Urgent Care :: Any idea how to fix this?

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Post Posted: Wed May 08, 2019 2:31 am   Any idea how to fix this?

I rescued this turtle (Lightning aka princess) and her sister (Thunder aka big mama) about 6 months ago. They were in horrible shape and were living in a 60 gallon with about 4 gallons of water that was yellowish brown. Thunder had severe shell issues and I had to scrape layers of dead chutes off her. She is now better and back to shedding properly. Lightning on the other hand has these “holes” on her plastron and some have gotten better where others just haven’t done anything. It seems to be a form of shell rot but mainly on the cracks and edges of the chutes. Is there anything I can do to fix it or just let it run it’s corse?
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Seth Getchell
 
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Post Posted: Wed May 08, 2019 6:32 am   Re: Any idea how to fix this?

Try and resize photo to 600 or 800 pixel's for the forum like some emails require , too out of focus using a 3024x4032 picture. But can see some trouble as you do. Do not wait to see if it runs it's course will just get worst and harder to correct. That's time lost for treatment now. Do as you doing for the other one . Clean , dry dock and the some cream. Get some silver sulfadiazine from the vet works much faster than anything else. Will take time to stop it , start treatment now or it will spread. Will/may take weeks before the shell look's better. May even take a good shed before shell itself looks better once treated but should correct itself in time . Too many like to wait and see what happens but the environments turtles live in it will spread if untreated. Then hard on the turtle along with complications too . Treat now to get control and stop it early , easier on you and Lighting !

PS 5-9-19 : hope you not to busy to start treatment since no reply . This turtle has lots going on and needs treatment now. I did download your photos to my computer and corrected them so I can see clearly on "my" end . The worst is the ulcerative shell too me. Dry docking is needed and a good cream to prevent infections or will get worst if not. Being Lighting is a rescue /wild turtle ... she must have more issues ( maybe blood infection too ) since in the wild most turtles can correct this , she could not correct . Turtle's from the wild shed not only to grow but to remove shell issue's too. Expect other problems too after this . Separation a must ! It's very contagious !
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Post Posted: Thu May 09, 2019 1:21 pm   Re: Any idea how to fix this?

I’m stuck on mobile currently, so I can’t see the pics very clearly. Usually pits like that need to be cleaned out and dry out. If it’s not deep, it should heal fine. If it is deep, then the infection will spread quickly and might need a vet to debride the infected shell.
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steve
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Post Posted: Sun May 19, 2019 2:05 am   Re: Any idea how to fix this?

I know I’m late responding and I apologize for the photos. I can’t figure out how to resize them. I rescued the turtle about 6 months ago maybe longer. They were much worse then than now. I keep my water pristine. Everything is at 0 PPM except nitrates hover around 30-35 PPM thanks to my horrible tap water. But her shell seems to be better I have cleaned it out and dry dock her a little bit each day. From what I can tell there is healthy shell chutes and plastron underneath. I think it’s just taking a bit to heal. I will keep a close eye on it. Her sisters shell was far worse but with several months of tlc we were able to knock off all the old shell that was stuck on her and they are both basking regularly. We definitely have our hands full now but we stay on top of all of them. Most of them are hatchlings from this year (5 of them) one was born last year 2 of them are hitting their 2 year mark and my guess on the other 2 is 4-5 years. Their names from smallest to biggest are. 1) Franklin 2) Griffin 3) Price 4) Icarus 5) Parker 6) Sunny 7) Don (missing front leg) 8) Moonlight 9) Lightning 10) Thunder they each have a place in my heart and my home. The first 6 are in a well filtered 55 gallon and the older 4 are in my over filtered extremely clean display 125 gallon. http://s346.photobucket.com/user/sgetchell615/library/
Seth Getchell
 
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Post Posted: Sun May 19, 2019 2:15 am   Re: Any idea how to fix this?

Oh and to add on some background of thunder and lightning. I bought them from a woman and her two daughters that had them in a 60 gallon acrylic terrarium with 3 inches of brown water the usual goldfish bowl gravel and a tiny submersible filter that quit working. They didn’t have a basking area or lights and they didn’t have a heater. The woman had them for almost a year she said and she bought them from a guy that was moving. He originally bought them from Aquatic Critter in Nashville and was under the impression she would take care of them. The tank was full of rotting shrimp and neither of them knew how to swim when I got them. I literally looked at my wife and started crying when I seen the turtles and the conditions they were living in. I promise I’ll do whatever it takes to give them what they need and give them a better life. The 4 recent hatchlings were rescued from a duck pond at the park and were stuck in the mud and algae. They wouldn’t of made it another week. We agreed to get them strong again and bigger and find them good homes or find them a nice creek in the woods to call home.
Seth Getchell
 
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Post Posted: Sun May 19, 2019 1:41 pm   Re: Any idea how to fix this?

Some of those pits still look soft. As long as those are clean, and you can dry them out they should heal, possible with some scarring (not a big deal)... but dry docking someplace clean is key. Sometimes it's easiest to dry dock overnight, so she can sleep and stay dry... though dry dock during the day is fine too since she can warm up while doing so. Keep in mind that male RES often need to be kept separated. For the hatchlings, maybe look for a wildlife rehabber or rescue and sort out a plan for their future. It's likely illegal to release them into the wild.
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