Is this shell rot?
- Thread starter GiuliaM25
- Start date
@Anthony P can best help you with this. Also @Markw84
Your turtle is big enough that I would have seen one shedding by that size if it were mine. You can see it has retained scutes. that is common in aquatic turtles when young and common for many species to not shed for even their first 1-2 years. However, It looks like yours is 3-4 year old. Many "experts" will tell you your turtle is pyramiding. That is not true in my opinion. I will not go into the differences in the way keratin and scutes grow in aquatics vs. tortoises here. Aquatics do not pyramid. They will retain scutes as yours has, but it will correct with the right conditions and smooth out over time as the old scutes are shed.
Look at the diet of your turtle and basking setup. A good basking setup, and a diet that starts including more vegetable matter will facilitate shedding. Many of us use a good koi pellet that is high in wheat germ to help. I would suggest getting that added to the diet.
The area on the rear of the shell you probably are asking about "shell rot" is actually looking like the beginning of the top layer of scute loosening - the beginning of a shed.
Look at the diet of your turtle and basking setup. A good basking setup, and a diet that starts including more vegetable matter will facilitate shedding. Many of us use a good koi pellet that is high in wheat germ to help. I would suggest getting that added to the diet.
The area on the rear of the shell you probably are asking about "shell rot" is actually looking like the beginning of the top layer of scute loosening - the beginning of a shed.
drumsfield
New Member
Box turtles do not shed, but looking at the pictures that is not a box turtle.
I couldn't figure out why you said that, then I realized it was mistakenly placed in the box turtle forum. It's been moved to the correct spot now, thank you.
