Gherkin's Shell is soft!
Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 7:45 pm
Gherkin is a 11 month old Eastern Box Turtle. I have had him since he was hatched. His diet has been mostly worms
he's been a very picky eater. He eats meal worms, red wigglers and wax worms. Recently he has decided he will eat small crickets and even chases them. I added calcium w/ D3 to some of his meals. He would not eat vegetables but I kept offering them. VERY recently he ate a tiny piece of carrot and I noticed that squash is a BIG hit with my Russian so I tried that today and he actually ATE it. I have been using a ceramic heat emmiter and a 2.0 compact fluorescent bulb on his rubbermaid enclosure. The reason I use the 2.0 is that when I first got him he hid all the time and I thought the 5.0 I had at the time was irritating him so I switched. Every day he walks around his enclosure, climbs up his log to sit closer to his lamp and often take a dip in his water dish. He seems active alert and healthy.....BUT, recently I have become concerned with his shell. I included the pictures so you could give you opinions on the growth of his shell. The marginal scutes look 'odd' to me but I'm not sure what they should look like. Everything IS symmetrical though. My biggest concern is that if I press in the side of his shell, it feels like it 'gives' slightly. I would not describe it as 'spongy' or 'mushy' more like something with some hardness, but that is thin and hollow that bends slightly when you apply pressure, like a plastic bottle (not as much give as a water bottle, maybe slightly more than a prescription drug bottle? I'm trying to be as descriptive as I can). I want to try and improve his diet and lighting as soon as possible but I'm not sure where to start. I am strongly considering getting a MegaRay UVB bulb but I'm afraid it might be too strong for him. I also wanted to know what the best vitamin supplements for a box turtle are. Any help is appreciated!!!