Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently found a baby painted turtle in my yard (about the size of a quarter), and seeing as that we are some distance from a river or pond, decided I would keep it. I got online and found lots of information about eating and tank setup.

The turtle seems to be thriving in its new home, he's gotten bigger in the last few months, and he is now about 2 inches long, but I recently noticed something hanging from his skin. Around his legs and head he has this white/clear-ish skin-like stuff hanging from him. Knowing that snakes shed their skin to grow, I wondered if maybe this is why the skin-like material has appeared. But I wanted to make sure it wasn't something else maybe due to not being in a natural habitat and not getting a regular diet (being so young we were advised to feed him the turtle sticks and lettuce).

Do I need to diversify his diet with some feeder fish, and maybe some different types of fishing worms?

Help me out,
Jordan Worley
jhworley@purdue.edu

What you are describing is perfectly normal. It is just normal shedding as you thought. About his diet... turtle pellets are fine but shouldnt be all he gets. Lettuce is good, but try to feed romaine lettuce. Iceberg lettuce has no nutrional value and is practically water. Also try feeding an aquatic plant called Anacharis, mine always liked it. Feeder fish, crickets, mealworms, and earthworms are all fine to feed to. Just make sure if you collect earthworms from your yard they dont have pestacide or fertalizers on them. Rinse them off before feeding them.
Good luck,
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.

Awesome, I figured that was what was happening. As far as his diet, I've added a variety of things. Today I fed him some Bee's Moth (also called Wax Worms in some parts of the U.S.). I bought one feeder fish just to see what he would do... now I have a fish living in the turtle tank. I figure I'll wake up some day and find part of a fish carcass on the bottom of the tank.

Being as that I'm in a small community, Walmart is the local pet store and while I was there I found this "Turtle Tablet" thingy that is supposed to sit in the bottom of the tank and supposively helps balance the water and prevent diseases. Does anyone know anything about these, like if they work, or if you would recommend using it?

Thanks,
Jordan Worley
jhworley@purdue.edu

No do not use the turtle tablets, they are worthless and a waste of money.
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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.

What are turtle tablets and what are they supposed to do?
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0.1.0 snapping turtle
0.1.0 painted turtle
0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
0.1.0 Australian shepard
0.0.12 chickens
3.2.0 children
1.0.0 husband

Supposively these "turtle tablets" help prevent disease and balance the water PH levels.

Oh, tx. I just asked because I often put those weekend fish feeder blocks in my turtle tanks. They like to nibble on them. They get extra calcium and it gives their beaks something harder to crunch on.

But I guess that something different!
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0.1.0 snapping turtle
0.1.0 painted turtle
0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
0.1.0 Australian shepard
0.0.12 chickens
3.2.0 children
1.0.0 husband

Like I said those turtle blocks are pretty much worthless. There is no real reason to treat the PH of your water. Turtles do fine in wide ranges of PH. Also it does release a medication, which is pointless beacuse you are medicating your turtle for something that it dosnt have. Its not worth the money, even if its 2 bucks.
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.

Have you ever considered using cuttlebone?