my FRB nails curve upwards

[kailey lane]

i adopted/rescued a FRB ,his nail point upward and when he poks himself in the eye once and a while when hes swimming.does anyone have experience with this type of nail issue?first off,is this normal....if not what should i do? he lived in a horrible home before i saved him today,hes lived in a 15 gallon tank his entire life so he much more happy now.anyone with input on this nail issue?im a dog groomer and have experience in nail trimming but iv heard thats a no no with turtles, he seems to be jabbing himself;( any clue whats going on? he also lived with no uvb or veggies,just turtle pellets.here are a few photos of when he came home

 

[Angi]

That reminds me of those ladies with the long curly nails. Sorry I have no advice on that.

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Has his shell been painted? If not what a pretty color. His face is pretty too. Good Luck!

 

[dmmj]

That's unusual all right, you can always trim them so he will stop poking himself in the face.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi kaily lane:

Welcome to the forum!!

May we know your name and where you are?

Male water turtles do have really long front claws. And when they are starting to show the effects of metabolic bone disease, the nails are the first signs, in that they start to grow at odd angles. Do get some calcium into your new little turtle, and some sunshine.

 

[dmarcus]

Hello and welcome to the forum, I can't help much as I have never had an issue like this, but I would assume like David said to just trim them...

 

[kailey lane]

i was hoping it wasnt bone disease can that be reversed or is he doing to die form it? thank you all for your kind words,he shell is not painted,he came like that with algae on him,he is a cute little guy
im in Michigan and my name is kailey

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Kailey:

No, its not life threatening. Just float a cuttlebone in his water (for calcium) and make sure he gets some sunshine. He can also get calcium from his food.

Here's a link to a nice article on feeding water turtles:

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/aquaticdiet.htm

 

[kailey lane]

oh good! i was all on pins and needles thinking hes doing to pass away,i got him a cuttle bone and have calcium powder for the crickets and worms.he has a uvb now and will be getting greens tonight for the first time in his life.which greens is he most likely to love??

thank you all so so much for your input

 

[Shelly]

He has a great deal of algae on his shell. Does he have a place to dry off and bask? Usually algae like that only grows if it is constantly wet....
Not having sufficient UV exposure would explain both the nails and the algae.

 

[kailey lane]

He has a great deal of algae on his shell. Does he have a place to dry off and bask? Usually algae like that only grows if it is constantly wet....
Not having sufficient UV exposure would explain both the nails and the algae.

Shelly- until i rescued this poor little guy he had no uvb...just a basking lamp.And when we got him the lady gave us a floating basking dock and when we set it up he sunk the entire thing .....so yeah we think he couldn't even bask at his old home plus he was in 15 gallon.All the algae is gone now ,he has been basking everyday here at our house thank you so much.

He is now in a 75 gallon that i got for him over the weekend and a few goldfish for a nice little welcome home treat im so glad i saved him,hes already very much loved here.

Do you guys think the nails will grow back to normal shape with the uvb and calcium? i trimmed them a bit because he was poking him self in the eye,i rounded them so they are not sharp and he is much MUCH more happy

 

[wrmitchell22]

Kailey we would love to see some new pics? We are really glad you rescued him too! It sounds like he will be much happier with you

 

[kailey lane]

i have a few pics of the day we brought home the new tank its bare in these pics,but much better now.

 

[wrmitchell22]

Wow, he looks happy thanks for adding the updated pics, his nails look better

 

[kailey lane]

i was guessing on his sex,do you guys think hes a male? btw his name is Beans

 

[ChrisandTaryn]

Hi Kailey!
I'm a "Newbie" too but, from the research I've done and by what my Vet has said it looks like he's a boy. Judging from his, what was, long nails (females don't get log nails like that) and also his plastron looks concave which is another telling sign. Also his tail seems pretty thick which is something I've heard males have.
I hope he likes the new food he gets to try My guys looove romaine lettuce.

 

[kailey lane]

oh thank you! yeah he loves his dandelion and roman hes getting spoiled thats for sure