Imy RES turtle Silly hasn't exactly had the easiest start in life, I got her from a street vendor
2 month ago and yes, she had vitamin A defficiency. 2 weeks after I got her, I found her with one eye swollen shut. It took almost a month of treatment (vitamin A injection, gel for the eye twice a day, reptomin pellets dusted in reptocal once a week, and at some point, in desperation a few drops of fishoil on her eyes) before her exe opened again. During that time, Silly was weak and would only bask. I would get him into the water 1-2 times per day and offer reptomin baby pellets, he would happily eat but needed assistance to actually get the pellets because he was swimming a bit lopsided. After taking painful care of him for over 3 weeks, I had to leave for 3 days during which a neighbor kind of took care of him, but probably not a minutely as me. I was convinced the turtle would die, but no, a miracle happenend! I came home and my turtle had both eyes open and was swimming around in the tank!! I was sooo happy!! This was 2-3 weeks ago. Since, the turtle seems super contented and spends most of his time in the water. He has become an energetic swimmer and is no longuer lopsided. However, a few days ago, I noticed a few spots on his shell and am panicking that it might be the beginning of shell rot. I saw a little white circle on the side towards the back of his shell, it's not soft or anything, just a little white circle. Today, when I wanted to take pictures, I noticed he had another one that looks pretty symetrical. He also seems to have a little dark spot on his shell above his head I've attached pictures of the shell and have circles the spots I'm talking about in red. I hope you can make it out. Do you think it looks like shell rot?The basking area that came with the tank broke and I built one with rocks - I see him on it twice a day about, but he also spends a lot of time hanging out on his romaine leaves (until they are too munched up;)) or holding himself up on one of the plants in the tank. Maybe he just doesn't bask enough with his shell entirely out of the water? Or maybe I overfeed him? On the box of reptomin baby pellets, it says to feed 3 to 5 times a day, which seems excessive, so I give him a few pellets in the morning when I turn the lights on and at night before turning them off. I give him baby pellets, so they are very small, and he eats 3 to 5 at each feeding, is that too much? He munches them down like he is starving! I know I have to switch to once a day at some point and eventually once every two days, but am not sure when, he is so small for now… Should I feed him more but once a day? Less twice a day? I am a bit lost... In the beggining, he wouldn't really touch veggies, but he finally got the drift and eats loads of romaine, cucumber and collard greens. It makes quite a mess because he chews them up but seems to only get there to swallow every second piece of lettuce, the rest floats in tiny pieces in the tank afterwards. I don't see how I could feed him outside the tank though, since he is busy with his leaves pretty much all day long. I also give him a piece of strawberry every week or so as well as a couple feeder fish here and there (not the best I read, but they share his tank now and I figured I might as well use them up for now - I'm moving in a month and any surviving guppies will not be moved to the new location.
What do you think? Does his shell look like he had shell rot? Can you spot anything else that is worrisome? Should I maybe dry dock him? Sorry, I tend to fret over the little guy… My kids are going to end up saying I took better care of the turtle than of them, lol! (well, for now, not so good care I guess, or he wouldn't have these marks, oh no, what have I done, please help!!!)
