Animalscaretips
Most likely, your turtle's shell is soft because it has metabolic bone disease. Metabolic bone disease is often caused by poor diet or poor lighting, both of which prevent the turtle from properly absorbing calcium within the blood. Without calcium, turtles develop metabolic bone disease, leading to a soft shell.
- What do I do if my turtle's shell is soft?
- How do you know if a turtle has shell rot?
- How do I give my turtle calcium?
- Can a turtle shell repair itself?
- What does Turtle rot look like?
- What does calcium do for a turtle?
- What is vitamin A turtle?
- Do turtle shells feel pain?
- Can a turtle live without a shell?
- How do I know if my tortoise shell is healthy?
- How do you know if a turtle is unhealthy?
- How often should you clean your turtle's shell?
What do I do if my turtle's shell is soft?
If the condition is not too advanced it can be corrected by increasing the Calcium and Vitamin D in the turtles diet. This can be done by adding a supplement to their diet. The other cause of a soft shell is shell rot which is usually caused by an infection, most commonly a bacterial infection.
How do you know if a turtle has shell rot?
Symptoms of shell rot usually start as an almost unnoticeable discoloration on either the carapace (top of shell) or plastron (bottom) of a turtle's shell. The color change can be white, yellowish, or green with a mold-like appearance. It can show up as spots or blotches and can appear anywhere on the shell.
How do I give my turtle calcium?
Like most reptiles, turtles require more dietary calcium than phosphorus. Most veterinarians recommend lightly sprinkling the vegetable matter offered to the box turtle with a calcium powder (calcium gluconate, lactate, or carbonate) 2-3 times per week.
Can a turtle shell repair itself?
Since tortoise and turtle shells are made of living, organic, natural materials, they have the ability to heal on their own. Just as your broken arm will slowly knit itself back together, a tortoise shell can heal on its own.
What does Turtle rot look like?
Wild turtles generally present dehydrated and in poor body condition with a mosscovered malodorous shell. Pet turtles tend to have more subtle signs but these can include a red tinge to areas of the shell, slime over the shell, a bad smell, flaking of the scutes and an easily damaged shell.
What does calcium do for a turtle?
Calcium in your tortoises food
As far as tortoises – and especially young tortoises – are concerned, the calcium level of the food is very important, both for healthy bone and shell development, as well as the eggshells of laying females. Dandelions are a significant source of calcium and are important for this reason.
What is vitamin A turtle?
Omnivores turtles also need chopped vegetable salads that are rich in Vitamin A, such as winter squash, sweet potatoes, red peppers, and parsnips. These veggies can be added to dark leafy greens for a good balance.
Do turtle shells feel pain?
A: Yes a turtle's shell does have feeling! If you scratch a turtle, he will feel it just as if you were scratching his skin. He can also feel pain through his shell. We've sadly seen many cases where humans have drilled holes in turtles' shells.
Can a turtle live without a shell?
The answer is no!
They likely could not survive a couple minutes or even seconds without it. A turtle's shell includes bones and nerve endings that it needs to live and function. The shell is an important part of a turtle's anatomy which includes their rib cage, spinal cord, and nerve endings.
How do I know if my tortoise shell is healthy?
The top of the shell (the carapace) should be smooth, feel firm to touch and have no obvious bumps or signs of injury. A healthy tortoise will have signs of a growth ring, which appears as a palish band in between the bony plates (scutes) and above the lower, marginal scutes.
How do you know if a turtle is unhealthy?
A healthy and happy turtle should have clear eyes with no discharge. They should also not show any signs of difficulty breathing. Swollen, cloudy, or "weepy" eyes with a discharge are all common signs your turtle is sick. Another very common sign is mouth breathing or straining to breathe.
How often should you clean your turtle's shell?
Some tortoise keepers even bathe their tortoises every day however, once every 2 days should be good enough.
