Mel Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 My snakeneck is going through his shell shed at the moment, today one of the old plates came off leaving a small very white patch, bone? I have always had problems with feeding this guy, at the moment all he will eat is raw prawns - so i am sure it must be his diet causing this. he has a basking area in which he can come right out of the water to dry and has a uv light on all day, we have just replaced this with a brand new bulb - BUT before replacing we have always had the protective plastic cover over the light, so this may also be another factor of the white shell? we have now removed the plastic cover. Any tips on new things i can try feeding him. Also with a cuttlebone floating in the tank does it matter he doesn't eat it? does the calcuim leach into the water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 not mr. turtle! I hope he is alright! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 As long as you have a basking/heat lamp above basking platform. He should come out and use it although they can be shy i suppose, especially in tanks. Uv without plastic cover may just fix it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Posted March 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 I love your avatar Matt, very cool Yes he does come right out onto his basking area when i sneak into the fishroom in the morning he's under the heatlamp fully dry, so happy he is coming right out now. Yes duh me, i read through donna's turtle fact file and noticed the bit on the plastic covering - so do you think that is the reason? i hope so and i hope we've done no serious damage to him :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 One of the main causes of white shell is not drying the shell out properly and this is usually caused by not having the tank open at the top so that the humidity is always high. Many pet shops are good at selling tanks for turtles with completely sealed lids which keep the humidity high and their shells never properly dry out. As suggested a heat lamp will also encourage them to bask. Only feeding shrimp does not sound too good either as I think it is high in phosphorus which will inhibit calcium absorption. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 Thanks Mel, raised a few frogs now but not many have been as green as that one Thats good hes basking. Hard to say why the shell would be like that. More vaired diet wouldnt hurt. Best foods are fresh water fish, Insects (live is best but HFF's new range is prob the next best thing and probably easier on the wallet considering how much turtles can munch back), Snails, worms and crustaceans. Ox heart in moderation but probably not the best. Hot house turtle food is good. Snakenecks are the main reason I started breeding insects (and fish :oops: ). Being carnivores the ox heart just wasnt enough on its own and is questionable in its self. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 Alans onto it, Ive seen too many sickly looking turtles that dont have access to a basking platform. Its sad and probably due to lack of education to and from the petshops. Basking is very important. Maybe up the calcium intake, dust the food 2-3times a week. They dont have a beak like mouth as do the red ears so will struggle to eat cuttle bone. The calcium shells sold in pet shops could be added (not sure how effective this is) but adding calcium to the food is prob best, try hand feed so it doesnt wash off in the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Posted March 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 thanks for the replies. His tank hasn't got a cover so fully open. i know his diet is pretty bad i try feeding the hothouse food but he just won't eat it :-? will get some fresh fish fillets and try him on that tonight i added afew drops of turtle vitamins to his prawn - and wouldn't you know it the little devil knew something was different and wouldn't touch it - managed to get one good piece into him though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repto Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 get some whole live fish for him,guppies,gambusia etc.give them a flick in the net to demobilise them a bit before putting them in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 get some whole live fish for him,guppies,gambusia etc.give them a flick in the net to demobilise them a bit before putting them in. fish are his friends :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 "flick in the net" :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Posted March 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 lol yes indeedie - fish are his friends he lives with about 50 odds juvie african cichlids and he has no interest at all in eating them :-? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted March 15, 2010 Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 Weird, they love fish and are excellent at fishing. Very fast like a snake, when they want to be. Maybe water is a bit cold or your just feeding too much prawn. I had never seen mine eat pellets until I got slack and cut back on food. Still not sure thats normal though as I didnt think they eat pellets. And that is just one of them who is a complete guts and eats almost anything i chuck at it. :lol: Actually come think of it, I did have guppies breeding in with them at one stage, to my surprise. But same thing i suspect if i stopped feeding them they would have cleaned up the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted March 16, 2010 Report Share Posted March 16, 2010 Snake-Necks are mostly carnivorous and will forage for food during the day. In captivity they tend to be less interested in pelleted foods but they thrive on a varied diet of small fish, crustaceans, vitamin-supplemented meat (e.g. non-fatty chicken, ox heart ), fresh frozen aquatic turtle food, tinned dog food, mice pups, soaked cat biscuits, insects, insect larvae, snails, worms, fish flakes, trout pellets and reptile pellets. A good basking area must be easily accessible to the turtle but it must also be completely dry and warm. A turtle that is not seen basking for several hours every day is likely to be having problems accessing the basking area, or the temperature difference between the water and the basking area may not be ideal, and this can result in long term health problems such as weakened bones and a softened shell. The basking area must also have twelve hours of UVA and UVB light and a heat source that will encourage the turtle to remain in the basking area (the basking area should be at least 6 degrees warmer than the water temperature so do not let the water get too warm). HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnaM Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 Yes one of my snake-necks was dreadful for 2 yrs at not eating much.... 'till he discovered live fish! Now I can hardly keep up with him for live food :lol: Prawns alone are not a good diet. Also watch if you feed cat biscuits and only do so sparingly. The purine content can lead to possible gout and death. Try making him hungry before introducing a new food. He wont starve himself and could easily be left for 3 or 4 days with no food and then try the hot-house food etc. Also you could check out the australian fresh water turtle site which naturally has all the info you need on Aussie turtles www.australianfreshwaterturtles.com ....or something like that...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Posted March 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 Would this be ok to do? ... I have him in a box made it nice and cozy, have a heat lamp and a uvb light over him, so thought i'd do this every night for ahour. Would it help him, how long would you recommend i leave him in the box for? 1 hour or more? once a day or twice a day .. or more times? I checked out the aussie turtle forum - they recommend that indoor turts should be put outside 3 times a week for at least 20 mins each time. I did this today but he kept going into the shade i'd put him back in the sun and he'd go back to the shade :-? also wondering weather outside in winter wouldn't be so good wouldn't it be to cold? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnaM Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 No, dont put him outside as the change in temp at this time of year can lead to all sorts of respiratory issues. Its a great idea in the summer tho Also make sure your lights are not too close to him. About a foot... 30cm away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 Yeah after winter when the pond gets over 18 to 20C they can go out, will handle winter where you are. They just need to have summer to get use to the elements. Then as winter dawns they slowly wind down, once temp gets under 18C stop feeding. I think your tanks is probably more than sufficient, moving the turt around probably isnt doing much for her independence :lol: Can put her outside on really hot days but watch out for cold drafts/wind, especially at this time of year. And must have access to shade, and preferably water. Wrong time of year to be doing so really, but then again there is still a heap of heat in that sun when it shows it face. I was reflecting the sun off my whiteness today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Posted March 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 I brought some fresh raw fish yesterday - one piece of hoki and one small piece of salamon. He loved the hoki and had quite a big fed of that but he didn't like the salamon Phoenix44 kindly gave me a earth worm to try - we dangled it in front of his face and he just wouldn't eat it :-? i'll try again today with the worm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnaM Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 I brought some fresh raw fish yesterday - one piece of hoki and one small piece of salamon. He loved the hoki and had quite a big fed of that but he didn't like the salamon Phoenix44 kindly gave me a earth worm to try - we dangled it in front of his face and he just wouldn't eat it :-? i'll try again today with the worm. Sounds like you are on the right track. Personally I'd stop feeding the shrimps altogether for the meantime. He wont starve himself.... and you may find a few of those young fish start to disappear if he gets a bit hungry :lol: Little "Minnie" my rescued 1 yr old snakeneck discovered baby angel fish the other day.... only she grabbed the one that was too big for her and had fish out either side of her wee mouth for ages...till she spat it out and the bigger snakeneck ate it instead :roll: (They were feeder fish given to me, not top quality or anything) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repto Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 if you must feed it fish get some small herrings,feeder goldfish etc,something that still has its bones in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 Don't feed bait though, it has preservatives in it that are toxic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 Ew thats interesting, I never knew that. I dont like the thought of eating a fish that has been eating toxic bait :-? people need start fishing with more natural products...like crickets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 Yeah, in penguin rehab they were finding heaps of toxicities and deaths in those that had been fed bait fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Posted March 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 :-? i brought a small piece of salamon for my turtle ... do you really think i would feed it bait food, i think not!! :lol: This is squimish and i said he can do it but with me nowhere near ... Well Glen is going to start catching our little fishes and cut them up to feed him then he'll be getting fresh whole fish :roll: hmm the things we do huh. His shell has pretty much finished shedding now and looks so nice a shiny, apart from the 4 little white spots - the 2 biggest spots are proberly the size of a small pea the other 2 smaller spots are half the size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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