Okay, so this RES was a bit of a pity buy. To the best of my knowledge, he was (probably) originally a rescue, since that's the local pet store's preferred source when people order in RES. (Which is what happened here--then the guy who ordered him changed his mind, and I got suckered into taking him home instead since we weren't set up for aquatic turtles at the time...heh)
Well, one thing I've noticed with this little guy, about 4" SCL, is that, ever since I got him, he has refused to thrive. At first, I figured, OK, relocation stress. He was in a tank with 3 other turtles, two being significantly larger than him, so maybe that had something to do with it. Then I separated him from the rest, into a 20 gallon--the largest water-tight tank I have at my disposal. As it stands right now, he's in a 20 gal, filled to the top, with an above tank basking area made out of egg crate with a piece of slate to hold heat. Temp on the basking spot is normally around 90-95, but can get pretty hot if I forget to turn on the AC some days. Water temps stay in the mid to high 70s. He has no UVB right now; as an alternative, I take him out and let him bask on the lawn as much as possible. (This should be changing soon, hopefully, once I can afford a new 75 gallon, or at least have the opportunity to test my beardie's 75 for leaks.)
Since before moving him into the 20, his shell has been turning cloudy, with strange little white spots that almost look like shell damage, except it's isolated to his carapace and there's nothing in there to damage that half. I could understand damage on the plastron, but I can't fathom how he would have managed to damage his carapace.
Here's his shell shortly after I got him...
Here it is now, as of the 27th... (Granted, it is dry in this pic, where it was wet in the first. I'll see if I can get a wet shell pic for a better comparison)
And one of his plastron.
He hasn't eaten well once, that I've witnessed, since getting him. He chowed on a tadpole I stupidly tossed in his tank one day, and has since on a couple night crawlers. I've regularly offered Reptomin and greens. I don't know whether he ate any of those, or if they all just got sucked up by his filter (a Magnum 350 Pro, rated for 100 gallons). His only tank mates are a large apple snail and a few feeder guppies he hasn't paid any attention to.
So, please, help me figure out what the heck is wrong here. Is this condition some kind of residual from past care? Or am I doing something fatally wrong? As we all well know, RES are, as a general rule, virtually bullet proof with care... So what is it that has this poor guy in such bad shape? What am I doing so wrong that has him doing this poorly??
Well, one thing I've noticed with this little guy, about 4" SCL, is that, ever since I got him, he has refused to thrive. At first, I figured, OK, relocation stress. He was in a tank with 3 other turtles, two being significantly larger than him, so maybe that had something to do with it. Then I separated him from the rest, into a 20 gallon--the largest water-tight tank I have at my disposal. As it stands right now, he's in a 20 gal, filled to the top, with an above tank basking area made out of egg crate with a piece of slate to hold heat. Temp on the basking spot is normally around 90-95, but can get pretty hot if I forget to turn on the AC some days. Water temps stay in the mid to high 70s. He has no UVB right now; as an alternative, I take him out and let him bask on the lawn as much as possible. (This should be changing soon, hopefully, once I can afford a new 75 gallon, or at least have the opportunity to test my beardie's 75 for leaks.)
Since before moving him into the 20, his shell has been turning cloudy, with strange little white spots that almost look like shell damage, except it's isolated to his carapace and there's nothing in there to damage that half. I could understand damage on the plastron, but I can't fathom how he would have managed to damage his carapace.
Here's his shell shortly after I got him...
Here it is now, as of the 27th... (Granted, it is dry in this pic, where it was wet in the first. I'll see if I can get a wet shell pic for a better comparison)
And one of his plastron.
He hasn't eaten well once, that I've witnessed, since getting him. He chowed on a tadpole I stupidly tossed in his tank one day, and has since on a couple night crawlers. I've regularly offered Reptomin and greens. I don't know whether he ate any of those, or if they all just got sucked up by his filter (a Magnum 350 Pro, rated for 100 gallons). His only tank mates are a large apple snail and a few feeder guppies he hasn't paid any attention to.
So, please, help me figure out what the heck is wrong here. Is this condition some kind of residual from past care? Or am I doing something fatally wrong? As we all well know, RES are, as a general rule, virtually bullet proof with care... So what is it that has this poor guy in such bad shape? What am I doing so wrong that has him doing this poorly??