General Care Discussion :: Is this normal? White crust AROUND RES eyes.

Taking care of your turtle's overall health.

Post Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 3:33 pm   Is this normal? White crust AROUND RES eyes.

Little guy is a rescue, my sister bought him(her?) cause she felt bad, was living in terrible conditions. Had extensive amount of shell rot which he is now being treated for. His shell looks a lot better then when I first got him. He is eating and quite active, although he is terrified everytime I walk up to the tank to feed him. This leads me to think he was most likely illegally obtained from the wild, as turtles bred in captivity should not be behaving this way. Basking area around 85F, water 80F because he is a hatchling. Water is clean, and currently being cycled. Ammonia levels are low/tolerable. His eyes aren't swollen and are open, however when I put him in his container to to bask and treat his shell rot I do notice a crust of white stuff around his eyes. Just around, almost like rings around his eyes. At first I thought it may have been fungus so I bought him a bottle of turtle fix to not only put in the tank, but to soak him in for 30 min. At first I thought the white stuff was clearing up, but went to check on him not long ago, and bam it's back. Am I looking at water deposits or should I be concerned? Here's a photo http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o58 ... vbrkdr.jpg

basking area is fully dry
I have him in a 55 gallon tank with 20 gallons of water, got tank for free and replaced broken glass panel

pennplax 100gallon cannister filter

uva/uvb bulb kept 6-8 inches above him

he eats reptomin hatchling formula, i also like to mix it up, 1 part reptomin hatchling formula 1 part zoomed hatchling formula he(she?) eats both, dried shrimp twice a week, which I coat in reptical

was not eating at all when first brought home, now eating whenever I'm not around, like I said scared out of his(her?) mind (i observe from a few feet away)
oh and any uneaten food gets removed, 30% water changes once a week until the tank is fully cycled
also keep 4 marimo balls because that's all I can get a hold of for now, gonna keep until he(she?) decides to shred it up, probably not any time soon, but eventually lol
Last edited by hwang53 on Sat Jan 06, 2018 5:17 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Post Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 4:41 pm   Re: Is this normal? White crust AROUND RES eyes.

The page with the photo is asking "You need permission".
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Post Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 4:45 pm   Re: Is this normal? White crust AROUND RES eyes.

I will find a way to post it without permisson, please hold on.
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Post Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 4:59 pm   Re: Is this normal? White crust AROUND RES eyes.

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Post Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 5:13 pm   Re: Is this normal? White crust AROUND RES eyes.

Does it disappear when he goes back in the water, and shows up after he completely dries off? Then that would be water deposits.

I would also re-evaulate your setup, as it sounds like he's being handled a lot. You might be right about his skittishness, but turtles have a lot of instincts and personality, so you can't really tell. Not sure what Turtle Fix will accomplish, I would skip it. Most turtle-specific products are over priced and don't work.
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Post Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 5:19 pm   Re: Is this normal? White crust AROUND RES eyes.

Yes it disappears when he goes back in the water, there seems to be a different amount around his eyes every time. And just found out my area does in fact have hard water, I have updated his setup above. I figured it was water deposits, but just wanted to make sure. I have read reviews about turtle fix on amazon, all are good, only bad ones are of people receiving them with the caps missing.
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Post Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 7:18 pm   Re: Is this normal? White crust AROUND RES eyes.

How is his setup?
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Post Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 10:01 pm   Re: Is this normal? White crust AROUND RES eyes.

Here is his setup I have listed his temperatures above for basking and for water. Yes I do use a water conditioner. And I do turn off his lamp every night. It is a double dome. http://s1149.photobucket.com/user/hwang53/library/
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Post Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 11:13 pm   Re: Is this normal? White crust AROUND RES eyes.

Is he basking? Do you have a water heater for him? Instead of water conditioners and turtle fix, just get some activated carbon (in bulk) and some media bags and use that in your canister filter.
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Post Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 2:19 pm   Re: Is this normal? White crust AROUND RES eyes.

He is basking and yes I do have a water heater. I am no longer using the turtle fix. I am using ceramic rings as well as bio balls, and also planning on adding a bag of purigen to the filter. I have never used activated carbon before, even in my fish tanks, is it really that necessary for turtles? I heard most people don't use them. I fill buckets with water and add reptisafe to them then let them sit 2-3 days in advance. I have kept fish before so there are some things I know, but some not so much. Why is water conditioner not recommended? Is this a bit of a mixed topic with turtle keepers? Some prefer it some don't?
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Post Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 12:23 am   Re: Is this normal? White crust AROUND RES eyes.

Reptisafe neutralizes chlorine/chloramines with some potent chemicals and leaves it in the water, carbon will absorb it and take it out of the water. Short term is probably not a big deal, but carbon is better and cheaper over the course. You can also prefilter the water when you do water changes, but that doesn't help clean the water thats still there. Only reason to stick with Reptisafe is because it's easier, but I would skip it anyway.
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