Reptile & Amphibian Forums

About 1 month ago I rescued an adult male red-ear slider from some bad conditions. It was in a 20gal with filthy water, no basking spot, ate nothing but 1 type of pellet, and the filter had not been changed in at least 2 years.

Upon getting the turtle i gave it a quick inspection (i'm a snake guy, not a turtle guy so i din't really know what i was looking for) and it seemed surprizingly healthy... clear eyes, strong legs, and hard shell. I did notice that all of the segments of the shell looked like 9-10 layers of segments stacked upon each other which i thought was weird.

I got the turtle home, put it in a 40 gal with aged and dechlorinated water, brand new 75 gal filter,turtle dock with basking light. Water temps are at 75-76 day and night, basking spot on the dock is at 90, and I turn on a full spectrum bulb for a few hours ever couple of days.

The turtle is full of energy and swims about 80% of the time and basks about 20%. However he's shedding scales like crazy... every day there is another shell segment at the bottom of the tank. Also, he won't eat any type of turtle pellets but will eat a few crickets on occasion and has eaten one small piece of lettuce.

What should i do about his picky eating habbits and what is going on with the shedding?

any info will be appreciated.
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1.1 Argentine Boas
1.1 Dumerils Boas
1.1 Black Milk Snakes
2.3 California King Snakes
1.1 Nelsons Milk Snakes
2.2 Corn Snakes

The shedding is normal, he has probably just never had enough dryness in his shell to shed properly, just look out for any rot underneath the shells.
If he's only been fed protein it's hard to get them to eat anything else. The grow accustom to a great taste and low nutrition.. Trying to feed them strongly scented things is a good way to change thins up. They like shrimp and tuna which has both vitamin D and nutrition but of course is also protein. Could try some dandelion leaves, I hear they like that...