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HELP URGENT Red Eared Slider might have cracked shell

Posted:
Thu Jun 18, 2020 5:37 pm
by Frostyy
My female 7 year old red eared slider has this line down the middle of her bottom shell and if I run my finger nail over the line I can feel it like it’s a scratch. Is this normal? Please help. It also seems that she has shell rot. Please take a look at this video and help me as soon as possible. Also is she fat or underweight??
[youtube]
https://youtu.be/F_PF2u9qnVg [/youtube]
Re: HELP URGENT Red Eared Slider might have cracked shell

Posted:
Thu Jun 18, 2020 11:50 pm
by steve
The seam looks fine, unless I'm missing something from the video. She looks OK overall.
Re: HELP URGENT Red Eared Slider might have cracked shell

Posted:
Fri Jun 19, 2020 12:13 am
by Frostyy
So the fact that if I run my nail along that line in the shell is fine. This is normal?
Re: HELP URGENT Red Eared Slider might have cracked shell

Posted:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 8:46 am
by steve
the one going straight down the center? or is it something else I missed?
Re: HELP URGENT Red Eared Slider might have cracked shell

Posted:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 11:42 am
by Frostyy
Yes the one down the middle. Also I am in the pet store right now and I would like to know if turtle fix is worth buying. I use melafix on my red eared slider and I don’t know if that is harming her and I don’t know what the difference between turtle fix and melafix is. Should I finish out my bottle of melafix and then next time buy turtle fix?
Re: HELP URGENT Red Eared Slider might have cracked shell

Posted:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 1:11 pm
by steve
Usually tell people to skip turtle fix and most turtle-specific products. I wouldn't use melafix either, you're probably over thinking all of this. put more effort in to a correct habitat and diet.
Re: HELP URGENT Red Eared Slider might have cracked shell

Posted:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 1:35 pm
by Frostyy
So the crack down the middle is just her pattern? And saying that does melafix hurt the turtle?
Re: HELP URGENT Red Eared Slider might have cracked shell

Posted:
Sat Jun 20, 2020 4:54 pm
by steve
The crack down the middle is just where the scutes meet up. As for the melafix, you are using an antibiotic not intended for turtles and who is not sick.
Re: HELP URGENT Red Eared Slider might have cracked shell

Posted:
Sun Jun 21, 2020 12:35 pm
by Frostyy
This morning, she was in her nesting box, and bit a coconut chip. The coconut chip was quite big, and as soon as she bit it I picked her up and kinda jiggled her. She then opened her mouth, but I do not know if she ate it in one bite or dropped it out of her mouth. Do you think she could eat a coconut wood chip in one bite if it is wider then a cuttlebone. When she bit it, about 1-2 centimeters on each end of the chip were not covered by her mouth. My question is, with those measurements, do you think it is possible she ate it in one bite. Also after she opened her mouth (when she either ate it or dropped it) she didn’t have a bump in her neck, nor did she make a forward bite motion like she usually does when eating something like pellets or kale. She had it in her mouth, opened her mouth, and then it either fell out of her mouth or she ate and swallowed it in one bite without showing any signs of chewing. Do you think she dropped it. My mom thinks so but we aren’t sure.
Re: HELP URGENT Red Eared Slider might have cracked shell

Posted:
Sun Jun 21, 2020 12:38 pm
by Frostyy
Also she ate kale 2 seconds after the whole moment and we saw no wood chip in her mouth.
Re: HELP URGENT Red Eared Slider might have cracked shell

Posted:
Sun Jun 21, 2020 3:33 pm
by steve
Hard to know if she ate it from the description, but it's certainly possible. Hopefully it wasn't a large piece.
Re: HELP URGENT Red Eared Slider might have cracked shell

Posted:
Sun Jun 21, 2020 8:52 pm
by Frostyy
A little update. When we took her to the vet a couple weeks ago, they said she had 3 pebbles that she ate and had to pass. After this mornings incident, she is still eating and pooping (sorry for the gross sounding words). She actually just passed the 3rd and final rock. Also the chip she might have eaten this morning was bigger than her head, and she showed no signs of a lump in her neck after opening her mouth (as in opening her mouth to eat/drop it). She also didn’t even show signs of chewing or swallowing anything, and continued to eat kale right after. Also when she opened her mouth (again I mean opened her mouth to drop or eat it), I had her picked up vertically with her head facing down. It’s hard to think she moved her head to catch the chip and one mouthed and swallowed without chewing a whole coconut chip. With this better description, do you still think she might have ate the chip?
Re: HELP URGENT Red Eared Slider might have cracked shell

Posted:
Mon Jun 22, 2020 2:43 pm
by steve
Maybe she just had a piece of it. Why does she have a nesting box?
Re: HELP URGENT Red Eared Slider might have cracked shell

Posted:
Mon Jun 22, 2020 3:14 pm
by Frostyy
The vet said that she needs a box with sand and coconut coir (which we had coconut chips but just got the coir. We didn’t know the difference) so she can dig, which stimulates the hormones for her to lay eggs. She was egg bound and had 13 eggs to lay.
Re: HELP URGENT Red Eared Slider might have cracked shell

Posted:
Mon Jun 22, 2020 8:37 pm
by steve
Oh, didn't know she was gravid. Was she able to lay them yet?