As we know that a turtle is a sensitive animal and we need to take care of them properly and also the shell of the turtle also needs some care from you. As we know that the turtle shell is not just a covering but more than that and it has a tendency to get dry and in some cases, it even rots off and because of the fungal or bacterial infection.
Many problems can occur to the shell of the turtle and drying of the turtle shell is one of them that you should take care of. In this article, we will discuss how to moisturize a turtle shell so that we can take proper care of its shell.
Why is the shell of the turtle getting dry?
Before moisturizing the shell of the turtle you should also know the reason that why the shell of your turtle is getting dry and these reasons are listed below:-
- The turtle shell is looking hard due to the hard water deposits. A white chalky surface gathers on the shell of the turtle which causes dryness in the shell of your turtle and also it appears to be dry.
- Another reason that makes the shell of your turtle dry is the lack of humidity in their surrounding environment. This is one of the obvious reason for the dryness of the shell of the turtle and it is due to the wrong temperature settings and low humidity levels inside the tank of the turtle.
- The turtle shell also looks dry because of the retained scute. (The retained scutes are just the part of the shell that gets retained and that does not fall off). The retained scute generally occurs because of improper food and also the improper environment. Due to this, the shell is not able to fall off properly and it retains over there on their body which causes dryness on their body.
These are the various reasons why the shell of the turtle becomes dry or looks dry and you should be able to depict the reason and only then you will be able to moisturize the shell of the turtle accordingly.
How to moisturize the shell of the turtle?
There are many ways in which you can moisturize the shell of the turtle according to the reasons that have caused that dryness in their shell and these ways are stated as below:-
- If the water is hard in the tank of the turtle it will start depositing on their shell, so in this case, you need to fix the hard water, by putting the mineral spring water in it. You can also treat the hard water with various conditioners that help in improving the quality of water.
- Now for removing the hard water residue that is chalky in nature, you have to first make a mixture of apple cider vinegar and the mineral spring water in a bowl.
- Now with a help of a brush or a toothbrush you need to lightly scrub the shell of your turtle with the mixture
- After this let the shell of the turtle dry off completely and you will notice that the residue caused due to the hard water is removed from the shell of the turtle.
- After drying the turtle nicely put them back inside the tank.
- As we know that the lack of humidity is also one of the cause for the dryness of the shell of the turtle and this can be due to the wrong settings in the temperature inside the tank of the turtle. So make sure that you are providing them with the right amount of humidity so that their shells are moisturized.
- For maintaining the proper humidity inside the tank of the turtle you need to set the temperature that is suitable for them and in which they are comfortable.
- Check the humidity levels inside the tank whether it is appropriate or not and accordingly you can increase or decrease the humidity inside the tank.
- For humidity, you can also do misting inside the tank once or twice a day depending upon the needs of the turtle as this will help in retaining the humidity inside the tank at an appropriate level and also the shell of the turtle will be moisturized properly.
- In order to fix the retained scutes you need to be patient as removing the retained scutes takes time and after the removal of the retained scutes the dryness goes off from the shell of the turtle and you need to mainly focus on the diet of your turtle and the environment in which they are living in.
- You need to replace the older UV bulbs as it is the major reason for the retaining of the scute as they will not be able to produce Vitamin D3 for their body.
- One of the most important things is that you have to make sure that your turtle is eating a healthy diet and is eating properly and is not skipping its diet because that also causes the retaining of the scutes. The diet of your turtle should be highly nutritive so that they do not have dry shells as the healthy diet keeps the moisture retained in their shell.
- You need to check the basking point of your turtle is dry, because if the turtle is not able to dry off its shell properly then there is a tendency that it can grow an unhealthy shell. So a good point for basking is needed inside the captivity of the turtle. Only then the moisture-retaining can take place in the properly dried shell of your turtle.
These are the various ways in which you can moisturize the shell of the turtle according to the reason due to which this dryness is occurring on the shells of your turtle.
As we know that the turtles are sensitive in nature and because of this you can moisturize the shell of your turtle properly and make sure when you start noticing the dryness on the shell of the turtle follow the steps given above so that you can moisturize the shell nicely. These are quite easy ways in which you can easily moisturize the shell of your turtle without much hassle.
Conclusion:
The turtle’s shells also need care as the turtle itself so you need to make sure about everything regarding your turtle. Only when your turtle will be comfortable inside the captivity only then they will live a happy and healthy life.
You will also love to see your turtle happy, more you will spend time with them you will be able to understand them better and also there will be a bonding between you two. The turtle and you will start enjoying each other’s company and would love to take care of your turtle even more.
In this article, we came to know that in order to keep them healthy we also need to take care of their shell so that no sort of diseases and infection take place on their body. The dryness can be removed from their body by moisturizing them nicely just by following the above-mentioned steps.
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