my two baby res' have what i believe is an abnormaly soft shell... the edges of their shell towrds the end of their shell is really soft it seems to bend with the slightest effort ... is this normal?? ( they are slightly bigger then a quarter)
2006-12-09 04:52:01 · 3 answers · asked by Tracey 2 in Pets ➔ Reptiles
No, it's not normal. Soft shell is due to a lack of calcium or UVB lighting.
RES should be fed a mixture of prepared commercial food (Reptomin sticks) and fresh food. Fresh food can include: live feeder fish, earthworms, crickets, waxworms, bloodworms, aquatic snails, fresh greens (collard, mustard and dandelion greens, and dark leafy lettuces but never head lettuce), aquatic plants, and shredded vegetables.
A good quality complete reptile vitamin and mineral supplement should be added to the food once or twice a week. In addition, extra calcium can be provided by giving turtles a cuttlebone (break into pieces and float in the water) or calcium block to nibble on.
Make sure they are kept under UVB lighting (Reptisun 5.0 is a good one) and that the bulb is within 12 inches of their basking area. They require UVB to synthesize Vitamin D into calcium and without it, it doesn't matter how healthy their diet is.
If you live in an area with plenty of sun and temps above 75F, you can take your turtles outside for some natural UVB. Just make sure the area is free of pesticides or predators!
2006-12-09 05:35:17 · answer #1 · answered by Lexi P 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is bad- get them some extra calcium asap. You can buy drops to add, certain foods have more calcium, spinach, baby food if they will eat it. Make sure all of your foods have the added calcium. If you feed him live food, try coating it in calcium dust first.
A soft shell in a hard shelled turtle means that there is not enough calcium to form the shell, and therefore not enough in the bones as well.
2006-12-09 05:00:57 · answer #2 · answered by D 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it really is too quickly to commence stressful. infant turtles with puzzling shells may stay egg-formed. It takes awhile for them to harden up. you may hasten this alongside with perfect foodstuff. stay foodstuff is the perfect. No turtle can withstand earthwoms, a good source of calcium. Small fishes (no longer goldfish) and gentle-bodied insects are eaten effectively. once you won't be able to get stay foodstuff, feed it strips of liver dusted with bonemeal to grant both the nutrition D and the calcium. and turn off the basking gentle at evening. Do you get a good evening's sleep with a bright gentle on over your mattress?
2016-11-25 01:01:39 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋