General Care Discussion :: History of Curing a Turtle's Shell

Taking care of your turtle's overall health.

Post Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 2:13 am   

Yes, it was a lot of stop and start. Months would go by with no change. I think a really huge factor was the quality of light. When he had good light and basked a lot he progressed. When his light wasn't as good and he didn't bask as much, he stood still.
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Post Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 6:35 pm   

wow!
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Post Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2007 7:19 pm   

There was a request for recent closeups of the shell. The ones below were taken within the past fews days of a bone dry shell (Spot had been basking). The worst of the damage had always been to the back of the shell, and these photos are all of scutes to the back of the carapace where the worst of the damage was and where the fugus started to reappear prior to treatment with silver sulfadiazine. You can see where very thin layers are peeling but there isn't any of the fuzzy white fungus look that had been there before.

August 2007

Image


Image

Image
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Post Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:26 pm   

OMG right around the corner from that vet. I need to call. I wasn't that concerned but look how great you got that shell. :lol:
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Post Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 3:52 pm   I have same problem

Hi Spotsmama

I wanted to post some pics, but couldn;t figure out how to do it. I came accross your pics and my turtles look exactly the same

My question is- i bought a sulfa dip from a pet store and it says to soak them in it for up to 3 hours with enough solution to cover their shells- is this safe for them to ingest?

And also, one of my turtles has some dark algae substance as well as the white fungus- I can remove this easily but was just wondering what the best way to clean a turtles shell is.

I know this is all due to poor tank conditions and have improved them and I am taking them out of the tank and drying them off more often.
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Post Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:48 pm   

My new turtle has a brown shell with lots of red on it? The girl said there are different kinds of RES is this true or should I be worried about her shell. She was very dry on the bottom and I could feel a tiny bit flake off when i picked her up. I dunno if that was normal or not but there are some white spots on the bottom and also her nostrils seem to be covered by something crusty and hard making it hard to notice them. I will try to get pics up later. I just worry after reading this maybe she has a scute or fungus problem. And why is her shell not green and yellow, but rather brownish and red.
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Post Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 12:58 pm   

@ cage69 - You can email me pics to post if you are having a problem. The sulfa dip likely isn't strong enough to address a fungus infection. If you want to clean your turtle's shell, you should use warm water (80F) and using a new, soft toothbrush scrub gently with either a diluted betadine or hibiclens (chlorhexidine) solution. Do not soak or leave your turtle in any of these solutions. Make sure you rinse and wash it off afterwards.

@ lunabebe4 - Can you post a pic of the area?
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Post Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 11:48 am   

I emailed you the pics

where can I get the items you mentioned. If I can't go to the vet right away to get something stringer for them, what should I be doing in the mean time?
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Post Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:51 pm   

Here they are:
Image

It certainly looks like fungus. I would make sure the basking area and water quality are good. How regular is your turtle with shedding?
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Post Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 2:20 am   

I agree it looks like fungus. It looks a lot like Spot's shell at a point in time. If he were mine I'd treat him the same way I treated Spot.
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Post Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 3:19 am   

okay, i know damn well its fungus and there is a bit of shell rot (the pic was 2 different turts)

i got some betadine, as steve suggested (went to 3 different pharmacies to find it) and i have a sulfa dip and yes......i realized my ligthing was not so great, i had the uvb & a....but i definatley did not have a proper heat light....i didn't realize they were not basking as much as they should have..I just got a good heat lamp and they jumped right up and seem to want to bask as long as that light is on. It makes all the difference. I want them to have clean and green shells again............

I just hope the sulfa dip and bedatine help before I can get them to a vet!
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Post Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 3:33 am   

Don't get your hopes up where sulfa dip is concerned. I used it on Spot and it didn't do a thing. Betadine is good. Until you can get silver sulfadiazine, you can treat infected spots with a human antibiotic salve - something like Neosporin. It won't, however, do the same things silver sulfadiazine will but good salves are effective on a lot of things.

Lots of dry docking is in order. Fungus and also bacteria thrive where it's always damp.

Good luck. Do you know where to find a good herp vet?
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Post Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 4:17 am   thought you were gone

hey sm

steve told me to wash the shell with betadine, which i think is true, i fi gure i will do a betadine wash one day and the sulfa dip the other....but im interestested in this salve you're talking about....probably only something you can get from a vet...its just that my boy and girl have so much fungus, i don't know where to start (home rem)
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Post Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 4:44 am   vets??

theres not a lot of herp vets in canada-you guys down there in the states need to get that...sm do know its actually ilegal to sell res smaller than (oh gosh you should know it)
its really hard for canadians to get good care for res
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Post Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 4:48 am   

It is illegal to sell Red Eared Sliders in Alberta; you can own them and give them away, but you can't sell them.


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