Hi, can someone help me here?
How big is your turtle? Around 8 inches
How long have you had it? 5 years
What is the water temperature? 68
Did you use a thermometer? yes
Are you using a water heater? no
How much water is in there? about 2000 gallons
Are you using a water conditioner? no
Are you using any filtration? yes, pond pump. Savio skimmer
What is the basking temperature? He basks in the sunlight
Is there a basking light? No, sunlight only
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? Yes, many
What kind is it or what is it made out of? zoomed platform and natural rocks
Is there a UVB light? from sunglight yes
What have you been trying to feed it? reptomin, koi food and he eats any frogs etc. that fall in the pond
When was the last time your turtle ate? this am
How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 2000 gallons
Is the tank near a window? no
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? no
Have you read the Basic Care section? yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? yes
Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? no
So here's the thing. I noticed my turtle with a few pin holes in his plastron that had a faint pink color. No real soft spots or fuzzy spots or anything like that. I pulled him out of the pond and started cleaning with nolvasan using toothbrush. He is dry docked and I have also done a sulfa dip today. Now brushing again and chunks of scutes started coming off and I started seeing more pink. Also the shell started to show some white spots that weren't there before (maybe from the sulfa dip)?
I am not seeing any real soft spots but am I still dealing with shell rot? I am going to the vet on Monday but since I couldn't get in any sooner and I have a whole weekend ahead of me, I would like to find out that what I am doing is ok. I keep reading conflicting info.
Here's my routine so far.
AM. Let turtle eat and drink in fresh water for a few hours. Then I dip him in sulfa for 1 h. After 1h I dry dock him.
Mid day. Clean with toothbrush and nolvasan.
Evening. Let turtle in water for 2 h and after that clean with nolvasan and toothbrush.
Night. Dry dock for the night.
This turtle lives in a pond outside with koi. He is not very happy to be inside and is not eating very well. Before I pulled him out of the pond he was eating just fine.
Thanks.
