Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My alligator snapping turtle's shell looks real pale and flaky now. Its been like this for a year now. I emailed the guy from turtleman.com and he said that I need to lower the Ph.

How do I lower the Ph in my water? I do very frequent water changes to using a sort of pet store chemical can be expensive. Is there a natural way like placing driftwood in the water or something?

The only think in the tank is a floating piece of cork. Does cork have some sort of chemical that is released into the water thats damages the snapper's shell?

thanks.

If cork released anything into the water, they wouldn't use it to bottle expensive bottles of wine. Cork releases nothing. Get a piece of natural wood and float it in the tank for a day. It may turn the water brown, but those are tannins that will acidify the water. Do not use eucalyptus branches. If you want clear water, use some "PH decreaser" sold at tropical fish and pet stores. Be very careful with this though, because too much acid (which is all this stuff is), can burn your turtles eyes and skin. Read directions carefully. Also buy a PH kit to test your water. Buy one that uses drops and not pellets or sticks. Its cheaper, quicker, and more reliable.