http://www.cclockwood.com/stockimages/turtle_alligator snapping.htm
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Alligator snapping turtle shell HELP!
- Thread starter kljr
- Start date
My brother n law had one that would regularly get out of the water under the heat lamp not wild but I'll see if he has any pics
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http://www.academia.edu/1085956/Bas...acrochelys_temminckii_Testudines_Chelydridae_
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Yes they do bask but are way more secretive than common snappers and submerge at the slightest disturbance near them. The ones i kept in 12 ft diameter stock tanks that were not afraid of humans many times would just sit there when i walked up to check on them. I will say i never caught them totally out of the water rather it was the tail or one of the feet dipped in while basking. I had several hatchlings that would sit on a red brick in the tank with water just barely above it and a basking light above it.
In my experience when it is a vitamin D issue the white bare areas will be at least slightly soft and look to have tiny spongy air bubbles in the bone. I was thinking possible rubbing issues but see nothing in your setup to cause it when you posted the whole tank pics. As suggested it could be a combination of all these things put up as possible causes.
A thought i just had, how often do you scrub the turtles shell? You mentioned that after scrubbing the shell this last time the area got bigger. If you are doing this often (personally i would not do it more than once or twice a year) it may be the problem or part of it. As mentioned the shell is part of the turtles skeletal system with blood vessels and nerves ( it is living bone). Each section sheds the outer layer one or more times a year as it grows. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_shell . Anyways as your turtle is still young and may be lacking a complete balanced diet with proper amounts of D3 and calcium this outer layer may be very thin compared to normal and when you scrub it it is breaking away from the shell scute which it was going to do soon anyways just not yet. When the scute has this happen and it is way to soon then the white boney area would seep blood as well.
In my experience when it is a vitamin D issue the white bare areas will be at least slightly soft and look to have tiny spongy air bubbles in the bone. I was thinking possible rubbing issues but see nothing in your setup to cause it when you posted the whole tank pics. As suggested it could be a combination of all these things put up as possible causes.
A thought i just had, how often do you scrub the turtles shell? You mentioned that after scrubbing the shell this last time the area got bigger. If you are doing this often (personally i would not do it more than once or twice a year) it may be the problem or part of it. As mentioned the shell is part of the turtles skeletal system with blood vessels and nerves ( it is living bone). Each section sheds the outer layer one or more times a year as it grows. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_shell . Anyways as your turtle is still young and may be lacking a complete balanced diet with proper amounts of D3 and calcium this outer layer may be very thin compared to normal and when you scrub it it is breaking away from the shell scute which it was going to do soon anyways just not yet. When the scute has this happen and it is way to soon then the white boney area would seep blood as well.
Can i ask, what kind of food should be added to it's diet for proper amounts of D3 and calcium for shell growth?
Besides gut loading prey items with it? Look at the turtles diet in nature. When i have had the chance to go find them in the wild i quickly found a clue to finding both types of snappers. While walking the edge/land or in the shallows i would come across areas full of empty broken shells of all sorts crayfish, snails and freshwater clams there would also be turtle slides on the embankment close to it. These are good sources of calcium and other nutrition and are for sure a common part of diet for these turtles. I have seen both types also take out frogs and baby birds on the water, again good sources of nutrition. I used to feed my captives fish i netted from the creeks and pond edges, snails from the garden and crayfish i also trapped from the livestock ponds i had access to. I had chickens and pigeons too and when a chick or squab didn't make the cut they went to the snappers or one of my other reptiles. So the idea is to vary the diet as much as possible and you are less likely to get deficiency in your pets.
How's the alligator snapper doing?? Any better did you change anything or add anything
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