Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It's extremely dry here as it usually is during winter. This is the time of year when I lose a gallon of water per day in the aquatic turtle tanks.
I realized Chip's skin is getting terribly dry so I bathed him yesterday with Stress Coat made for tropical fish. A lot of people use this for their pet frogs too.
My gosh just one soaking made a world of difference for him, his skin looks much better this morning.
I brought it up because I almost forgot that I'd done this for Shell E 2-3 years ago & it worked for her too.

I need new photos soon. He is still walking with a limp.
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PHRatz

Interesting!
Do you use the Stress Coat full strength or dilute it as you would for tropical fish?
Ric

>>Interesting!
>>Do you use the Stress Coat full strength or dilute it as you would for tropical fish?
>> Ric

Oh I didn't say that did I? It's diluted. I made up the bath water like any other day & then added it to the water.
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PHRatz

Were the directions for proportions on the bottle? Or did you just add a few drops to the bath water?

>>Were the directions for proportions on the bottle? Or did you just add a few drops to the bath water?

Oh no there aren't any directions for use in turtles because it's made for fish. It's got aloe vera in it, that's what helps the dry skin. I just added a few drops to the bathwater.
I wasn't worried about it harming them because they're such large animals compared to fish, frogs, etc.
A lot of people use it to dunk their hermit crabs too because it is a water conditioner that removes chlorine from water.
It's really helped Chip for now, it's so dry here I'm starting to look scaly too. lol
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PHRatz

So it is OK for the turtle to drink? First thing my boxie does when I put her in her pool.

>>So it is OK for the turtle to drink? First thing my boxie does when I put her in her pool.

It shouldn't hurt them to drink it because it's the aloe vera in it that conditions the dry skin. Aloe vera is an edible plant that shouldn't harm them but on the other hand if they injested too much without being used to it, there is a possibility it could cause some diarrhea.
What you could do to prevent that is wait for the turtle to drink first then add the Stress Coat.
I felt like this is a good solution to my own current extremely low humidity problem because this stuff is made for fish. If it's safe for fish & other people have found it to be safe for frogs & hermit crabs, there's no reason to think it's not safe for turtles too.
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PHRatz

I kinda thought that but this is my first boxie and I wanted to be sure. She, Wilma, is such a trip! Thanks