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PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 12:26 am
by Pam
You describe them as smooth and flexible like plastic. Sounds to me like turtle scutes she is shedding from her shell. This is normal.

PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 10:02 pm
by TomGirl
Those are definitely not scutes. I've had her since she was a baby and her scutes are clear and big. These things were dark green, a little more rubbery than scutes, and they came from inside her body.

Thanks for your input, though.

I can't wait until tomorrow morning. I'm calling the vet and then I'm going to finalize her new setup. I'll post the setup in the habitat forum sometime in the next this week or whenever I get that damn flexible tubing on. All of you with XPs know what I'm talking about. Between the outtake tube and putting the stand together, my hand hurts like hell. It's ridiculous.

PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 10:10 pm
by DavidY
Hmm, does your tube look kind of hazy blue or is it totally clear? The XP3 I got came with a softer tubing which i think is siliconized so it is easier to put on. I was able to attach it to the fittings fairly easily. You may have gotten one of the older ones with the hard tubing maybe.

PostPosted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 12:36 am
by SpotsMama
On the XP3 tubing, oh yes those of us with older models know exactly what you're talking about. If it's any consolation, when you have to take the tubes off to clean them, as you will some day, it's much easier to get them on the next time as they will have stretched.

Here's what someone suggested: Soak the tubes in some very warm water - hot but not boiling - to soften them up then put them on while they are still warm. Supposedly that helps quite a bit.

PostPosted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 11:49 am
by marisa
Warming the ends helps some, but the tubes were still hard to put on---which isn't necessarily bad, as you want a tight fit. I never took the tubes off the filter end once they were on.

PostPosted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 1:59 pm
by TomGirl
I got the tubing to go on a little more, but not 2" like they suggest, more like 1 1/2" and I clamped it. I can't even take it off. :? And I just ordered the damn thing. I should've gotten a newer model. :)

Anyway, the vet just returned my call. He said he has no idea what the hell it could be. I told him that I had samples, so he said to drop them off so that they can have the lab test it. That'll have to wait, though. The expenses from Harvey's vet visits and her new set up have me penny pinching at the moment. And I still have to make the above tank basking area. (sigh)

Harvey's a girl, by the way.

Thanks for the tips and your input, everybody!

PostPosted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 2:02 pm
by DavidY
Yeah I just pushed my tubes on about 1.5" too. There's no way that things going to come off especially with those clamps too. :)

PostPosted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 3:55 pm
by SpotsMama
The good part is - once you get the tubes on you don't have to take them off again for a long time until you want to clean them.

PostPosted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 7:07 pm
by marisa
Or ever, if you clean from one end.

I'm not sure I understand---the XP3 comes with a new type of tubing?

PostPosted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 8:22 pm
by DavidY
The tubing I got with mine looks and feels like siliconized tubing and it slipped over the fittings pretty easily.

PostPosted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 10:52 pm
by steve
If it has the frosted look to it... that's been standard since I've had them.

PostPosted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 12:13 pm
by marisa
Sounds like what I have as well.

PostPosted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 4:07 pm
by DavidY
Yea it's a frosted almost blue tubing. Hmmm, I didn't have any problem putting them on the fittings. I guess I wasnt' worried so much about getting them on the whole 2".

PostPosted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 10:12 pm
by TomGirl
That's the kind I have too. But attatching the tubing to the filter was easy. It was the other end that gave me a hard time.

Also, guys I think I have another theory as to what those flakes were. I think she could've swallowed some of her eggshells and somehow, through digestion, the pieces turned green. I've felt the eggshells and they're not like chicken eggshells. They're hard, but flexible.

That's the only thing it can be. Why I haven't seen them until now, I don't know. Until a few years ago, I didn't even know she was laying eggs. That's how we found out she was a girl.

PostPosted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 10:15 pm
by TomGirl
Oh, yeah, and my arms are sore, too.

Feckin' tubes.