What To Look For When Caring For A Turtle Without A Shell
The weirdest thing that comes to my mind is the sudden emergence of their heads without their shell. As they acquire this habit, it’s apparent that their developing spine is as unique as it grows within their shells. Therefore it’s evident that the developing spine is the core of the turtle’s anatomy. Its existence is critical in turtles development because the spine serves to anchor the turtle’s body and keep it from flailing its arms wildly through the water. As the turtle grows, so does its spine and eventually become a fully fledged tortoise or a hermit crab.
Turtles grow into adulthood by moulting which can take up to two years. During the moulting, the internal organs of the turtle gradually get squeezed out through the openings at the back of their shell. The first few shells they obtain are generally large, as the moult enables them to produce a lot more eggs. After they mature, their size changes and they acquire smaller shells. This cycle continues throughout their lives, though occasionally they shift to larger shells. During this shift, their moulting usually also occurs.
The reasons why turtles lose the ability to produce a shell are mostly due to old age. The bones begin to grow towards the center of their bodies and they eventually become too big to fit into their former shell. When they are unable to fit inside, they eventually perish due to suffocation. A lot of turtles do not lose the ability to produce a shell until they reach maturity and molting which take up to two years. They are thus stuck with an improperly sized shell and hence cannot molt or grow into adulthood. Some species such as tortoises do not lose the ability to produce a shell until they reach adulthood while others such as the Leatherback tortoise remain mounted until they are about 25 years old.
If you have found a turtle without a shell, the best thing you can do for it is to provide it with a new shell. You can buy a pre-made turtle shell from a pet shop or you can build one yourself if you have enough knowledge and skill in making such things. The process of building a shell for a turtle is fairly easy but it does require patience and time. To make a shell for your turtle, you must first determine its size. It is better to take measurements directly from a turtle’s natural habitat than to make a scale drawing.
Next, determine where you will place the shell so that it gets adequate amount of sunlight. You should keep in mind that some turtles love direct sunlight more than others and some prefer shady spots. It would be better to place the shell in a shaded area or better yet, in direct sunlight. Do keep in mind, though, that turtles like live plants to feed on so placing the shell near plants can be good for it. You should also consider the temperature of the place where you are going to place the shell. A good place for it is in a sunny place, since it needs to expose its body to direct sunlight for most of the day.
The third step in caring for your turtle is by providing it with a healthy diet. Its diet depends on the species of your turtle. If it has a diet rich in calcium, vitamins B and C, proteins and other essential minerals, then you can be sure that your turtle is healthy. It is best that you provide your turtle with soft and moist toys to play with since it needs to shell out its food in order to digest it.
Turtle shells come in different shapes, sizes and colors. Shells are usually made out of calcium carbonate or alternatively, encrusted with calcium carbonate. There are varieties of shell types like; coral, agate, anemone, eggshell, horseshoe, okra, pear, oval-shaped, spherical, synthetic, turtle-shaped, and turtle shell. These shells come in different shapes and sizes, however, the shape of a turtle shell is chosen based on the way it fits into the habitat or environment where the turtle resides. For instance, a turtle shell that fits perfectly on the land can also look awkward in a tank since its body gets trapped when you put it inside there.
The last but not the least is to protect the shell itself from any possible damage that can be caused by food, water or predators. Turtles are known to have dense shells that are not only beautiful but quite difficult to injure. However, even though they have tough outer shells, it is still possible for them to get eaten. Tortoises especially suffer from this problem because their shells are also the carrier of their eggs. Remember, even though turtles have hard outer shells, they can still be eaten so make sure to provide your pet turtle with a safe shell. Remember that turtles are omnivorous which means that they can eat both meat and plant material.