Urgent Care :: Swollen Back feet and pink shell

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Post Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 8:45 pm   Swollen Back feet and pink shell

I noticed about 3 hours ago that my 3 year old yellow bellied slider's back legs were very swollen, along with a spot on his tail, a little above the vent. There are patches of pink on his front feet and there are red marks on the sides of his shell. He's also been beginning to shed his scutes again recently, but they're almost peeling off instead of just detaching. Looking at other pictures on this site and other forums, it looked very similar to a blister. I promptly cleaned him off and removed him from the water in order to dry dock for the night, and within half an hour of removing him from the water he'd popped both feet, and with a least one of them a good deal of (clear) liquid came out. Now that his feet are popped, they look nearly normal, which means that this could theoretically have been going on for a while, I just never caught him with his feet swollen. He also pooped within roughly half an hour of being out of the water, and I noticed that there were little silicone pieces in it, from the sides of his tank. He'd begun to pick at those edges and eat them about a year ago, but he hadn't been doing it (to the best of my knowledge) recently. As I was cleaning the bottom of his shell from that, he looked like he was trying to poop again, and it almost looked like the beginnings of prolapse (?) but I still don't know his sex. All of his water was replaced yesterday and his tank mostly cleaned out and wiped down, so there could also be an issue with that, given that I wasn't the one to do it. I've noticed in the past 2/3 weeks he's been basking a bit more and eating a little less, but not an insane amount. When I was cleaning and drying him off, he also started to make a weird noise, almost like hissing - he's never made any noises before.



How big is your turtle? about 5 inches
How long have you had it? about 3 years

What is the water temperature? unsure
Did you use a thermometer? no
Are you using a water heater? no
How much water is in there? about 13 gallons
Are you using a water conditioner? no
Are you using any filtration? yes

What is the basking temperature? unsure
Is there a basking light? yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? plastic
Is there a UVB light? no

What have you been trying to feed it? mostly pellets, occasionally romaine lettuce or vegetables like peas, corn, or bits of carrot (all cooked)
When was the last time your turtle ate? yesterday

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? roughly 27 gallons
Is the tank near a window? yes
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? not really

Have you read the Basic Care section? yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? yes

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? swollen back legs and tail, shell red in places, front legs pink in places
amf
 
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Post Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 11:35 pm   Re: Swollen Back feet and pink shell

The swollen limbs and red coloring is worrisome. Pink spots might be normal in some instances, but the other issues really should be examined by a vet. If a small amount of silicone was eaten, that probably wouldn't be a concern (more of an issue regarding the tank).
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steve
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