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new to turtles

22 16:07:45

Question
hi, i recently bought my 2 adorable turtles as i'm allergic to most pets. they are the same age. one is allot bigger than the other. when i bought them the shop didn'tn if they were boy's or girls. i really don't even no what type off breads they are. since I've bought then they have settled in very well. we handle them every day. i bought the tank, heater, pump, floating bridge, everything with the turtles. i feed them greens and bloodworms. there in a 2 ft tank. but since I've bought them the little one as loads off white like cotton wool coming out off him/her. the shop said it was shredding his skin. I'm alittle worried about this. also the little one keeps climbing on top off the big one and over the past day they are both acting different. i don't no allot about turtles, and the shop said they would do there very best to help me if i had any problems. but they don't seem to be helping at all. any information would be very nice. i just don't want anything bad to happen to them.
thanks Kim

Answer
Hi Kimberley,

It's really important to know what species you have so you can provide proper care.  If the shop can't tell you, post a *very clear* picture from the side of the entire turtle and I'll see if I can help with ID.  How big are they?  They may be too small to sex yet.  The white fuzz you're describing sounds like fungus to me.  They do shed their skin and scutes (shell scales), but the skin shedding would just look like little bits of skin coming off and not be white or woolly.  Fungus is usually caused by poor water conditions, so you may need to provide a larger tank or better filtration.  Here's a link to some information about shell conditions that may help:  http://redearslider.com/shell_conditions.html  There's some good general information there on aquatics care, but you should still find out what species you have for specific care information.