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Need help sexing and question on shell problem

snake_girl85 Jan 10, 2006 01:03 PM

Anyone any good at sexing Pelusios? The plastron appears to be flat, but the tail seemed long-ish the last time I saw it out... He/she's been keeping it tucked away ever since, and it looks kinda stubby, but I don't know what's considered "long" for this species.

Also, how does this shell look to you? I thought it was just algae, but it won't come off and it looks like some bone might be exposed. I have no idea how old this turtle is or where it came from, but the person who had him/her before me was keeping it like a box turtle, so I don't know how the stuff got there when he/she was high and dry most of the time. Is it just really stubborn algae that should eventually come off with a good scrubbing, or is it something that needs to be treated and might possibly require a vet visit? The circled part of the second pic is what worries me the most, the pic isn't very clear, but I can't tell if it's just algae that's gotten under a scute layer that is going to be shed, or if this stuff is actually eating away at the keratin layer... Help?!


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1.0 RES, Spunky
1.0.1 Mali Uromastyx, Ajani, Guban(Goober)
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa, Nico
0.0.1 Northern Blue Tongue Skink, Owajabi(Jabi)
3.1 Cats
1/2.0 rabbit (friend and I went 50/50)
0.1 Gerbils
1.0 Betta, Nigel

Replies (1)

erico Jan 11, 2006 03:19 PM

Looks like a male - they have deeper clefts in the rear of their plastron. As for the algae, they shed their scutes reularly but, if you have a good basking light on it, the algae might grow back.

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