Missing scute??

[shellfreak]

Is this normal for a wild turtle? What do you think happened? What kind of box do you think it is?

View attachment 31007

 

[Neal]

Looks like an eastern. That shell pattern is very nice. I wouldn't say it's normal or common, but it does happen from time to time. It doesn't look like it was attacked by a larger animal, otherwise you would see injuries on other parts of the shell. It would be very hard to guess what actually happened.

I'm curious to see what the turtles head and arms look like, could you get a picture showing that?

 

[yagyujubei]

I agree with everything that Neal said. I really like the shell pattern.

Looks like an eastern. That shell pattern is very nice. I wouldn't say it's normal or common, but it does happen from time to time. It doesn't look like it was attacked by a larger animal, otherwise you would see injuries on other parts of the shell. It would be very hard to guess what actually happened.

I'm curious to see what the turtles head and arms look like, could you get a picture showing that?

 

[shellfreak]

Thanks. Shell otherwise normal. I let the turtle go. She was very active, healthy, I soaked her for 20 mins, just to make sure she wasn't dehydrated and let her go on her way. There was no other damage to her shell, pristine in fact.