Urgent Care :: Is Anything Wrong With Him??

[shleebaby]

I am still new with turtles. I've had my turtles since November 2007.
The one turtle, Mojo, seems to be doing really well. He sheds well, he eats well, he scutes well, everything. But my other turtle, Squirt, he seems to be doing really different. He had an eye infection (which was treated and he recovered). He sheds his skin ALL the time. His shell doesn't look good at all. It looks like he isn't shedding his scutes well. Everything seems to be going wrong with only one of the turtles and they are both in the same tank and get treated the same way! To me his shell doesn't look right at all, especially compared to Mojo. Can someone let me know if he looks normal or if he needs help?


How big is your turtle? 4 inches
How long have you had it? since November 2007

What is the water temperature? 79 F
Did you use a thermometer? Yes
Are you using a water heater? Yes
How much water is in there? about 8 inches
Are you using a water conditioner? Yes
Are you using any filtration? Yes

What is the basking temperature? I'm not too sure
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? it's a Zoo Med Turtle Dock
Is there a UVB light? Yes

What have you been trying to feed it? pellets, carrots, lettuce
When was the last time your turtle ate? he eats twice a day (small amounts)

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 25 - 30 gallon tank
Is the tank near a window? No
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? It's our computer room

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

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? when he's basking, he flicks his arms around and rubs his face a lot..not sure if this is normal..

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii10 ... quirt2.jpg
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii10 ... squirt.jpg

[SpotsMama]

Does each turtle have his/her own tank or are they sharing? What size tank is it? If both turtles are liviing in the 25 to 30 gallon tank, then they are really crowded. If both turtles are 4" long and living in one tank, then the tank should be 80 gallons and would need to be even bigger in the future.

What may be causing the skin shedding is the water temperature. Hi temps and/or excessive food will cause excessive shedding. Try lowering the water temp to 75 degrees. 78 degrees is a good temperature for a little turtle, but at 4", your guy is ready for big turtle temperatures. Also, double check the amount of food he's getting. At his age, he should only get about 1/2 headfull of pellets a day. If you want to feed him in two small meals that's fine - just be sure he doesn't get too much.

On the shell, nothing jumps out at me as a problem. Perhaps someone else will see something that I'm not seeing. For a healthy shell, it's essential that a turtle bask a lot under good UVB light. What sort of light bulbs are you using? How fresh is the UVB bulb? Also, it's good to keep cuttlebone in the tank for the turtle to snack on as cuttlebone is an excellent source of calcium.

If his eyes seem to be irritated, you might get some Turtle Eye Drops by Zoo Med and follow the instructions on the package. If he's eating his carrots then it's extremely unlikely that he has a vitamin a deficiency (which sometimes causes eye irritation). If the two turtles are living in the same tank, there may be water quality issues that would cause eye irritation.

Sometimes turtles do flick their arms around and rub their face a lot when they are basking. The theory is that they do this because they are shedding skin and are trying to flick/rub it off. It's normal as long as it isn't constant.

[Nettle]

I agree with everything SpotsMama said.

The shape of his scutes looks fine. The coloring is darker than a lot of turtles, but that's just genetics (if that's what you're worried about). The only thing I find unusual is the yellowish looking scutes along his spine. I don't know if that's just some weird coloring or a possible fungus.

[shleebaby]

They are both sharing a 30 gallon tank. I am saving up for a bigger tank, right now I can't afford one. I am using a Zoo Med Reptisun 10.0 UVB bulb. I bought it 2 months ago. It was recommended to me. He only had the one eye infection and he recovered. I read a forum on here to put the temp up to 81 F and I put in a Dr. Turtle calcuim puck and it cleared up in 2 days. He hasn't had another infection. How would you know if it is fungus or not? That one patch looks like it's lifting. I thought it was a scute that hasn't lifted yet. Is that possible? If it's fungus, what can I do to get it off? I'm so nervous with these turtles! They are so dear to me, any little thing that they do worries me.

[Take-One]

It looks like he pyrimiding. Thats becuase of too much protean in his deit.

[marisa]

I don't see anything that I'd call pyramiding, but I am wondering about those yellow areas...The shell doesn't look dry in that first pic, but the whitish areas I see could like scutes could be getting ready to shed. Check the basking area temp.

A bigger tank, more water in it, if they're healthy lowering the water temp several degrees---a better habitat in general---would be healthier for them.

[shleebaby]

That's what worries me, are those yellow patches. Do you know what it could be? Yah I know they need a bigger tank, I'm trying to save up for one right now. The water temp is at 78 F right now, how low should it be? I could get a dry pic of his shell and post it.

[SpotsMama]

The Reptisun 10.0 compact fluorescents (only the compacts, not the tubes) have been known to irritate turtles' eyes. Zoo Med, the manufacturer, is supposed to have taken measures recently so that their bulbs are no longer so irritating. However, if your turtle continues to have eye problems, I'd be very suspicious of the bulb. One sign of a problem bulb is a reluctance to bask. You can tell be pretty sure that the bulb is the problem if you turn off the Reptisun bulb (leaving the heat bulb on) and the turtle's eyes and basking return to normal after a few days.

Lower the water temp to 74 or 75. Hopefully that will slow down the shedding.

If a big aquarium is not to be in your immediate future, please consider something like a large rubbermaid tub or a rubber stock tank. These are very inexpensive and make excellent turtle habitats. There are a number of examples on here of setups using rubbermaids or stock tanks.

[mikee]

She-Babe -- I would be a little suspecious of the 10 reptisun bulb. I know they were supposed to work on the uvb rays in that bulb. I would suggest that you change to the .50 because your turtle has already had eye problems. Your water temp is a little high if they are healthy. About 75 should do fine. You know that the tank is too small and I would make sure the water stays clean until you get a larger tank. When you get a filter for the larger tank make sure the filter is big enough. Think in terms of gph. Five times the water volume per hour or greater should do just fine. .m