Are my turtles shells healthy?
Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 8:05 pm
Hello everyone!
So a little history about my turtles, I have two named Felicity and Oliver. I've been having them for about four months now. I had them when they're babies. During the second month, I went on a vacation for three weeks and left them to my fiance to turtle-sit them for me during the time. He turned both of their lights on (basking and UVB) every day and turned them off after. He fed them two times a day. During that time, he was only feeding them dried shrimp, wax worms, and crickets. Felicity grew incredibly fast, two times her size within three weeks. He was too busy and didn't change their water. They started smelling and their shells started having white/grey lines. After I came back, I immediately changed their water and stopped feeding them insects. I fed them pellets only and sometimes some lettuce or cabbage. I bought Nature Zone Turtle and Tortoise shell saver and apply to their shell once a week.
Pictures of their shells two months ago before I left:
https://ibb.co/hCbBKa
https://ibb.co/mxURkF
https://ibb.co/cFimkF
Pictures of them while I was away:
https://ibb.co/fXiUkb
https://ibb.co/c9Zryw
Their size differences when I got back (Oliver left, Felicity right):
https://ibb.co/eo8Nsv
However, it's been four months now. I've seen my brother in law's turtles, my turtles and his were the same batch. His turtles were super green and the shells look so healthy. He puts them in a 40 gallons tank, while mines are in a 10 gallons tank. But my turtles are way bigger than his. I live in a trailer and I don't have enough room for a 40 gallons tank but I am moving next month to a bigger place so I will be upgrading their tank asap. I have both lights, their basking area is at 90 degrees and their water is at 75-80 degrees. I have a filter and a heater. I change half of their water once a week and a full water change once a month.
So their shells condition now, they don't have those white/grey lines anymore but when they're underwater they have these grey/shiny spots and even under them too. They've recently shed a little bit last week. Their shells just aren't smooth anymore. I used to feed them twice a day, but I noticed that they have these loose skin. So I only feed them once a day now and I feed each of them the same amount (six pellets each). Felicity is still bigger than Oliver but Oliver is catching up too. Maybe I overfeed them before? But it's weird how Felicity is still bigger than Oliver because I always feed them the same amount. Anyways, curious why they aren't as green as they used to be. They're super energetic, love to eat and bask, they come up to me when I'm about to feed them, and they eat when I hand feed them too which I don't always do it.
Pictures of their shell dry now (Oliver left, Felicity right):
https://ibb.co/nyAaQb
Shell with Nature Zone moisturizer:
https://ibb.co/fftJdw
Pictures of their shell under water:
https://ibb.co/cbB75b
https://ibb.co/nthrWG
https://ibb.co/jMXQrG
https://ibb.co/chfpJw
https://ibb.co/bOreJw
https://ibb.co/hPtgWG
Current setup:
https://ibb.co/n0i9Jw
So yeah, are their shells healthy? Should I be worried, change something?
So a little history about my turtles, I have two named Felicity and Oliver. I've been having them for about four months now. I had them when they're babies. During the second month, I went on a vacation for three weeks and left them to my fiance to turtle-sit them for me during the time. He turned both of their lights on (basking and UVB) every day and turned them off after. He fed them two times a day. During that time, he was only feeding them dried shrimp, wax worms, and crickets. Felicity grew incredibly fast, two times her size within three weeks. He was too busy and didn't change their water. They started smelling and their shells started having white/grey lines. After I came back, I immediately changed their water and stopped feeding them insects. I fed them pellets only and sometimes some lettuce or cabbage. I bought Nature Zone Turtle and Tortoise shell saver and apply to their shell once a week.
Pictures of their shells two months ago before I left:
https://ibb.co/hCbBKa
https://ibb.co/mxURkF
https://ibb.co/cFimkF
Pictures of them while I was away:
https://ibb.co/fXiUkb
https://ibb.co/c9Zryw
Their size differences when I got back (Oliver left, Felicity right):
https://ibb.co/eo8Nsv
However, it's been four months now. I've seen my brother in law's turtles, my turtles and his were the same batch. His turtles were super green and the shells look so healthy. He puts them in a 40 gallons tank, while mines are in a 10 gallons tank. But my turtles are way bigger than his. I live in a trailer and I don't have enough room for a 40 gallons tank but I am moving next month to a bigger place so I will be upgrading their tank asap. I have both lights, their basking area is at 90 degrees and their water is at 75-80 degrees. I have a filter and a heater. I change half of their water once a week and a full water change once a month.
So their shells condition now, they don't have those white/grey lines anymore but when they're underwater they have these grey/shiny spots and even under them too. They've recently shed a little bit last week. Their shells just aren't smooth anymore. I used to feed them twice a day, but I noticed that they have these loose skin. So I only feed them once a day now and I feed each of them the same amount (six pellets each). Felicity is still bigger than Oliver but Oliver is catching up too. Maybe I overfeed them before? But it's weird how Felicity is still bigger than Oliver because I always feed them the same amount. Anyways, curious why they aren't as green as they used to be. They're super energetic, love to eat and bask, they come up to me when I'm about to feed them, and they eat when I hand feed them too which I don't always do it.
Pictures of their shell dry now (Oliver left, Felicity right):
https://ibb.co/nyAaQb
Shell with Nature Zone moisturizer:
https://ibb.co/fftJdw
Pictures of their shell under water:
https://ibb.co/cbB75b
https://ibb.co/nthrWG
https://ibb.co/jMXQrG
https://ibb.co/chfpJw
https://ibb.co/bOreJw
https://ibb.co/hPtgWG
Current setup:
https://ibb.co/n0i9Jw
So yeah, are their shells healthy? Should I be worried, change something?