Skin
shedding on a healthy turtle is nothing to be concerned with,
as long as the skin that is shedding does not appear to be
thick or dark in color there is probably not a problem. Another
area to look at on your turtle is the color of its skin. If
it appears to be red or irritated your turtle may have a problem.
Most reptiles shed their skin all
at once and then do not shed for some time. Turtles are constantly
shedding their skin but do so in small bits at a time. If
your turtle or tortoise does not have any water in its enclosure
you may not even notice it shedding at all. If you have an
aquatic turtle you will most likely see small bits of dead
skin floating on the surface of the water.
The most common cause for prolonged
or excessive shedding is a fungus infection.
Although there are some treatment options available that you
can perform (such as soaking the turtle in an iodine solution
twice daily) it is highly advisable to take your turtle to
a veterinarian. In the mean time you should remove the turtle
from the water as much as possible and keep it dry, especially
at night when you cannot monitor its activities. You can do
this by moving the turtle to a second habitat during the night.
|
