Urgent Care :: Red spot and thinning skin

[kflyer]

My 5 year old RES has a reddish black spot on the top of it's head. As well the skin around it's neck is thinning away to reveal pinkish bumpy meat. As well the it's legs are raw read and bumpy. I tried isolating it for a while because my other bigger turtle was biting at it's leg. And now it's slowly healing but at the same time it's shedding alot of it's scutes and the reddish black spot just recently appeared. I'm worried because the same thinning skin symptoms happened to two other of my turtles and have claimed their lives soon after. Both times I had brought them to a vet and both times he said they were okay and both times they died the day after.

[steve]

Is he still separated? Seems like they will need to be permanently separated.

As for the reddish black spot and other injuries, they should receive some treatment to make sure they are not infected and healing. I can't tell the scope of the injuries from what you described, but a vet visit would be a good idea. Minor injuries can usually be treated without veterinary assistance, but it sounds like there has been some major trauma. Can you post any pictures?

I also suggest you look into a different vet, one that has a good deal of experience with turtles.

[kflyer]

My other bigger turtle is usually not very aggressive and they've never actually had a big fight. It only bites the other turtle's when there is meat showing. Could it be some kind of meat eating disease/infection that could be causing mysterious scars that appear even after the turtle is isolated. It is as if something is eating away at it's skin. It's kind of hard to explain. I would like to post a picture but i don't have a camera i could use right now and i don't know how to post pictures.[/img]

[res08]

check out this link. it lists a number of causes for skin problems. thinning red skin could be the result of vitamin A deficiency. http://www.turtlepuddle.org/health/skin.html

[Take-One]

Unless you always watch your turtles,24/7 then you dont know if they fight.

[SpotsMama]

I'd get that turtle to a vet right away. It could be bites causing the problem or it could be a vitamin deficiency, like res08 said. Or it could be some sort of skin infection. In any case, it sounds serious and should get medical attention soon.

good luck to you.