General Care Discussion :: Obese. Shell deformation.

Taking care of your turtle's overall health.

Post Posted: Sat May 11, 2019 9:32 pm   Obese. Shell deformation.

Recently got my turtle back, but was massively overfed. Its around 17 years old red eared slider it has some shell deformation around his back legs and some other areas and he is generally just fat. well check out these photos
http://imgur.com/wPhJMyF
http://imgur.com/GmtUH81
http://imgur.com/8A1Lpp1


Since I'll be putting him on a proper diet now will things go back in anyway shape or form?
Zuldope
 
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Post Posted: Sun May 12, 2019 4:01 am   Re: Obese. Shell deformation.

How long since in your care ?
Is that your tank it's in now?
What's your proper diet daily , say for one week ?
Can you clean it up and take photo's out the tank to see better? Full shots of carapace and plastron. Make sure 100% dry in photo's !
You say him … ? You have a female !
litefoot
 
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Post Posted: Sun May 12, 2019 6:02 am   Re: Obese. Shell deformation.

Around 6ish months. Ya a 70ish gallon tank shes in. Havent been able to find that egg crate crap to make an out of tank basking area. Every 3 days 10-15 pellets. Pics incoming tonight.
Zuldope
 
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Post Posted: Sun May 12, 2019 6:06 pm   Re: Obese. Shell deformation.

Zuldope
 
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Post Posted: Sun May 12, 2019 6:08 pm   Re: Obese. Shell deformation.

Any chance itll smooth out and reform?
Zuldope
 
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Post Posted: Sun May 12, 2019 8:59 pm   Re: Obese. Shell deformation.

Since she's back in your care Yes it will get better with your help. I have seen worse. Do see some old bacterial scoring on shell and fungus along with mineral deposits. A few things yes but all in time correctable. Really look's ok for "her" 17 years. A larger tank would offer her some exercise for that weight issue by swimming more.

One must understand it’s more than adjusting a diet for shell health. From your photo’s can tell a problem with mineral deposits from hard water. Those water spots on the glass . Habitat conditions are directly tied to shell health along with proper diet. Also proper UVA and a must UVB bulb for adequate lighting needed for a turtle. Along with proper temp on the water and good basking area. Proper temp’s help turtle’s in the digestion process too !

First break down tank clean well , filter too. Then start regular scheduled maintenance. Your filter is inadequate for that size turtle’s bio load.

Lightly scrub her shell with a soft tooth brush or a q tip using some white distilled vinegar on her shell . Will remove mineral deposits the first use. And see what remains which may be to me yeast and or fungal infection.

For old turtles I like salt baths. Aquarium salt ! In a separate container say 1 gallon water dissolve 2 tablespoons of the aquarium salt , scrub her shell down with a soft tooth brush in circular motion. At least once a day twice better for 4-5 days.

If anything persist you may have to dry dock and use a thin layer of a good anti fungal cream like silver sulphadinze. In the US it’s a RX , Canada not sure ? On old turtles I keep that to last , it’s hard on very young and old turtles dry docking. Can find out details how using search box by Steve or me.

Also I try to soften your hard water ! A large piece of driftwood helps or use (1) tablespoon of the aquarium salt to every 5 gallons water to tank.

May take a shed or two to correct the shell but you will see improvements after treatment. Giving more time and attention to her setup will go a long way. Captive turtles her age only shed once a year or two so shell correction will take time. And will correct.

Way to much protein. A turtle her age and size should be on 50-70 % veggies and a little protein. Please adjust. Also feed every other day or two on the protein side but veggies every day is OK. Say like red leaf lettuce a piece half the size of her shell , no more than the size of her shell. Turtles will always beg so get use to that even when they are full. Instead of all regular turtle pellets I found wheat germ pellets do help with shell conditioning over time and there is some documentation on that too. Don’t forget the veggies ! See nutrition at top header on this page.

This is my way for old turtles others will have there opinions/ways.
litefoot
 
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Post Posted: Sun May 12, 2019 11:01 pm   Re: Obese. Shell deformation.

Thanks very much for all this information, and for clearifing it's a girl, hard getting used to calling it a she. Lmaoo strippy will be happier after a few fixes and shell treatments.

For a filter the one there in the picture is rated for 75 gallon. Because it's a big turtle more biostuff I understand, but is that type of filter fine? Just get a bigger version?

Every week or so I'd feed her a piece of Roman lettuce and let her eat all the green and not the white middle. I'll look into getting redleaf stuff asap.

The temperatures are good as they are in tank and in basking area.(check temps everyday)

She just shed a few weeks ago. It was a rough one for her I believe because of my basking situation for her with that crappy floating thing. But I fixed her basking area after I seen the basking struggle and I was taking her outside a few days during the basking to really dry her out. But it still looks around the edges her "shedding" is still attached a little.

So I definitly still.need an improvement on the basking area so she can have more swimming space.
Zuldope
 
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Post Posted: Sun May 12, 2019 11:50 pm   Re: Obese. Shell deformation.

Is your thermometer accurate , only type in my 57 years in this hobby I found are the "IR" type.
Ever think about a stock tank 1/4th the cost of glass tanks for more room ? I'm an old man on a fixed income and have my Piggley in one and he loves it. See gallery for maybe ideas.

Sorry to me those filters are for small’s turtle only , also takes up to much room. Even if you remove the fish media that come with most all filters and set it up more for a turtle just not enough media for an adult turtle. Not even three in one tank can hold enough bio media for a messy adult turtle . You also can never start and “maintain” a nitrogen cycle which would help both of you a lot ! Look for sales and use several price tracker helps. She really needs a larger tank so she can do turtle things.

A filter with the largest media area is what to look for , also one without those pre made packs that cost good money.

I use a 2’ floating dock. I just modify it a little so not so flat allowing plastron to dry off completely. Real cork is also very good !

For some turtles the marginals are the last to shed. Can tell she had a bad shed , was a very thin layer of keratin that came off in pieces. These fixes and time will correct that for a good full shed down the road. She has lots of old thin tiny pieces of keratin still on her too. A good shed you could glue all the scutes together and it would look like a complete turtle shell.

I always do the easiest fixes first so to see the real problems clearly. Clean , remove any deposits etc… In a few cases that and with the turtles help and habitat corrections then diet adjustments is all a few need.
litefoot
 
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Post Posted: Mon May 13, 2019 4:22 pm   Re: Obese. Shell deformation.

I did the salt bath and vineger treatment. Still looks like a few places I could work on still. I bought water treatment strips and it says the gh and kh are high but not past the max. Putting in that aquarian salt will lower those lvls?

When I was doing the toothbrush vineger scrub she was jumping and wiggling like no tomorrow. Is that a concern?
I just remember when I was young I was always able to pet her without much freakout.

Idk what kind of heater it is, packaging is gone. But for sure its wonky thr temperature on it. I set it to 71-75 and that's usually 80degrees. I remember it saying its submergable but now that I look at it it isn't in good condition.

Browsing for a good sizable filter right now more than likely next weeks purchase. (Or tomorrow's purchase)

I can get my hands on one of those stock tanks easily. But I dont want that in my living room lmfaoaoaoao more than likely by the summer I'll get a 100+ gallon tank.

I did a big clean today of her entire tank. And the guppies died that I had...... havent done a big clean since I got them. Just did the empty 10to20 percent and refill.

I've also put one of those chalk conditioning things in her tank.

Also for that vineger thing. Do I need to do her belly too? How lol?
Zuldope
 
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Post Posted: Mon May 13, 2019 6:51 pm   Re: Obese. Shell deformation.

White distilled vinegar top and bottom of shell use a rag or a q-tip "not a soak" , do not get in her eyes . Eyes and lid are very sensitive.
First what are your numbers coming out the tap and or well , know what you are starting out with.
RES turtles are very hardy , feel you may be over thinking this.
Those rocks/gravel are they real ? They in only 8weeks will leach out minerals. Bare bottom is best or silca sand. Or know exactly were gravel/rocks came from , not all gravel rock at a pet shop are safe.
Getting a better filter and regular schedule maintenance will help a lot. Your filter does not have enough flow to mix things up better or hold the good stuff. Until you get another filter may have to per-pare water few days before hand. For decades I used a 100 gallon storage tank of water changes without any chemicals. Once you start using chemicals you will need one for up then down. Remember I’m an old timer , chemicals cause wild swings . Also most like to use driftwood or almond leaves to control those number’s slowly , naturally. You may want to wash /soak some of the tannis out. You don’t want wild swings too fast ! Do you drink the tap water or have an RO system if it that bad. You can use some RO water to get them down if that high. Distilled works too. Are you having wild PH swings ? Turtles breath like us so no real concern about a little high numbers unless off the chart. The guppy loss may of been that 20% water change they never seen before? Get the basics under control and in time can tweak things. What are your other numbers running ? Most of my water changes are 5-15% no more. When I do a full break down about every two years I pre-pare the water ahead of time !

Not like you have a shrimp or plant take good read here : https://fishlab.com/aquarium-kh/


PS: Creativity helps with stock tanks on the inside and outside of them.

I'm old but I know what " XXXXX " stand's for , please ! This is an open forum to young and old.
litefoot
 
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Post Posted: Mon May 13, 2019 9:56 pm   Re: Obese. Shell deformation.

I removed the gravel today now it's an empty bottom. And the big rocks I have in there are the ones used since she was very young so probably good on that. My PH is fine. The only thing I noticed is that my hardness went up about 60 ppm kh and gh. From the tap water is 120ppm kh and gh with ph at 7.5. At this moment the tank is at 180 kh and gh. 7.0-7.5 ph. No3-20ppm no2-0ppm

Ya ya ya I'll probably drop the money on a filter and media tomorrow.

Thanks for that link to read. Usefull.
Zuldope
 
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Post Posted: Fri May 17, 2019 6:13 am   Re: Obese. Shell deformation.

I'm not sure of the deformations you're pointing out as the turtle looks mostly normal and healthy. From what I've seen, a little wrinkly shell like the one pictures is somewhat normal for older turtles too. I also see some bacterial scoring like litefoot, but it's hard to tell from the pics and could be a bad shed.
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