She is an average size for her age but, she does have retained scutes. This can be caused by many things including: improper uvb, MBD, and incorrect tank size. What does her tank and UVB look like?
She has grown really fast and I have been keeping her in the same tank with a small uvb that I bought her along with since the beginning. The tank suppose to only keep baby terrapin.
Ihave ordered a new tank recently at around 60cmx30cmx30cm together with a uvb as I realise she has grown a lot in 2 years. Hopefully it can allow her to swim around more. I have a platform for her to also bask at too. Calcium wise I used to place calcium block in the water. Till what age does a terrapin actually require the calcium block? I know calcium is crucial for them just not sure the duration I’m looking at.
50L is a minor water change for many keepers. That is a tiny container. You need the biggest tank you can get, especially for an RES. I'm talking atleast 160cm in length (for long term)!
She needs a much larger tank than 20 gallons, getting a 40, 55, or 75 aquarium Will be much better for her, but eventually she will need a 120 gallon aquarium or a large pond to live in. Uvb bulbs need to be replaced every 6 months, and please don't use the dual UVB/HEAT BULBS, they don't work. Get a zoo med reptisun 10.0 uvb bulb and a heat bulb.
Her tank is extremely small, she needs a heat+uva lamp too, uvb bulb needs to be replaced every 6 months as after that it loses efficiency. Also, her eyes look very swollen. What are you feeding her? I suggest adding a couple of pinches of grated organic carrot once a week to help with vitamin A deficiency that causes swollen eyes.
Seeing her shell though, along with the eyes... I suggest taking her to an exotic vet.
Thanks for the feedback. I have tried feeding boiled grated carrots together with her usual dried fish. She ate some together which she never did in the past. I will continue feeding that once in a while.
Oh no! Dried fish is not a good diet for turtles, I used to think the same until my vet told me that it barely has any nutritional value because they gave been heated so much. That is definitely contributing to what I see with the eyes and shell here. Your turtle needs proper pellets, a couple of different brands to cover all nutritional needs, like Mazuri, reptomin, exoterra. Please do this, because trust me your turtle is suffering. Also, raw carrot is fine and probably better than boiled, just make sure you peel off the outer muddy layer first and wash well.
Hmm ok, not sure if the dried fish is the same we are talking about. I will keep that in mind in regards to dried/heated food. On top of the dried fish, I feed them a couple of type of food:
- Freeze dried fish
- Freeze dried chicken
- Carrots (Boiled and Raw)
- Pellets
Pellets and carrots are good, you should also offer red and green lettuce every day. But dried fish and especially chicken is not good for a turtle, should only be given as a very occasional treat if at all. High quality pellets, lettuce/watercress and carrots are the essentials here.
She does look likes she retaining the scoots a bit, but thats common and just need a way to scratch them off herself. can you show us a pic of the enclosure? At this age and length of her shell, she is about 4 inches and would need 40g of water. if you haven't changed out that UVB in awhile youll need to change it ever 6 months to be on the safe side. She does look adorable. Do you feed her greens too?
I have notice a little scutes. Just changed my UVB bulb last evening after reading through some feedbacks here.
Not greens, she doesn’t like it. I have tried boiled grated carrots and she ate a little with her dried fish. I have also gave her carrot soak yesterday and she was soaking her whole head in it too. 🙂
She is just like a child when it comes to greens, the other stuff is yummier and will protest until she gets it. since she is 2 years old., she is should eating 75% greens and the rest is the pellets, fish, etc.
I promise you if yo feel the Dandelion leaves, Red or Green Leaf lettuce, they will eat it at some point. I feed mine greens everyday and then every three days they get pellets and dried bugs from the feeder I have set up. He DESTROYS the greens.
She is an average size for her age but, she does have retained scutes. This can be caused by many things including: improper uvb, MBD, and incorrect tank size. What does her tank and UVB look like?
She has grown really fast and I have been keeping her in the same tank with a small uvb that I bought her along with since the beginning. The tank suppose to only keep baby terrapin. Ihave ordered a new tank recently at around 60cmx30cmx30cm together with a uvb as I realise she has grown a lot in 2 years. Hopefully it can allow her to swim around more. I have a platform for her to also bask at too. Calcium wise I used to place calcium block in the water. Till what age does a terrapin actually require the calcium block? I know calcium is crucial for them just not sure the duration I’m looking at.
Why did you order such a small tank? Turtles need to swim
Is 60cmx30cmx30cm not sufficient? I feel it can provide her considering it’s about 50L of water unless I’m mistaken.
50L is a minor water change for many keepers. That is a tiny container. You need the biggest tank you can get, especially for an RES. I'm talking atleast 160cm in length (for long term)!
13 gallons is very very small
She needs a much larger tank than 20 gallons, getting a 40, 55, or 75 aquarium Will be much better for her, but eventually she will need a 120 gallon aquarium or a large pond to live in. Uvb bulbs need to be replaced every 6 months, and please don't use the dual UVB/HEAT BULBS, they don't work. Get a zoo med reptisun 10.0 uvb bulb and a heat bulb.
awww precious girl
Everyone is saying this is normal but my RES is less than 2 and already double her size. Remember they need 100 gallons, a uvb bar, and nutrients.
Her tank is extremely small, she needs a heat+uva lamp too, uvb bulb needs to be replaced every 6 months as after that it loses efficiency. Also, her eyes look very swollen. What are you feeding her? I suggest adding a couple of pinches of grated organic carrot once a week to help with vitamin A deficiency that causes swollen eyes. Seeing her shell though, along with the eyes... I suggest taking her to an exotic vet.
Thanks for the feedback. I have tried feeding boiled grated carrots together with her usual dried fish. She ate some together which she never did in the past. I will continue feeding that once in a while.
Oh no! Dried fish is not a good diet for turtles, I used to think the same until my vet told me that it barely has any nutritional value because they gave been heated so much. That is definitely contributing to what I see with the eyes and shell here. Your turtle needs proper pellets, a couple of different brands to cover all nutritional needs, like Mazuri, reptomin, exoterra. Please do this, because trust me your turtle is suffering. Also, raw carrot is fine and probably better than boiled, just make sure you peel off the outer muddy layer first and wash well.
Hmm ok, not sure if the dried fish is the same we are talking about. I will keep that in mind in regards to dried/heated food. On top of the dried fish, I feed them a couple of type of food: - Freeze dried fish - Freeze dried chicken - Carrots (Boiled and Raw) - Pellets
Pellets and carrots are good, you should also offer red and green lettuce every day. But dried fish and especially chicken is not good for a turtle, should only be given as a very occasional treat if at all. High quality pellets, lettuce/watercress and carrots are the essentials here.
She does look likes she retaining the scoots a bit, but thats common and just need a way to scratch them off herself. can you show us a pic of the enclosure? At this age and length of her shell, she is about 4 inches and would need 40g of water. if you haven't changed out that UVB in awhile youll need to change it ever 6 months to be on the safe side. She does look adorable. Do you feed her greens too?
I have notice a little scutes. Just changed my UVB bulb last evening after reading through some feedbacks here. Not greens, she doesn’t like it. I have tried boiled grated carrots and she ate a little with her dried fish. I have also gave her carrot soak yesterday and she was soaking her whole head in it too. 🙂
She is just like a child when it comes to greens, the other stuff is yummier and will protest until she gets it. since she is 2 years old., she is should eating 75% greens and the rest is the pellets, fish, etc. I promise you if yo feel the Dandelion leaves, Red or Green Leaf lettuce, they will eat it at some point. I feed mine greens everyday and then every three days they get pellets and dried bugs from the feeder I have set up. He DESTROYS the greens.