General Care Discussion :: Feedback on Pig's Shell - Pictures included

[PigsGrandma]

I'm worried about my turtle's shell. I can't get her to bask, she has some green areas in the crease of her shell, she has not shed any scutes and is just over a year old. When she does bask, she twitches and moves her front and hind legs, I can tell she is extremely itchy.

I built her a new above tank basking area and she wouldn't go near it. I would put her in the basking area and a couple times she stayed up there for a solid 10-15 minutes but after a couple of days she would avoid it and seemed annoyed that it was in her "space", so I put her smaller basking area back into her tank (which she used to use all the time). She is in a 75-gallon tank with a Fluval FX6 filter. The water is clean, the temp is roughly 78 degrees, she has two 75-watt shatterproof basking light and one UVB bulb. I've ordered some better thermometers to check the water and basking area temps.

She will sit on an old filter rock that sits in the water and will lay on the rock in her basking pose (hind legs out and head up). She hasn't basked out of the water and I've tried to dry-dock her but she constantly tries to get out of the plastic tub and I worry she's hurting herself (she will not sit still when outside her tank). I gentle brush her with a vinegar water solution with a soft toothbrush on a regular basis. These pics were taken outside today in another attempt to get her to bask.

She isn't ravishingly hungry like in past times but she eats a small serving of adult pellets (she doesn't really like these) and there is always red leafed lettuce in her tank (which I can tell she eats on occasion). She used to love the green sticks and her growth formula pellets but her appetite changes with her moods. I'll give her shreds of carrots once a week and she has crickets and dried shrimps for snack time.

Can anyone provide feedback on her shell? I ordered some wheat germ pellets which should be here today in hopes it will help her shed. We definitely overfed her as a baby (didn't know any better).

Thanks for any feedback. I just want to make sure our girl is okay.

[Kansasslider]

My turtle did not shed till age 2. Try feeding some wheat jerm koi food. It helps when they do start to shed. Your turtles shell looks pretty good to me. You should have seen mines!! It was full of holes and retained scutes. Mine never liked to bask either when she had her shell problems. She is now #2 basker behind my map that will spend all day basking. She looks great now! Do you have pictures of your tank and basking set up?

[steve]

What is she normally fed? The most common piece of advice I give out is re-evaluate your turtle's diet. Since it looks like she's grown too fast, I would look things over.

[Kansasslider]

What is she normally fed? The most common piece of advice I give out is re-evaluate your turtle's diet. Since it looks like she's grown too fast, I would look things over.

I think I grew to fast over the winter? My pants don't fit anymore

[steve]

Lol, need to have you swim after some fish for exercise.

[Kansasslider]

True enough and cut back on pork steak!

[steve]

Well, one step at a time

[ljapa]

True enough and cut back on pork steak!

No, what you need to do is get a hyperactive terrier mix with a teenager who promises to walk her. If she doesn't get tons of exercise, she destroys stuff. With the exercise, she's fine.

Needless to say, my wife does the morning walks and I do the evening ones. I lost twenty pounds.

Better still, my food intake actually went up!

[PigsGrandma]

Hello and thanks for all the responses. I've started feeding her the wheat germ pellets plus she eats her regular pellets. I've cut down drastically on her treats (only once a week or so) and limited her pellets to a serving the size of her head. She was definitely overfed and had quick growth. She's been basking twice a day (YAY!) and her scutes are starting to lift (slightly). I thought I saw a piece of shell in her tank but it turned out to be a piece of lettuce, lol. I think we have a few months before she will shed anything but she's on the right track (I think).