land temp ranges from 80F to 85F dependng on where the turtle want to go on it.
A heat/UVA/UVB light is on 18 hours/day.
Turtles eat Wardley Reptile Sticks (they have a picture of a painted turtle on teh container).
The turtles also eat guppies (when they can catch them).
I have posted a link to a larger pic, I am sorry about the quailty of the picture.

I hope this info help,
ted

A larger picture of the tank.

That tank is too small. The rule of thumb is 10 gals per inch of turtle. Also that looks like a bigger painted in that tank. His tank mate might be picking on him and they may need to be seperated. Supervise them together and see if you notice aggression from the other turtle. Turtles are territorial and since the tank is so small they might be fighting for space.
Everything else seems really good. You have the proper temps and UVA/UVB lighting. You seem to be caring for these turtles very well.
You might want to change the diet a little though. Sticks (protein) should be fed every 2-3 days and greens everyday (not iceburg lettuce). You can keep the guppies in there though as it gives them excersize and they can eat when they are hungry.
I would take this little guy to the vet because losing that much shell is not normal at all. I hope your turtle gets better and keep us updated on his progress.

Thank you for the reply.
The neither turtle is very large, the one in the last picture is now larger than the the other, however they do get along fine.

As for a vet, there is not one in my area that can handle turtles.

As for tank size, I am limited to what I have. The turtles do not seem to be crowded. The picture makes the turtle look larger than they are in life. That being said, I can not imagine having to get a 100 gallon tank when the turtles both get to 5 inch. At this time they are now where close to that size.

As for the food they do not eat much plant matter of any sort yet.

As for guppies, I thought that they would be good food and exercise. I had goldfish in the tank as well, however the turtles are better at catching the larger fish and they (the goldfish) have become meals.

Do you have any ideas what could cause the loss of shell, it does not seem to be the other larger turtle.

Goulash does seem to be moving more but does not eating much if any
ted.

Can you post a pic of the 2 turtles next to each other? I'd like to see the size difference. The other turtle very well could have bitten off the others shell. As for a vet, where do you live? I may be able to locate one for you.