General Care Discussion :: yay i got my pet turtle today!!!! (with pics!)

Taking care of your turtle's overall health.

Post Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 8:37 pm   yay i got my pet turtle today!!!! (with pics!)

so spent about $120 today and got most of the stuff needed and the turtle... the only thing left to do is get some cuttlebone and maybe a clamp light fixture thing for the uvb light (reptisun 10.0). i have a few questions though, can i use the uvb light on the hood of the tank and let it sit over the basking area? the hood looks like this
Image
and there wont be anything that will be between the rays and the basking area.

a second question that i have is that i on my turtle's shell there are these white spots i guess and i didn't see it in the petshop but now that i got home and examine my turtle more closely, it looks like he's shedding? i've searched it on this forum and there seems to be a mix opinion of wether it is shell rot or just shedding.. heres a few pics..
Image
Image
Image
they're whiter in real life than they are in the pics (the bubbly thingy) and under water it looks like he has air bubbles inside his shell... also he's about 3.5 centimeters which is 1.37 ish inches(from the top of the shell to the rear.. or was i suppose to measure how wide his shell is?)... and his shell isn't really that hard, when u slightly press it it sort of has a bouncy feeling, it goes in but comes back out when u press it so is that normal? (turtles harden their shells after 1 year right? so i suppose this is normal?)

i have his/her water at 80F and basking area is 90F with no uvb yet (like i said in the above, i have the bulb just need something to stick it into) and he's pretty much not basking and getting used to his surroundings... though he did go for all the snails as soon as he hit the water when i put him in and he ate 2 floating pellets already so he's eating (havent tried any greens yet) anything you guys can help me with would be GREATLY appreciated, anyway heres a few random shots of him and his tank! (im gonna assume till otherwise that he's male)
Image
Image

watcha looking at bub?
Image

that grey turtle you see in the left area of the tank isn't real.....
Image

ps. i think im gonna call him Clark.
User avatar
Turtleboy
 
Posts: 146
Joined: Mar 13, 2006
Location: Mississauga, Ontario Canada

Post Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 10:47 pm   

i think its shedding, i took it out and checked up on it and i noticed one of the scutes on the rim of its shell that has the white bubbly look is actually starting to curl, like its peeling so it looks alot like shedding.. i'll keep you updated on clark!
User avatar
Turtleboy
 
Posts: 146
Joined: Mar 13, 2006
Location: Mississauga, Ontario Canada

Post Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 10:54 pm   

My turtle has those same marks. It isn't shedding. Basically what happened to the turtle and this is only a guess, is that when they were being taken care of by the petstore, an injury happened to the shell and so the grey area is scare tissue. My turtle has gotten bigger and his area has stayed the same and the same color. If your turtle is shedding all of the scutes will look lighter under the water.

As for greens, get some aquatic plants like anacharis, my little guy loves the stuff and I'll see him go for a carrot once in a while.
She is mine and I shall call her Michelangelo!
User avatar
daredevilgirl013
 
Posts: 603
Joined: Aug 31, 2005
Location: Ohio

Post Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 1:57 am   

I think itz shedding. awwwwwwwww he looks just like my turtle just bigger heh heh
lazixixi
 
Posts: 36
Joined: Feb 12, 2006
Location: California

Post Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 3:51 pm   

daredevilgirl013 wrote:My turtle has those same marks. It isn't shedding. Basically what happened to the turtle and this is only a guess, is that when they were being taken care of by the petstore, an injury happened to the shell and so the grey area is scare tissue. My turtle has gotten bigger and his area has stayed the same and the same color. If your turtle is shedding all of the scutes will look lighter under the water.

As for greens, get some aquatic plants like anacharis, my little guy loves the stuff and I'll see him go for a carrot once in a while.


if this is true, do the white spots get bigger as the shell get bigger too?
User avatar
Turtleboy
 
Posts: 146
Joined: Mar 13, 2006
Location: Mississauga, Ontario Canada

Post Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:50 pm   

okay i rummaged through the basement and finally found a lamp thingy.. its smaller but just as hot so the temperature is still at 80F.. mean while i used the other lamp for the UVB light 10.0 and its approximately at 5 inches away more or less a few cm .. i surrounded the rim of the lamp so it'll cover up the uvb bulb sticking out, i dont wanna get any radiation or have that glare in my eyes... is that okay? would that tin foil do anything to the rays? i have pics...
Image
Image

all thats left now is to get some cuttle bone.. please let me know if you see anything wrong with my setup!

ps. does the turtle have to be DIRECTLY below the light in order to get uvb light? cause clark doesn't always bask in the same spot and the uvb bulb isn't that wide either...
User avatar
Turtleboy
 
Posts: 146
Joined: Mar 13, 2006
Location: Mississauga, Ontario Canada

Post Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 9:05 pm   

i have tin foil wrapped around mine uvb bulb too. i had melanoma and can't take too many chances with it. i just have it on there to keep it from projecting out into the room and mainly over the basking area. i have the same bulb and there aren't any clamp lamps that it doesn't stick out of.
2 RES:
Dana- 3"
Mercedes- 3"
khobbs
 
Posts: 117
Joined: Oct 14, 2005
Location: Cookeville, Tennessee

Post Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 9:50 pm   

The white spots don't get bigger as they get older if it is scar tissue. Michelangelo's has not gotten any bigger.
She is mine and I shall call her Michelangelo!
User avatar
daredevilgirl013
 
Posts: 603
Joined: Aug 31, 2005
Location: Ohio

Post Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 8:44 pm   

okay i noticed today that the edges of the areas where its white is very very loose, so i slightly lifted it and it easily lifted! here are some more pics... still haven't found a definate answer as to whether its a scar, dry scub, or just shedding..
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

btw daredevilgirl, how big and old is michelangelo?
User avatar
Turtleboy
 
Posts: 146
Joined: Mar 13, 2006
Location: Mississauga, Ontario Canada


Return to General Care Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 23 guests