RES shell pyramiding?

DreamsofReptiles

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Hi I'm new here, but I have an 11-month old RES in a 55 gallon aquarium. I keep his water at around 74-78 degrees, and he gets fed reptomin baby pellets, crickets, mealworms, and carrots. He refuses to eat lettuce.

I have a UVB/UVA light in his tank, but I don't know if it's strong enough.
Does this look like pyramiding to you? Any advice? I am a new turtle owner.
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Maggie3fan

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I'm not quite sure if I'd call that pyramiding or not...most aquatics get what they need from their food...I have had a bunch of water turtles and not used a UVB light, just a spot light for basking...I'm thinkin we need...@Yvonne
 

jeneliza

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I am not sure, but I would use a uvb, years ago I had a soft shell Tuttle, his shell started to curl on the edge, because , I rent at the time, the owner of the apartment, didn't want anymore lights, on the tank, i was forced to give him away, so he could have what he needed, my brother in-law who ran a youth group for reptile education, he took him, and was better able to give him the right care, his name is Paco, he's a big boy now, and is 15, years old, so I would recommend a uvb, if he doesn't have any natural sunlight
 

Toddrickfl1

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He looks ok. He's got some scutes too shed. Try adding a pellet with wheat germ to help that. Do you use an MVB? I've heard they can make the Shell curl up like that.
 

DreamsofReptiles

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Yeah I haven't heard of it either, no I don't have an Mbv. Thanks! Do you have any good brands of pellets to recommend?
 

Markw84

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Aquatic turtles don't pyramid. Their scutes grow quite differently than tortoises. An aquatic turtle scute lays new keratin along the entire underside of the scute in wider and wider patterns as the underlying bone grows. The old scute sheds periodically leaving a beautiful new scute. What your turtle has is retained scutes. It is very, very, common with captive aquatics their first few years. With proper diet and care, your turtle will start to shed regularly, probably in the next year. This will totally get rid of that bumpy look and leave behind a perfectly smooth carapace.

There are quite a few good pellets on the market. Sliders become more vegetarian as they age, and that also tends to help the shedding. Babies and young are almost totally carnivorous/insectivorous if they have a choice. I use the Mazuri aquatic turtle pellets, but I also am feeding a lot of turtles so the 25 lb bag is needed. I also use a lot of koi pellets. The blend of foods in koi pellets work extremely well for most basking turtles.
 

Moozillion

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I wish I had some experience with RES so that I might have some ideas, but I've only kept mud and musk turtles, and their carapaces seem very different from the sliders. Sorry I have nothing to contribute other than good wishes.
 

Toddrickfl1

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What is mvb, ? Never heard of this kinda of light, really curious,
A Mercury Vapor Bulb. These are usually the Heat/uvb combination bulbs.
 

DreamsofReptiles

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Aquatic turtles don't pyramid. Their scutes grow quite differently than tortoises. An aquatic turtle scute lays new keratin along the entire underside of the scute in wider and wider patterns as the underlying bone grows. The old scute sheds periodically leaving a beautiful new scute. What your turtle has is retained scutes. It is very, very, common with captive aquatics their first few years. With proper diet and care, your turtle will start to shed regularly, probably in the next year. This will totally get rid of that bumpy look and leave behind a perfectly smooth carapace.

There are quite a few good pellets on the market. Sliders become more vegetarian as they age, and that also tends to help the shedding. Babies and young are almost totally carnivorous/insectivorous if they have a choice. I use the Mazuri aquatic turtle pellets, but I also am feeding a lot of turtles so the 25 lb bag is needed. I also use a lot of koi pellets. The blend of foods in koi pellets work extremely well for most basking turtles.
Hey, thank you! This was really helpful. ?
 

JTH

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Hi I'm new here, but I have an 11-month old RES in a 55 gallon aquarium. I keep his water at around 74-78 degrees, and he gets fed reptomin baby pellets, crickets, mealworms, and carrots. He refuses to eat lettuce.

I have a UVB/UVA light in his tank, but I don't know if it's strong enough.
Does this look like pyramiding to you? Any advice? I am a new turtle owner.
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It is a bit lumpier than you'd see in a wild turtle, and the shell margins are showing a bit of curling. A zoo reptile keeper once told me that freshwater turtles like sliders and painted turtles that are fed often (daily) on very high protein food can grow too fast, which can result in shell distortion. I can't claim this is the whole story, but you might try slowing down the turtle's growth rate by cutting back a bit on feedings.
 

DreamsofReptiles

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Yeah... I fed him way too much when he was really tiny. He gets fed every other day now. I'm really concerned for him though, is he going to die? I feel like such a bad owner. I'm not sure how to treat him or anything. I've always owned leopard geckos and stuff but never turtles.
 

Yvonne G

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Aquatic turtles don't pyramid. Their scutes grow quite differently than tortoises. An aquatic turtle scute lays new keratin along the entire underside of the scute in wider and wider patterns as the underlying bone grows. The old scute sheds periodically leaving a beautiful new scute. What your turtle has is retained scutes. It is very, very, common with captive aquatics their first few years. With proper diet and care, your turtle will start to shed regularly, probably in the next year. This will totally get rid of that bumpy look and leave behind a perfectly smooth carapace.

There are quite a few good pellets on the market. Sliders become more vegetarian as they age, and that also tends to help the shedding. Babies and young are almost totally carnivorous/insectivorous if they have a choice. I use the Mazuri aquatic turtle pellets, but I also am feeding a lot of turtles so the 25 lb bag is needed. I also use a lot of koi pellets. The blend of foods in koi pellets work extremely well for most basking turtles.
Retained scutes, huh? Over the years I took in quite a few water turtles that looked like that. I always figured it was due to poor diet and no UVB. It's good to know it's correctable.
 

Rex1718

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It looks like retained scutes. I give mine wheat germ koi food. It’s really good for turtles skin and shells. I feed it once a week or so. A strong uvb light or natural sunlight will help the scutes shed
 

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