The shell is the strongest part of the turtle, it is meant to protect these animals from damage from predators and other types of injuries, so if this part of the turtle starts breaking you’d understandably start to worry
This article looks into why your turtle’s shell is breaking
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Why is my turtle’s shell breaking?
If there is a crack or beak in your turtle shell then you know that there is something wrong with the animal and you don’t want this, you may even worry about the health of this animal,
Here is what may be happening with your pet turtle:
Dehydration:
One simplest reasons why your turtle’s shell seems to be breaking may be because the animal is living in an environment that is too dry for it.
Turtles that live in too-dry environments will become dehydrated to the point where their shells crack and break
What to do:
Turtles need to live in environments with the appropriate humidity for their species. You’d need to check what conditions your pet would best be suited in
Once you’ve found this out you may need to change the substrate in your pet’s enclosure as well as change the humidity and temperature settings in the animal’s enclosure to meet the reptile’s needs.
Injury:
Your pet’s shell may be breaking because it was involved in an accident or a fight.
Cracked shells could have developed if your pet was attacked by a dog, hit by a car, if it was accidentally dropped by a person, if it was fighting with other turtles, or if it was clumsy and fell from a high height.
What to do:
If you are experienced in how to repair shells then you could fix the shell yourself by pushing the shell together and then using a quick-drying epoxy to keep it together then allow the shell to fuse.
Doing the above is only recommended if you already know what you’re doing when it comes to turtle shell repairs. If you’re not too sure then you should take the animal to the vet.
You can pass a hydrogen peroxide-soaked Q-tip on the area to disinfect it until you can get the animal to the vet.
Don’t pour the hydrogen peroxide into the wound as this can get into the turtle’s body cavity. Also, avoid submerging the animal in water as this can limit healing and bring in bacteria
Shedding:
If your pet’s shell looks like it’s breaking, in that the scutes (scales) of its shell seem to be coming off, then this simply means that the reptile is shedding its shell.
These segments of the shell peel off once in a while, this is especially true when the animal is growing rapidly when it is young. This scute shedding is similar to how other animals shed their scales.
What to do:
You don’t have to worry if this is happening with your turtle, as long as the scales aren’t very thick and deep when they fall off then your pet should be fine. Un fact, shedding is a great thing and means that your pet is healthy.
What you should avoid is removing the scutes yourself, this can be painful for the turtle so let the scutes come off on their own
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other turtle/tortoise related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Why Is My Turtle’s Shell Turning Blue?, Why Does My Turtle’s Shell Look Cracked?, Why Is My Turtle’s Shell Shiny?, Why Is My Turtle’s Shell Turning Green?, Why Is My Turtle’s Shell Squishy?, Why Is My Turtle’s Shell Dented?, Why Is My Turtle’s Shell Getting Darker, Why Is My Turtles Shell Caving In?, Why Is My Baby Turtle Not Growing?
