Urgent Care :: Help! White patches just showed up...

[Tootlesmom]

Hi, I'm new here and I hope I can post this correctly, so forgive me if I don't.
My little guy had white patches show up around his face on both sides.
He looks like this:


and:


How big is your turtle? Shell is about 1 1/2 inches from head to tail.
How long have you had it? Over 2 months.

What is the water temperature? Room temperature (sorry IDK) Cold tap water, which doesn't get really cold.
Did you use a thermometer? Um, not yet...
Are you using a water heater? No
How much water is in there? Around 6 inches
Are you using a water conditioner? No
Are you using any filtration? Yes, Repto Filter, 90gph

What is the basking temperature? ?? He refuses to bask so I haven't set up much yet. I take him out of the water @ once a day for a while so he'll dry off.
Is there a basking light? Not yet, just UVB lamp.
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? Yes but he won't go there for anything. I even put his food there and he grabs it and back off into the water.
What kind is it or what is it made out of? Ceramic?
Is there a UVB light? Yes 100 watts

What have you been trying to feed it? Yes, but he won't eat much of anything I try. He eats lunch meat(don't judge) altho I've tried grapes, lettuce, reptile sticks, and the most gawd aweful smelling turtle treats. They just sit there and harden.
When was the last time your turtle ate? Once each day.

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 20 gal
Is the tank near a window? Yes, but the shade is always drawn.
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? No

Have you read the Basic Care section? Mostly
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? Yes, but can't find this one.

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? Just surprised that he won't touch any other food that I've tried. Won't bask. When the white spots showed up he was in the water few the night, day, and another night. I took him out right away, tried to feed him - he refuses to eat outside of the water tank - no dice. The spots faded but I'm still pretty worried.

Any help would be appreciated. Any tips would be welcomed. I'm the first to admit that I'm a newbie, so please go easy? A co-worker found him in the street and brought him in to work (this was before I knew it might be illegal) and I was so worried about him getting run over I thought I'd adopt him. Now thinking I've done him more harm than good?

[Ryano]

That looks like a fungal infection to me. I can't quite remember the treatment but One of the mods on here have talked about treatment for it on here somewhere. Steve is good with these things I'm sure when he is on he can help you out

[Joddog]

Looks like a fungal infection to me as well. Someone else will give advice on treatment. However, I can say that turtles must eat in the water, food needs to be placed there so that they can eat. They don't produce saliva. He probably isn't basking because there is no heat. You can use a regular incandescent bulb to heat the platform. You need a heater in your water to keep the temp between 75-78 degrees. The basking area needs to be in the high 80s, low 90s. If your turtle doesn't have what he needs to bask properly, he won't completely dry like he needs to keep him healthy. Your turtle only need to eat one each day, a little less than the amount of pellets that would fill his head if it was hollow. You can also put red lead lettuce, kale, collard greens, etc... In the tank and leave them in all day, changing it if it gets wilted. If you put the pellets in the water, they will soften and he will most likely eat them. Although, with him having this fungus, it may make a difference on how he's eating.

[Joddog]

No more lunch meat... The salt content is not healthy for him.

[steve]

Can you post larger pictures?

[Tootlesmom]

Okay, thank you everyone for your comments!! I will keep trying the lettuce you mentioned, and I got it on the salt content of lunch meat. Any other ideas on food? He just refuses every thing I've already tried. I guess if I just do the pellets he will eat if he gets hungry enough?!

Yes, I wondered about fungus and wondered if I should do anything other than pull him out of the water more each day? I did find some stuff on the link for care with sick turtles so I wondered about neosporin?? etc?? Any advice?

Here are bigger pics:



and:



I also change his water every other day since he leaves pieces of his food uneaten and that means his water gets a bit cloudy. Is it ok that I'm using tap water?

I've tried to put his food on his basking platform to encourage him to stay there but he just won't. Since he won't bask should I continue to take him out for a while each day? When I do put him in the dry area I put the UVB light directly over it. He seems to be okay with that and it has diminished the white spots. Should I keep him out of the water except for like an hour a day so he continues to heal?

I'll change his tank water completely and look into getting the thermometer and heat light.

Thank you again for the help!

[Paul]

for the heat light just use a regular incandescent flood bulb. if you use carbon you dont need water conditioner. but if you dont use carbon you need water conditioner

[steve]

That is not normal. Review his habitat and make immediate changes if that is mold or fungus. Can that stuff be swabbed off (gently with a cotton ball)?

You really need to invest into the setup regardless if you plan on keeping the turtle or not.

From the info you provided, here are comments/questions:
Thermometers are absolutely necessary
Heaters are usually necessary unless you live in the tropics
What type of basking area do you?
You need a basking lamp or one that provides heat
There is no 100 watts UVB unless it's a MVB (Mercury Vapor Bulb) which is more suited for larger tanks and bigger turtles.
What brand foods are you trying?

[Tootlesmom]

Thank you both for your reply. First of all, I plan on doing whatever it takes to ensure Tootles health, hence me coming on here for answers. I have always planned on keeping him, but am such a newbie at this that I didn't know whether I was doing more harm than good by doing so. I have invested in every thing that I have learned about on here, and I will continue to do so, so I'm grateful that this site exists!

To answer the items most recently brought up:
Yes, I will continue to plan on getting the correct set up in regards to the heat light and the thermostats. My filter has carbon in it so will continue with that. I will also get the heater for the water.

As I said before, since dry docking him the spots are completely gone. I could not swab the area as it is behind his eyes and when I try he sucks into his shell pretty fast. Since I was concerned that just because the spots disappeared didn't mean that the skin was healed properly, I have used a betadine wash as described here:
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/medshell.htm

I plan on thoroughly cleaning the tank along with everything in it before placing him there again. I have been dry docking him in a different container and a different clean water submersion area for a few hours a day to prevent dehydration and to eat.

His basking area is a ceramic platform with steps going up and rocks in various areas around it on one whole side of the tank. There are artificial plants and a cave No covering (rocks or sand) on the bottom - just the glass of the tank.
I apologize for the ignorance with the wattage of the UVB - it says 100 on the box - when I looked further I found it to be a 13 watt (Repti Glo 5.0 Compact) Tropical Terrarium Bulb. Exo Terra brand.

Food: Wardley Reptile Sticks fortified with calcium and Zoo Med Turtle Treats Whole Krill flakes.

Thanks again for the replies, and any further tips or instructions are very appreciated!

[Tootlesmom]

Here's a quick update on Tootle.

After his Betadine bath and dry time he's seems pretty good! I washed every single thing that was in his tank in a Betadine/water mixture in as hot of water as I could stand scrubbing everything with a fingernail scrub brush and then rinsed well. I reset up his tank with lukewarm water until I get the heater this afternoon. I caught him eating the reptile stick (that was hard cuz he's a private eater) and he went up on the basking platform grabbed a bite, put his head under the water and chomped away! Man, was I glad to see that!!

Here are new pics:



You can see - no spots - Yay!

and here's a profile:



Here's his home:



I just want to do everything I can to keep him healthy and well. I've been reading tons of stuff on here, and that has helped me feel a little better in caring for him correctly. Any thoughts on continuing the dry docking to help promote the drying out until I get his basking area set up better and he gets used to doing it himself? The more I look at basking areas that others have done - the more I see how inadequate mine is but I'm trying!!

Every time I turn around I want to get more new things for him, or figure out a better set up. While he's probably happy with just a rock huh?

[steve]

Great to see the improvements. If you continue to dry dock, you probably don't need to do it for much longer. How high is the water level? A resin basking area does fine in smaller tanks. Similar to this: http://www.petco.com/product/12632/Zill ... -Ramp.aspx

[Tootlesmom]

Yes Steve that is exactly what I have only it is for the corner with 2 ramps up the sides. I created a new basking area with a simple basket with the side cut out and used for the ramp. Simple clothes line string wrapped around the cut out for the ramp.

Pics:



and:



Kind of funky and ghetto set up, but I couldn't rest today until I got it all done. Don't even say anything about the lamps LOL!



It'll work until I can do more I guess. You should have seen him race down the ramp when he figured out where the water was. I also didn't think he would ever go up there willingly, but when I got back from running errands....guess who raced down the ramp when I walked in! So he must have figured it all out - I just hope he goes up there more often. I worry about him being submerged so much that he gets those spots again...

Anyway thanks for all the help. Oh! the water level is about 6 inches - it was at 4 inches in the pic from my last post but when I made the new basking basket I raised it up. Thanks again!

[ljapa]

That recovery is amazing, and I think your basking platform is awesome.

With a ReptiGlo 5, I think you can place your light much closer, particularly with such a large basking area where your turtle can choose exactly how much UVB it wants.

Good job.

[Tootlesmom]

Thank you for your post ljapa! Yes I lowered the light right over top of the basking area, he seems uncertain for a bit and then climbs on the additional rocks I added. At first I thought it was because he was trying to find a way to climb out, but now think it was because he wanted more warmth. I can't wait to add more greenery to the basking area to make it seem more appealing.

It's hit or miss as I learn more - poor guy - but we'll get there. Thanks!