Advise on shell issues please

ddpoloAZ

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I'm a first time turtle owner and have a RES named Holly (she was a Christmas gift from my daughter). She is very interactive and always hungry!
She was about 3" (shell top to bottom) when I got her, 10 mo. later she has pretty much doubled in size. As she has grown very quickly, I have moved her from 10 gal to 20 gal to 40 gal tank. She has both UVA & UVB lights on for 10 hr. a day, and enjoys basking on her dock.

I believe I was overfeeding at first and after lots of reading on diet I now feed her 2x a day, trying to give her a varied diet. Evening feeding being 1 tsp dried shrimp. 7-8 turtle pellets and 1 tsp diced steamed veggies (zucchini, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes). In the AM she she gets a TBSP of steamed veggies and red leaf lettuce.

She seems healthy except for her shell - it has rough spots that continue to get bigger and now one appears to be getting deeper. After more reading about shell issuesHolly shell 111320.jpg... I've tried washing her shell 3-4x a week with Dawn and a toothbrush, drying and applying betadyne, then letting it dry before putting her back in her tank and I've tried shell conditioner - but neither seem to make a difference.

I give her calcium blocks (TetraFauna ReptoGuard Turtle Health Conditioner 3 Count, Slow-Release (lasts up to 60 days... NOT!) periodically - but she eats them in less than a day - so don't know how much nutritional value she is getting from them.

Attached is a close up photo of her current shell condition. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 

crimson_lotus

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I can't really zoom in to check out the spots more thoroughly. Are the spots soft at all? How close is the light to the turtle's shell in the basking area?
 

ddpoloAZ

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I can't really zoom in to check out the spots more thoroughly. Are the spots soft at all? How close is the light to the turtle's shell in the basking area?
The spots are not soft, but almost like the layers are flaking off. I measured 9" from her heat lamp to top of her dock - she is at least 1" thick which would put the lamp 8" from her shell. Thanks!
 

zovick

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I'm a first time turtle owner and have a RES named Holly (she was a Christmas gift from my daughter). She is very interactive and always hungry!
She was about 3" (shell top to bottom) when I got her, 10 mo. later she has pretty much doubled in size. As she has grown very quickly, I have moved her from 10 gal to 20 gal to 40 gal tank. She has both UVA & UVB lights on for 10 hr. a day, and enjoys basking on her dock.

I believe I was overfeeding at first and after lots of reading on diet I now feed her 2x a day, trying to give her a varied diet. Evening feeding being 1 tsp dried shrimp. 7-8 turtle pellets and 1 tsp diced steamed veggies (zucchini, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes). In the AM she she gets a TBSP of steamed veggies and red leaf lettuce.

She seems healthy except for her shell - it has rough spots that continue to get bigger and now one appears to be getting deeper. After more reading about shell issuesView attachment 310979... I've tried washing her shell 3-4x a week with Dawn and a toothbrush, drying and applying betadyne, then letting it dry before putting her back in her tank and I've tried shell conditioner - but neither seem to make a difference.

I give her calcium blocks (TetraFauna ReptoGuard Turtle Health Conditioner 3 Count, Slow-Release (lasts up to 60 days... NOT!) periodically - but she eats them in less than a day - so don't know how much nutritional value she is getting from them.

Attached is a close up photo of her current shell condition. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
These spots are most likely a type of shell rot. You can treat them with athlete's foot cream on tortoises, but I am not sure what the best treatment would be on an aquatic turtle. If this were a tortoise, I would debride (scrape) each area to remove the dead bone and then apply the antifungal cream.

The center of each scute has this problem, even the marginal scutes (the ones around the edge of the shell). I think that if I were you, I would take the turtle to a good exotics vet for evaluation and treatment. There are a couple of good exotics vets in the Phoenix area, I believe.

@gummybearpoop Do you know some exotics vets in the Phoenix area?
 

crimson_lotus

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yeah my worry is that there may be active spots under the flaking. my turtle had burn wounds filled with bacteria on his shell that needed to be treated with silver sulfadiazine cream which is prescription only. definitely check with a vet.
 

ddpoloAZ

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yeah my worry is that there may be active spots under the flaking. my turtle had burn wounds filled with bacteria on his shell that needed to be treated with silver sulfadiazine cream which is prescription only. definitely check with a vet.
 

ddpoloAZ

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Thanks for the suggestions - took Holly to Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital yesterday - the spotting is from water imbalance and calcium in the water. Otherwise she is a healthy female juvenile.
Vet recommended a canister filter instead of hanging in tank type - for better filtration and removal of nitrates & phosphates. Bought the Fluval 407 canister today as she will eventually outgrow her 40 gal and will likely need to be in a 100 gal tank.
I also set up separate 10 gal tank for feeding to keep main tank cleaner and did away with dried shrimp in her diet (vet said those are turtle "junk food"). Got rid of small river rock - so she doesn't ingest them and replaced with sizeable 4-6" river rock. Lots of changes for her - but all to keep her clean, safe & healthy.
 

crimson_lotus

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all of that sounds wonderful :) I am glad it's nothing too serious and adjustments can be made to fix the issue. Thanks also for taking him to the vet.
 

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