Does salt water help skin amd scutes shedding?

[ETTB1314]

Just wanted to throw a question in here, because one of my RES has been shedding skin for quite sometime now. So I wanted to confirm this with the people on the forum before trying it out. If I let him swim in salt water (just slightly salted), will it help him shed his skin properly?

(I'm not too concerned about scutes yet as they're still smaller than 3")

 

[Killerrookie]

Hmmm I never heard of using salt water to help shedding. I'll wait for a expert to come and tell you if it safe.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I know that salt would act as an anti parasitic. I don't know if there would be any other benefits or how to keep a turtle from ingesting salt.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Salt is a desiccant. It's drying. I'd be wary of it.

 

[dmmj]

I have never heard of it being used? does it do that for people? I don't know what it would do to be honest. My concern would be swallowing of the water, how salted would it have to be?

 

[Diamondbacks4Life]

If your getting excessive skin shedding, usually means your feeding to much protein with a combination of warm water.

 

[ETTB1314]

Thanks for all the contributions!

But it's weird, because I have 2 turtles in the same tank but only one turtle is facing this problem, the other is fine, no skin shedding at all. I feed them both the same, once a day.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Are you certain that the shedding turtle has equal access to food & basking spots? Don't be fooled into thinking it's demonstrating a preference. Pay very close attention. You may need to separate them. Or make less drastic changes.

 

[AmRoKo]

Skin shedding normally isn't something to worry about, he's probably just having a massive growth spurt. I would not do the salt water, I have read of some people trying that with RES on some turtle type forums and they then become severely bloated.

 

[ETTB1314]

Alright thanks to all! I will not do the salt water and will try my best to watch them and see where the problem lies