Urgent Care :: help please, shell problems

[kellycraig125]

My turtle Squirty is 4", lives in a 55 gallon tank with a Rena XP4 filter, heater, basking platform, MVB, good diet. I feed him turtle jello shots, pellets, greens, occasional treats. I did rescue him from a school where he was not living in good conditions, but that's been about a year and a half ago. I think he's approximately 4 years old.

I've noticed that my turtle's shell had white spots on it within the past week. I thought it was probably fungus. I've began dry docking 21 hours or so a day, cleaning with hibeclens, using silver sulfadiazine cream, etc. I've attached a pic because I am just so concerned. Do you have any other advise. I won't be able to get him to a vet until Wednesday, but am planning on taking him. I love him so much and have spared no expense in taking care of him, so this is devastating. Do you think it's fungus? Shell rot? A lot of the white spots have gone away since I've been treating him, but they just look raw now. He acts fine, very energetic (in the water, he pouts while dry docking)....advise?

Thanks in advance.

[kellycraig125]

I'm having a hard time uploading my picture, it's too large. Can anyone help? Thanks.

[kellycraig125]

Here's the picture I think....

[cutepanda86]

Ok this looks like what my Sheldon is recovering from. He had whte spots (when I bought him) that started to heal (according to my vet). It meant that he had a deficiency of calcium/UVB/UVA. I'd get an appointment with a vet to confirm though. The vet said that if they didn't get better to bring him in.

Also, dang is your turtle good at sucking into his shell.

[kellycraig125]

He really is lol. I will take him to the vet. I am just so upset because I try my best to take good care of him, so I'm not sure why it's happening. I've stalked this site and feel like I know everything I should be doing. :-/

[cutepanda86]

I'm sure you have taken good care of him. School situations can be rough. My sister and I "adopted" (the teacher said, "take it home for Spring break and don't bring him back." lol) our first turtle named Webbers. He was sick when we got him but he lasted two years after that. All we did was adjust his habitat. Now he was a good little turtle (we were too young to realize that you could actually take a turtle to the vet) but you have the advantage here and hopefully little Squirty will be just fine.

Had a recent scare with my Sheldon and I was so glad to have people help me in the right direction and to have a vet was great. Hang in there and we'll get this figured out.

[steve]

It looks like fungus, though it's hard to tell. If you have the larger sized pic, you can email it to me.

redearslider@gmail.com

[MissJamieLynn]

I can't really tell where these white spots are. Are you sure its not his shell peeling? I read the the shell can peel- and it makes the chutes (sp)
turn white almost clear before the skin falls off??

[kellycraig125]

I do, Steve, I'll send it to you. It wouldn't let me upload anything bigger yesterday. Also, I forgot to mention that he's not been shedding that great since I've gotten him. I can tell there are air pockets under his scutes, though he basks on his platform a lot. So the other day when it was really warm down here (Alabama), I took him out for some natural sunlight. After that, a few of the scutes popped off and that's when I noticed the white stuff. So I just noticed it like 4 days ago. Began treatment (after researching on here and other sites) 2 days ago.

[cutepanda86]

Popped off? Is the shell supposed to peel? I know my vet pointed out that Sheldon's shell was flaking and she said I should peel it off but Sheldon doesn't seem to like that.

[kellycraig125]

The scutes should come off on their own, I don't peel them off. They have been looking like they needed to, like he needed to shed and i guess after being out in the sun they dried out enough to come off. That's when I noticed the white spots, etc.

[cutepanda86]

Ok as long as they are supposed to, then I'll keep my eyes peeled for them. Freaked me out a touch.

[steve]

Here it the full sized pic:


You are right, clearly some shedding. They're not ready to come off yet, so you don't need to do anything. I can't tell what it is, how dry is he in the picture? These only came up when you "helped" him shed? Are the white areas below the other scutes, like recessed? Do they have a different texture?

[cutepanda86]

Ok with this closer up shot, this is different than what Sheldon is going through.

I believe that Steve may have better answers for you. Hope little Squirty is ok.

[kellycraig125]

He's very dry in the picture. After being dry docked for several hours. No, I didn't "help" him shed. He had some scutes that were partially lifted off already, just hanging on. I took him outside for some natural sunlight for a while, then the next day, I noticed the scutes that had been hanging on were off (in the bottom of his tank) and these white spots were there. I can't tell if there are white spots under the other scutes...like I said, I didn't noticed these until the scutes came off. What made me wonder is if he had water trapped under loose scutes that caused some kind of fungus/bacteria. Does that make sense? I know not to help him, that they will come up on their own. The texture...well, hard to say. I mean, there are no soft spots, it's all hard. And after a few days, the white stuff has come off for the most part, but now it looks more raw looking...I can take another picture tonight so you can see what it looks like now after a few days of dry docking routine.