I PULLED THE SHELL OFF.... NOW....

[wayne020668]

we had an e-mail saying they pulled part of the shell off cause it looked all flaky and now the terrapin has a white fungal growth on it..... after asking the owner who as always we keep secret so we can help others to offer the same advice to all of you that don't know.... this is a natural thing and should never be pulled off, its like you finger nails growing and if you bite them you will get infections... the infection on the terrapin was easily sorted but a lot of keepers think its helpful to help this along by pulling it of.... we've all had finger nails ripped or bitten to the point of hurting.... its the same for these animals and they will fall off when ready and leave you with what looks like a piece of plastic in the tank when done... pulling them off before hand will invite infection and this is when you will have trouble... you wouldn't pull your nails off so please wait till your turtle / terrapin is ready, if they are shedding their platelets or shell this can be speed-ed up by a calcium rich diet.... please ask for details...

we can supply this for you if in doubt.... ;D

regards wayne....

p.s the picture shows a terrapin that is shedding its shell and will look all white and pachty...

regards wayne...

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[neilb]

Actually, it is more like pulling off a scab from a healing wound, although even that isn't the best comparisson. It is highly likely that the scute was almost off, and the small amount of encouragement just get rid of it completely, to reveal underlying shell rot. This is such a common issue with sliders especially who haven't shed, that if I had a pound for every time I'd seen an apparently healthy (if overdue a shed) shell reveal shell rot to one degree or another after a retained scute has finally come of, I would be a very rich man indeed!