Hey folks, was hoping some people could help me. Ever since I had my ally snappers, they usually seem to "bask" here and there. I live in a place with really hard water and have been using that in my glass tank for a long time now. This resulted in my snappers skin shedding way too much and the scutes on their shells coming off way too fast. It was definitely the hard water doing this and they definitely didn't like it so they would usually try to aggressively escape the tank. The hard tap water from my town would leave a lot of permamnent hard water deposits on the sides of the glass tank and wouldn't come off even if I scraped it off or even buffed the glass with a sander. It would always come back no matter what. This is definitely an issue that more alligator snapping turtle owners should be aware about!
I recently made the switch to a Rubbermaid tub and started using soft RO water from my aquarium store. Decided that if I couldn't get rid of the hard water deposits/trace elements from my glass tank I should start with a new environment and start with soft water from the beginning. My snappers are still "basking" on top of each other even though my water is now soft. I assume it's because they need UV light? I've never used a UV bulb for them before. I guess they need sunlight to restore/heal their skin and shells? Maybe I'll get one soon. Or maybe they need a heat source? Although my water is perfectly set at 82-83 degrees Fahrenheit with the heater. All of my alligator snapping turtles are about 2 and a half years old. Advice/knowledge on these topics will be appreciated! I attached pics of my snappers and a water test I did on the new water in my Rubbermaid setup; everything from the test seems pretty normal.
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