my turtle is basking quite a bit now, and he is leaving behind thin layers of his shell, i think this means he is growing? and one other question, i notice when he is on the dock, he spreads his back legs staight out. is there something wrong with him or is he trying to do something? and he spends sevral hours on the dock a day, and h doesnt get scared of me anymore when he is onthere. is this normal. just thought i would get a oppinion.
Hi! Hes just shedding, so yeah hes growing. What kind of turtle do you have? The back legs thing, totaly normal, hes stretching them out to dry pretty much. My turtles sometimes will bask all the time and then at times they will hardly want ever get on thier turtle dock. One of turtles will jump right off when I walk in the room the other will just sit there and kinda stick his head up to look at me. So your turtle has maybe just gotten use to you being around and feels safe enough to sit there. I don't think you have anything to worry about.
How much is he peeling? If it's just one layer per scute it's alright, but if it keeps peeling there may be some vitamin/shell problem. Is your water temperature warm enough? With the seasons changing it might be getting a little chilly in your house and could have lowered the water temp a little, that would make the turtle bask more. Otherwise, they do spend plenty of time stretched out resting. Do you have a reason to worry if the leg stretching could be bad? ie- are you supplementing? As for it getting use to you, that's normal too. You provide yummy food after all.
