Red Eared Slider Question!!!?

Question

I have noticed that my Red Eared Slider has been "shedding" alot. Well actually i really dont know what it is but what it looks like to me is a peices of skin that is falling off of him. Alot of this "skin" is just hanging off from him as well. What is this and is it bad??If so what can i do??

Answer 1

Is it skin or pieces of his shell.  As turtles grow, they will shed their shell and it will come off in square pieces.  If it is actually his skin, he may have a fungal infection which can be serious.  Take him to a vet or go to a pet shop to see if they have any over the counter remedies.

Answer 2

could be fungus ,,,is it fuzzy?

Or if you have had him along time in a big tank and he has been eating lots of fish and greens then he is growing. Aere his scutes/shell pieces on top coming off. They are translucent and will fall off on thier own as the new shell grows underneath. Don't peel them off its like their skin.  If that is happening then they are growing.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29035692@N0...

The bigger the environment the bigger the healthier the turtle. Remember 10 gallons for every inch of turtle. I have used kiddy pools and plastic pond liners from most nurseries and worked great.

Did you know that they need to bask under a reptile light UVA/UVB for 8 to 10 hrs a day for the vitamin D that they need to grow. So that means getting a turtle dock also.

Leave the heater on 75 to 78 degrees always.

Their water needs to be clean otherwise they get sick easily from dirty water cause they p**p allot.

Total Body length: 5-8" average, up to 12 inches max. Life span: 15-25+ years

Males have the longer front nails and are used in mating. And are considered mature at about 5 yrs old. You can’t start sexing till about  3” across.

You need a good filter system! Gravel larger than they can swallow.

You need to feed them feeder guppies, goldfish or minnows for protein and calcium daily drop 20 or so in the tanks and watch them disappear in a few days!

This way when they swim for their dinner they get exercise also!

They sleep at the bottom of rivers, streams. lakes or ponds or your tank to avoid predators like coyotes,  foxes, owls, hawks, possums, raccoons and even some wide mouth bass.

TOSS in a bird cuttle bone in the water for calcium. it will dissolve real slow and if they eat it that’s fine!!

They can have garden worms, meal worms, crickets, flies, crayfish small frogs, dragon flies and  anything that moves only as a treat.

They need leafy greens Romaine, Butter lettuce. (Iceberg and cabbage are bad for them, any other leafy greens will do) for vitamin A that they need at least 3 to 4 times a week.

You probably already know that they get sick easily, shell rot, respiratory sickness, lopsided swimming, coughing, blowing bubbles from their nose.

**Swollen cloudy eyes means lacking in Vitamin A. Which we all need for good eyes. Google ‘vegetables with Vitamin A.

Contact the “www.anapsid.org/societies, for a turtle vet /  rescue in your city and state.

I wish you luck.