EPTThere's a shark in my turtle pond - Page 2
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EsX_Raptor
United States2801 Posts
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Myles
United States5162 Posts
On July 13 2011 09:17 EsX_Raptor wrote: Turtles are reptiles and therefore change their skin/shells every once in a while. They don't molt. That's crustaceans and insects. Their scales on their back do flake away every year or two as they grow, but they never have a soft shell(except when very young), which is what I think you're getting at. edit: Actually I guess it's still considered molting, but it's not all at once like snakes and doesn't produce a soft shell like insects/crustaceans. | ||
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InvalidID
United States1050 Posts
On July 13 2011 09:25 Myles wrote: They don't molt. That's crustaceans and insects. Their scales on their back do flake away every year or two as they grow, but they never have a soft shell(except when very young), which is what I think you're getting at. Maybe a small gator got in it? Its a legitimate possibility, I saw a gator in a retention pond there once. | ||
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EsX_Raptor
United States2801 Posts
On July 13 2011 09:25 Myles wrote: They don't molt. That's crustaceans and insects. Their scales on their back do flake away every year or two as they grow, but they never have a soft shell(except when very young), which is what I think you're getting at. edit: Actually I guess it's still considered molting, but it's not all at once like snakes and doesn't produce a soft shell like insects/crustaceans. They do molt. As far as I know, turtles start dropping their feathers whenever they run out of shell replacements. | ||
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NoodleFish
South Africa198 Posts
RAWR! Lol lets hope not. Hope u find out what happened. Hopefully it wasn't something from the Horror Discussion Thread | ||
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Kallehoe
Sweden67 Posts
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krok(obs)
Germany264 Posts
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/EQn0o.jpg) ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/F34mq.jpg) *edit* come to think of it i dont see any other marks on your turtles shell except for the huge gouge. hmmmm on my parents shell you can still see smaller marks where the shell has been somewhat chipped away (the whitish spots) but not been penetrated, obviously stemming from the dogs teeth scratching at the shell. you mentioned the lack of bitemarks but then again i still think a stray dog (or similar animal) is your most likely source of injury. i mean, come on dog/racoon? possible alligator?( could an alligator get into your pond?) bird?....naaww canadian hockey player? quite a way from vancouver to florida so i guess you can rule that out. other turtles? seems unlikely given the size of that bitemark but wouldnt rule it out. disease? havent ever heard of anything like a rotting illness or the likes creating gouges like that in a turtles shell. | ||
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j0k3r
United States577 Posts
Edit: taking a closer look, the width of the bite seems to be incongruent with the shape of a turtle's jaws. The bite is wider than it is deep, I think if another turtle had done that the wound would extend further inward and not be as wide. You can probably test this theory by having one of your turtles bite some foam or a vegetable like a large slice of carrot and compare the marks. Gator snouts however are wider up top and could possibly form a bite like that. It was most likely a juvinille unable to fit the turtle in it's mouth else we would see many marks on the top and bottom of the shell indicating an attempt of a larger gator to swallow. | ||
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Snuggles
United States1865 Posts
I doubt a bird of any kind can make a bite like that though, and obviously if an animal like a raccoon got a hold of it you won't be just looking at a bite mark. | ||
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QuanticHawk
United States32051 Posts
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Apocalyptic
United States131 Posts
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QuanticHawk
United States32051 Posts
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Terrorcore
Canada132 Posts
I used to have two turtles in an aquarium once (both male) and one turtle took a bite at the other like that. It ended up healing and leaving a huge 'scar' but yes it seems like this is something that happens in-between turtles. Good luck! | ||
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