Common Musk Turtle

I got Bentley when he was the size of a quarter. 3 years ago.

He’s been in a few aquariums
He’s currently in his transitional 20 long until I decide how to upgrade him for the rest of his life.

I’m concerned because he’s literally one of the worlds smallest turtle species yet I don’t know if he’s obese or if his shell is unhealthy?

I feed 7 different turtle pellets regularly (4-5 pellets every other day, live foods 3-5 insects weekly).

I use a heat lamp

I use a uvb tropical tube albeit it sits atop a mesh lid so it may block some of the benefits of uvb ....

I do not use a water heater

Pool filter sand is substrate

He has a dock but I’m considering making a turtle topper the only thing stopping me is I don’t know for sure if it’s needed for musks but if he were a red ear slider I’d do in heartbeat

An air stone

I use internal whisper filtration too.



Not asking for help exactly just opinions on his appearance

 

He looks good to me, in terms of both weight and shell. Usually when I see a reptile improperly cared for for several years or longer, the signs are very obvious, particularly bone and shell growth as well as emaciation. I see none of that here. But I'm not an expert, so there may be signs I'm missing. It could be obese, but I honestly can't say.

 

Can you post a picture of the top of his shell so I’m able to see the growth pattern of the scutes?

From what I can see he looks good, but a clear picture of the scutes will tell me more.

 

Ok here goes

I’ve decided he will be in a 55 gallon upgrade with some type of topper.

I am unsure of the scabbing (?) on his back.

 

Overall he looks healthy, but I would say he could use a change in diet. I wouldn’t call him overweight either.

•His head is proportionate to his body and I assume he can get his entire body inside his shell. •His carapace isn’t serrated which is great (the outer edge of the shell). •His skin color is perfect (if it were to be greyish it would be a problem with diet), and his shell color is also pretty good and uniform. If the shell has multiple colors and shades that’s a sign of an unhealthy diet as well. •There’s some uneven peeling of the scutes but that’s normal for a growing turtle. Sometimes they’ll shed scutes like that though to fend off an infection or other issue, so just keep an eye on it. When I received my turtles they had layers upon layers of peeling and stuck scutes, I found that putting a little bit of apple cider vinegar in a cup of water and scrubbing them gently with a soft bristle toothbrush really helped. Apple cider vinegar helps kill bacteria that causes shell rot. Just make sure there is never white spots showing on the scutes, that would be your turtle’s bone. I would look in to Arcadia UVB bulbs and fixtures. They offer a higher output and that may also help with his scutes.


He displays more growth rings than I would’ve expected. A healthy turtle shell won’t have that many growth rings, that’s typically a sign of over feeding foods that are high in protein (particularly pellets). You don’t want to be feeding mainly pellets, turtle dinners or red meats. A lot of care sheets and articles for turtles include pellets as the main source of food but if you think about it they’re not eating pellets in the wild. They’re eating mainly insects, fish and plant matter. While these turtle pellets and diets include all of those things they also have extra protein and fats, it’s like taking too much of a multivitamin. I would start offering him more things like earth worms, cut up fish, shrimp, blood worms, duckweek, crickets, snails, mollusks. You can buy a bag of tilapia fish and some shrimp and thaw pieces as you need it. They also sell cans of snails that he would probably love and go nuts for. Reptiles LOVE snails, especially turtles. Dandelion greens, kale, spinach, and collard greens are great things to use as well. You can still offer the pellets, but I would offer them WITH these other foods; always. I would also dust your food with Repashy Calcium Plus once every two or so weeks. Though he has UVB, he would benefit from an extra boost of calcium and Vitamin D3.


Overall, he’s healthy. Don’t worry too much. I would just change up his diet I know you weren’t asking for “help” exactly but this is just my assessment of him. I’ve been doing a lot of research on shell health myself because of the state my two turtles were in when I got them.

 

Ty so much for your dietary suggestions which I decided to follow and make the chAnges. Turns out they were beneficial. I did offer mostly pellets but I’m feeding more bloodworms, frozen thawed fish, chopped shrimp and chopped earthworms, superworms and I offer greens but He isn’t into those at the moment. He is definitely happier! Oh And snails!!!!!!!! He really loves these best.

He’s in a 55 I filled all but maybe 5 inches high and I turtles escape proofed it.

He has wood at the bottom for climbing.
Sand.
A basking dock which is the floating kind with suctions... I tried the diy with corkbark but didn’t think it would work. I bought the turtle topper but musks tend not to go up into those so the floating dock it is.
He has a 48” zoo med reptisun fixture all across the top as well as a 50w heat bulb pointing at the dock area in a clamp fixture.

Overall he’s doing wonderful! Ty so much.

 

Ty so much for your dietary suggestions which I decided to follow and make the chAnges. Turns out they were beneficial. I did offer mostly pellets but I’m feeding more bloodworms, frozen thawed fish, chopped shrimp and chopped earthworms, superworms and I offer greens but He isn’t into those at the moment. He is definitely happier! Oh And snails!!!!!!!! He really loves these best.

He’s in a 55 I filled all but maybe 5 inches high and I turtles escape proofed it.

He has wood at the bottom for climbing.
Sand.
A basking dock which is the floating kind with suctions... I tried the diy with corkbark but didn’t think it would work. I bought the turtle topper but musks tend not to go up into those so the floating dock it is.
He has a 48” zoo med reptisun fixture all across the top as well as a 50w heat bulb pointing at the dock area in a clamp fixture.

Overall he’s doing wonderful! Ty so much.

No problem! That’s awesome!! I’m glad the change worked in your favor. I bet your turtle is absolutely loving it too, especially the snails! And hahah, I have trouble getting any of my reptiles to eat their greens too, like a bunch of children. I’ve been dicing their food up, mixing it all together and putting it in ice cube trays so 1. they have no choice but to eat their greens and 2. I can freeze the rest and have perfect portion sizes

 

No problem! That’s awesome!! I’m glad the change worked in your favor. I bet your turtle is absolutely loving it too, especially the snails! And hahah, I have trouble getting any of my reptiles to eat their greens too, like a bunch of children. I’ve been dicing their food up, mixing it all together and putting it in ice cube trays so 1. they have no choice but to eat their greens and 2. I can freeze the rest and have perfect portion sizes

That’s a good idea with the ice cube trays!

 

It is, I’ve kind of used that with my beardeds and my blue tongue. Mixed veggies in with the proteins so they have no choice but to consume some of them.

I didn’t hear of doing it this way with aquatic reptiles with flippers but it does sound clever enough to work hehe!