soft shell?

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Shark_Bait

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 16, 2006
31
0
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New Zealand
Hi guys,
For some reason my snake neck turtles shell is going soft. Large sheets are flaking off his plastron and the edges of his shell wiggle. He still eats and craps a lot, and doesn't seem to be in any discomfort, but I'm really quite concerned.

He is in a two foot tank with a small red eared slider (they are both babies) which is filtered buy an eheim classic 2213. He has a U.V light and a calcium block, and is fed blood worms, shrimp, and turtle tucker. I do 50% water changes at least every 2 days without fail. The water temperature is 20C.

I really am at a bit of a loss. Am I doing anything wrong?
 
i wouldnt worry to much, just keep an eye on him and keep up with the water changes.
 
It's not that he has shell rot (i.e. a bacterial(?) infection) - there are no divots in his shell, it's just that his shell is soft for no apparent reason.
 
What do you feed him besides what you listed? Sounds like he may need more calcium. Have you seen him bite the calcium block?
 
There are a few things that are working here. First the temps that you are keeping her may or not be to low for her. If she is a aussi snake neck(Chelodina longicolis) then that temp is kind of good for her(but even then considering that she is a baby and high temps only are harmfull for adults in the long term I recomend that you raise the temp to about 24 C). If she is any other snake neck then that temp is way to low. For new guinea and indonesian species the ideal temp is 26-28C. Then there is that softening thing. The fact that she is sheding can one of mean 2 things: one your turtle is a healty one and she is just sheding its old shell ceratin skales or your turtle has calcium deficiency and because the bone behind the ceratin layer is deforming and recessing , the skales fall. I see this all the time whit mass imported baby turtles here. Because you say your tutle shell is going soft I think is this what is going on.
For what you say I think the diet you are ofering your turtle is still kind of poor. Forget that calcium block thing, Ive tryed and has never worked, its just one of thouse market things. The fact that your turt is already ill tells me that she has not toched that. The shrimp you are using its fresedryed? If is cut that out as well. Even if that contains some calcium is a very poor food choice, lacks vitamins and has been associated with infections and calcium and vitamins deficiencys on baby turtles. Turtle tucker is also just a snak and not something I would offer to a ill turt like yours.
Insted insist on calcium rich foods like one of the top turtle pellets like tetra reptomin, mazuri and zoomed´s. Varieds frozen fish foods are also very good like daphnia, mosquito larva, the bloodworms you are using, artemia ,krill,etc. One of the good ways to get calcium and vitamins in your turt is to get a chunk of chicken,turkey,etc, shred him very finely in a mash and then ad a good multivitamin and mineral powder (like zoomed´s reptivite) to it. Make also shure you have a good UV lamp of 5.0 uv (like reptisun of zoomed )and that there is nothing between your turts and the lamp (plastic, glass,etc) Dont also forget that the lamp must at a maximun distance of 12 inches of the turt in order to work and that this lamps lose its eficiency in about 6 moths.
Finely I would separate your 2 turts. It is higly not recomended to keep together turts that dont meet in the wild. Microorganisms that one turt naturaly has and that dont do any harm to him may prove very harmfull to another. Make shure to fix that;)
 
Yep, it's an aussie snake neck. My understanding is that "tropical" temperatures basically kill them. The shrimp I feed him is fresh. The calcium block is of the drop into the water type rather than the sort they are meant to chew. I'm not sure if turtle tucker is the same here as it is in Europe. The stuff we get is made locally and has heaps of vitamins and minerals added. Lots of keepers recommend it. It is primarily fish based, and also has insects added. The U.V bulb is a 6% one. I do have calcium powder for my water dragon, so I guess I will add that to his food and see if there is an improvement.

I guess the thing that really puzzles me is the fact that the sliders shell is looking great :-S.
 
Shark_Bait;2050049; said:
Yep, it's an aussie snake neck. My understanding is that "tropical" temperatures basically kill them.
24 C is not tropical;)
 
errr 24C is tropical in my book. Every care sheet I have found suggests a temperature of 20 - 24 is about right. In the wild you find them living happily at about 12C.

You suggest feeding him chicken. Should this be cooked or is raw best? I suppose I don't need to worry about salmonella, heh.
I have tried feeding him pellets, but neither he nor the slider touch them. From what I understand they will go for them when they are older.
The main problem I find with feeding him bloodworms (which is what I imagine will happen with things like daphnia as well) is that they break up. Perhaps feeding him strips of chicken and fish would give him something more substantial as well as being easier to add vitamins to.
 
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