Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a young alligator snapping turtle. He hatched in 2003 and I received him when he was about 6 months old. He was blind in one eye so I named him Popeye. I just upgraded his tank as my old one developed a leak. When my husband took him out to move him to a temporary tub he noticed that some of his scutes seemed to be flaking off. It appears to be just the top surface. It reminds me of when a finger nail splits and a layer comes off. Is this normal? I suspect not, so what am I looking at? Is this an infection? What do I do now?

Presently he is in a 75 gallon tank that is about half filled with water. He has a new flouresent light, as of today, the tank has a filter that is capable of filtering a 90 gallon tank. The water temp is between 70 and 75 degrees. He shares teh tank with a trio of musk turtles. There are several hiding spots. I have water hyacinth and water lettuce floating on the calmer side of the tank. I am going to add some arrow root and a few other plants in the next few days.

He eats gut loaded superworms, rosies, and feeder guppies regularly.

He has a great personality and he is one of my favorites.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Angela
PS below is an old photo of Popeye in his old tank.

What you are describing sounds like just normal shedding. A turtle sheds just like any other reptile. Nothing to worry about. The thing that does concern me is that your keeping you Ally with other turtles. I think you should house the Ally by its self. Keeping snappers with other turtles is asking for trouble.
Chris
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0.1 Red Eared Slider, 1.0 Common Snapper, 1.0 Bearded Dragon and a 55gal Native Fish Tank with a 6in LM Bass, 3 Crawdads and a Pleco.
I use to have a collection of Leopard Geckos that I bred, but have sold them.

Thank you so much for your quick response. I have thought about seperating them, especially after reading the latest Reptile Mag articles devoted to turtles.

Thanks again,

Angela

I have a similar problem with my aligator snapping turtle... it seems like he is constantly "shedding". His shell seems really flaky all the time, I am unsure of what the problem could be.

I don't think what your seeing is a problem. This "flaking" your seeing actually helps these animals stay hidden, like a living camo suit!
Mike
Alligator Snappers!

I thought it looked like shedding, but I have never noticed it with my other turtles and tortoises. However, they are all adults, and thus would shed less frequently than an actively growing juvie. I can see how this would benefit them by enabling them to hide more easily.

Angela
0.0.1 Alligator Snapper
1.2 musk turtles
0.1 Eastern ornate box turtle
0.1 Bell's hinged back tort
1.0 Bearded Dragon
1.1 Five lined skinks
0.2 chuckwallas
0.1 green anole
0.1 corn snake
various frogs, cats, and a dog. : )