My turtle has flaky skin.

Question
Hello, I received a turtle a week into June of '08. His name is Charlie, and just his shell is about 6 inches. He has grown a fai bit since I've owned him, I can tell my the edge of his shell fanning out into a thinner more pointy edge, sort of like our finger nails. But not exactly. I've also noticed his shell flaking off into fingernail like pieces. Gross to clean up, but cool that he is growing. I can't afford a bigger tank though. And I'm not good with my measurments. So it's about a whole arm long. elbow to finger tip back. and about  three quarters a length back. So two questions. one, is the falking of the actual soft skin ok, and not to be worried about. and what is simple way to get my turtle into a bigger environment for periods during the day but that If I go out I can be safe leaving him. But how do I do it in a very limited space. The first question is more important. the second I'm working on a bigger tank.


Answer
The flaking is shedding. If the sheds are paper-thin and the tissue underneath looks normal, it is...

1. Normal growth- which in normal situations is almost invisible since it happens a little at a time over the whole turtle, or

2. Rapid growth, as in overeating, etc. which looks like normal growth but happens over the whole turtle, or

3. Stress-related, which happens in crowded tanks, poor diet situation, etc.

If the sheds are thicker or if the skin underneath looks bad in any way- it is a form of rot or fungus.

For #2 and 3- if you fix the problem, everything is OK. Try http://www.redearslider.com for good cares for most water turtles, and it includes a good medical section if the problem is something like rot.

It really sounds like a combination of #2 and 3 to me- too much food and a small tank.

Fix them and everything should be fine.

Good luck!