Grey Shells
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Hi, Im new here. I hope someone could help me. I have 2 terrapins. About 2 months ago they both started losing the patterns on their shells. Their shells turned sort of a greyish/white colour. It’s doesn’t look like a fungus or infection or anything. I searched around the internet and found many conflicting sites. I went to the local pet shop and they recommended calcium blocks. I’ve been using them for about 6 weeks now and they don’t seemed to have done anything. In the last month i’ve added a water heater (set to 24 degrees C), Water filter and a light. None of these seem to improved the situation at all. The heater hardly ever comes on as it is still quiet warm here. I was completly changing the water ever couple of days before I got the filter. And the tank was positioned (upto last week when I moved house)where it was getting 6-10 hours of sunlight everyday. They seem fine. Active and eating normally. could anybody advise me on how to get there shells back to normal? I realy don’tknow what I’ve done wrong here. Thanks Paul
Sounds to me like they are shedding. Hard to say without pictures though. Scott The Turtle Store.com From: diamondbackterrapins@yahoogroups.com [mailto:diamondbackterrapins@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of paulwatson617 Sent: Thursday, December 22, 2005 6:21 PM To: diamondbackterrapins@yahoogroups.com Subject: [diamondbackterrapins] Grey Shells Hi, Im new here. I hope someone could help me. I have 2 terrapins. About 2 months ago they both started losing the patterns on their shells. Their shells turned sort of a greyish/white colour. It’s doesn’t look like a fungus or infection or anything. I searched around the internet and found many conflicting sites. I went to the local pet shop and they recommended calcium blocks. I’ve been using them for about 6 weeks now and they don’t seemed to have done anything. In the last month i’ve added a water heater (set to 24 degrees C), Water filter and a light. None of these seem to improved the situation at all. The heater hardly ever comes on as it is still quiet warm here. I was completly changing the water ever couple of days before I got the filter. And the tank was positioned (upto last week when I moved house)where it was getting 6-10 hours of sunlight everyday. They seem fine. Active and eating normally. could anybody advise me on how to get there shells back to normal? I realy don’tknow what I’ve done wrong here. Thanks Paul
DO you keep them in brackish water??? also If you just added a filter and upgraded your husbandry practices then it might take several weeks before you see an improvement. __________________________________ Yahoo! for Good – Make a difference this year. http://brand.yahoo.com/cybergivingweek2005/
Thanksfor the replys. I keep them in normal tap water. The tap water here is desalenated sea water. Does that make a difference? I’ll try and borrows my dads digital camara andpost some pictures. Paul
Hi Paul, Do you know about how old they are? If they are the appropriate age (maybe 1 or 2 years? Someone else here would know better) they are probably shedding. I never knew that turtles shed bits of their shells till I joined this group. Good luck! Nicolepaulwatson617
Paul, the general consensus in the aquatic turtle community is that the whitish, silverish substance on the scutes are mineral deposits. Hence, the calcium blocks will not help it, even though they are of benefit to the terrapins in other ways. I have heard that Silvadene cream works. This can be obtained from a vet or maybe even an online vet supply store. I am coming up with a personal theory about the deposits and have a question for you – do you dechlorinate the water? Thanks. Stephen Chew http://www.neoTerrapin.com — In diamondbackterrapins@yahoogroups.com, “paulwatson617”
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