How to look after my turtle?

What does an extra scute look like on a turtle?

• I'm thinking about adding a texas map to my already established turtle tank and saw they are discounted for having extra scutes. What does that look like? And I already have a healthy turtle living in a good environment with all the proper care. So please, no you don't know what you are getting in to lecture.

• Answer:

  Extra scutes are also known as split scutes. Here are carapace (dorsal) and plastron (ventral)diagrams showing all the scutes. Vertebral and costal extra/split scutes will usually take up the same amount of space as a whole/complete scute, but will sometimes extend into the next scute. Same goes for plaston scutes. The scutes will usually be split at an angle. For marginal scutes, there is usually a split scute only on one side, at least with the opposite marginal. Again, these split scutes will take up about the same space as the single scute (two smaller scutes together). Count the marginals on both sides and you will likely get a higher count on one side. Basically, you can count the scutes, and/or look for assymetrical scutes. You can also look for any angular splits in the scutes. Everything will be symmetrical without split/extra scutes. http://reptilis.net/index4/scutes.jpg I'll try to find photos. Add: Russian tortoise with a split vertebral, and a red-footed tortoise with a split costal. http://tortoiseforum.org/archive/index.php/thread-8604.html Extra/split scutes on the third and fifth vertebrals, and an extra/split on the fifth costal scute is split, so there are six. http://www.flickr.com/photos/25220024@N04/3450705676/