I'm a first time turtle owner and have a RES named Holly (she was a Christmas gift from my daughter). She is very interactive and always hungry!
She was about 3" (shell top to bottom) when I got her, 10 mo. later she has pretty much doubled in size. As she has grown very quickly, I have moved her from 10 gal to 20 gal to 40 gal tank. She has both UVA & UVB lights on for 10 hr. a day, and enjoys basking on her dock.
I believe I was overfeeding at first and after lots of reading on diet I now feed her 2x a day, trying to give her a varied diet. Evening feeding being 1 tsp dried shrimp. 7-8 turtle pellets and 1 tsp diced steamed veggies (zucchini, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes). In the AM she she gets a TBSP of steamed veggies and red leaf lettuce.
She seems healthy except for her shell - it has rough spots that continue to get bigger and now one appears to be getting deeper. After more reading about shell issues... I've tried washing her shell 3-4x a week with Dawn and a toothbrush, drying and applying betadyne, then letting it dry before putting her back in her tank and I've tried shell conditioner - but neither seem to make a difference.
I give her calcium blocks (TetraFauna ReptoGuard Turtle Health Conditioner 3 Count, Slow-Release (lasts up to 60 days... NOT!) periodically - but she eats them in less than a day - so don't know how much nutritional value she is getting from them.
Attached is a close up photo of her current shell condition. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
She was about 3" (shell top to bottom) when I got her, 10 mo. later she has pretty much doubled in size. As she has grown very quickly, I have moved her from 10 gal to 20 gal to 40 gal tank. She has both UVA & UVB lights on for 10 hr. a day, and enjoys basking on her dock.
I believe I was overfeeding at first and after lots of reading on diet I now feed her 2x a day, trying to give her a varied diet. Evening feeding being 1 tsp dried shrimp. 7-8 turtle pellets and 1 tsp diced steamed veggies (zucchini, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes). In the AM she she gets a TBSP of steamed veggies and red leaf lettuce.
She seems healthy except for her shell - it has rough spots that continue to get bigger and now one appears to be getting deeper. After more reading about shell issues... I've tried washing her shell 3-4x a week with Dawn and a toothbrush, drying and applying betadyne, then letting it dry before putting her back in her tank and I've tried shell conditioner - but neither seem to make a difference.
I give her calcium blocks (TetraFauna ReptoGuard Turtle Health Conditioner 3 Count, Slow-Release (lasts up to 60 days... NOT!) periodically - but she eats them in less than a day - so don't know how much nutritional value she is getting from them.
Attached is a close up photo of her current shell condition. Any suggestions would be appreciated.