Update on Turtle Tank/Shedding?

[JacobAndBri]

Hi all, 

I will include my first post before I received the new baby. 

When I got my Three Striped Mud, I guessed that he was around 6 months old. I've had him since January 13th. 

Since my first post, I've made the following updates: 

• Removed many elements (rocks, plants, floating dock) to "babyproof" as the curious guy was shoving himself into tight spaces as he explored. 
• Lowered the water level to around 3-4 inches, moved some sand around to create shallow water areas. 
• Added a new filter, Fluval 207 canister filter. 
• Put a closed cage around the intake of the canister filter to ensure one of his limbs didn't get stuck in the slots. 

Then! I started to notice some shedding. Although shedding is normal, the shedding seemed a bit excessive? 

Some reasons for excessive shedding include poor husbandry (lights, water, overfeeding), overheating, vitamin A deficiency or excess, fungal infection and a few others. 

To change the tank up to help remedy this, I did the following:

• Lowered the heater a bit to go from around 81, to around 78/79. 
• Replaced my lighting (the ZooMed Dual Mini/Compact Lamp does not supply adequate UVB), with two deep domes and 25+watt bulbs with both UVA/UVB and IR heat 
• I plan to change his feeding to be less - once a day, only what would fit in his hollow head 
• I did a short carrot juice soak, to address vitamin A, as he refuses to eat veg. It seemed to bother him, so it was less than 10 minutes and the juice did not exceed the rim of his shell. 

Does this shedding of his skin around his neck and head look too excessive?

Do you guys have tips and tricks to get the babe to eat his vegetables?

I included some pictures of the new setup and tried to get a good one of his shedding on both sides of his head. The skin is translucent out of the water and only seems flappy when he's underwater. 

Thanks all! 

 

 

[Ken Burke]

I don’t know anything about turtles, but man alive!  He is CUTE!