Urgent Care :: Dark spot on plastron

[prowler-purple]

There is a dark marking on her plastron under her left front foot. It's under the surface and won't scrape off. I just noticed it an hour ago. I don't know what it is. Does anyone have any ideas? I can see a vet early in the week.

How big is your turtle? 9" shell, 8.5 lb, I think
How long have you had it? 8 years. may be 10+

What is the water temperature? room temp. 78-80F
Did you use a thermometer? no
Are you using a water heater? no
How much water is in there? 34 Gallons of water in a 120 Gal aquarium
Are you using a water conditioner? Melafix
Are you using any filtration? in tank simple filter.

What is the basking temperature?
Is there a basking light? Powersun 100W
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? yup
What kind is it or what is it made out of? resin
Is there a UVB light? Powersun 100W

What have you been trying to feed it? Sun dried anchovies, Tetrafauna Reptotreat Gammarus, Zoo Med Krill, and cooked salmon
When was the last time your turtle ate? today

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 48" x18" She stays in the tank during most of the day and roams around the apartment in the evening
Is the tank near a window? yes
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? she's in front of the kitchen and box turtle habitat

Have you read the Basic Care section? no
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? simple web search

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? She layed an undeveloped egg a week and a half ago. and dug another nest today and quit.

[steve]

I'm not sure if it's something to worry about yet. It might be due to iron... do you see it any where else?

[prowler-purple]

No, that's the only spot. Do you mean too much iron?

[steve]

It might be an environmental issue, not sure. Is it possible that it's dark red?

[prowler-purple]

no. it's black. It's under the surface of the keratin. I'll look again tomorrow to see if there is more color in it.

[steve]

Any of the scutes there flaking?

[prowler-purple]

They just flaked off a few weeks ago.

[steve]

Are they completely off, maybe some remnants there?

[prowler-purple]

Why is it interesting? Do you want some pics of the flakes?

[prowler-purple]

Here is a photo of part of a skate flake still attached. The whitish spots are recent within the past few weeks.

[steve]

Are the white spots under the shell? Is there a noticeable pit?

[prowler-purple]

She made one of these eggs this morning in the tank. More eggs to come I think. She made some much smaller underdeveloped egg things last week.

The top photo shows the white spots with small pitting.

[steve]

If it's actual pitting, you need to keep a close eye on it to make sure it's not a shell breach (the white would be a little exposed bone.)

[prowler-purple]

A shell breach? I think the top layer keratin is eroded. Yes, there is some pitting. When I peeled off the top layer keratin flakes a few weeks ago it was already like that. What I peeled off didn't have the pits in it. The white spots aren't exposed bone. Just translucent keratin.

[unclejoe]

Thanx for showing the egg, since you say its underdeveloped, does that mean it would be whiter in color if it was developed?