Urgent Care :: A small hole in her shell =(

[phish]

At the end of this, i have answered all of the questions. Okay, have had my turtle for a year and a half, i take excellent care of her. I change her water frequently, and feed her properly, and she gets a Dr. Turtle one week, calcium turtle the next, and she has a cuttlebone to chew on.
When i first got her, i wasn't sure about the water, and i let it get green,and she got shell rot. Well, i took her to a vet, no real qualified vets in town, but he did give me solution to soak her in (novalsan) and she has been fine.
Now, the scars she had from shell rot have never really visibly gotten much better, , even though she never ahs gotten shell rot again, and is visibly healthy. They are from over a year ago, but i have heard they take a while to heal. By the way, none of the sores had even reached through the shell, until now =(

She always had a small small place that was deepest on her underbelly, and i have always checked it, it always seemed fine. Well, now when this small pock mark, which was always like a very small indention, like a gash like shape, had a little yellow "filling" in it i scraped it out thinking it was fungi, pretty sure it was, and i can see what i think is her skin. I took the solution that i was given (which by the way is nolvasan, i use 1ounce per gallon of water to mix it before i soak her in it and apply it) and scrubbed it gently in the spot, and she was noticeably in pain, and while i didnt' see blood, the inside of the gash in the shell is pinkish, i am near positive it is skin. Also, the hole is not that deep, i figured the underside of a turtles carapace was a little thicker, but maybe its deep than it looks, and the fleshis pushing down into the hole in the shell a little? What now?

Everything i read says to treat the areas with solution, i think nolvasan is okay? I will do that, and keep her in a dry tank and put her in her water tank to swim for 30 minutes a day, 2 times a day? How long do i do this? When is it okay to put her back in her tank? Do i need to fill the hole with anything? It is very small at least, but that almost makes it more difficult to treat. I am so sorry for all the questions, but this turtle is like a child to my girlfriend and I. Any advice or anything i can do to help my tutle is much appreciated, anything at all. Maybe a better procedure to take care of her, a better solution to request or use, something else ineed to buy, and a timeline of when she will heal, or even some instructions on her enviroment while keeping her in a dry tank. I am just so frustrated why the problems with her, i dont' know what i am doing wrong. By the way, through all of this, she seems very normal, she is a very enegetic active turltle, and you wouldn't think anything was wrong at all.




How big is the turtle? 6 inches
How long have you had it? 1 1/2 years

What is the water temperature? 80ish
Are you using a water heater? no
How much water is in there? about 25 gallons
Are you using a water conditioner? yes
Are you using any filtration? yes

What is the basking temperature? 90ish
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? zoomed dock
Is there a UVB light? yes

What have you been trying to feed it? zoomed turtle food
When was the last time your turtle ate? w/e i feed it lol

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 30 gallons
Is the tank near a window? yes
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? somewhat

Have you read the Basic Care section? yes

[flutterby]

Do you have any pictures?

[phish]

I am not able to post a clear enough picture, as i said, the hole is very small, on the underside of her shell, close the the part on the side that connects the top of her shell to the bottom. As i have spent hours online looking what to do for her, i am positive that it is a slight hole in her shell, and judgejing from some blood i finally saw from the hole, it has penetrated to her skin. I am just more curious of what treatments i need for this small hole, and how to keep her happy out of her tank, cuz i know she is uncomfortable not being in water all the time now.

[steve]

She is bleeding from the hole in the shell?

read this and look for a herp vet: http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4519

[6turtles]

Had a turtle (from the spca) that got hit by a car once. The back end of her shell (ridge) was pretty much gone exposing her rear tail and bum area more; otherwise just one small hole that went thru . Keep it clean with mild vet soap, and treated it with a mild / watered down iodine (the red stuff). Kept her dry except for light misting, and the odd soak to eat. It should heal over but it will take time; idea is to keep it reasonably dry (hard for a turtle). Even if you get her thru the 1st week it should start to heal over. I still have the runover turtle; she is alittle deformed but she did heal. goodluck! ps--the iodine water solution should be almost tea like in colour if you try it.

[marisa]

I'd stick with the Nolvasan---it's considered to be better than iodine in that it encourages the growth of good tissue (iodine/kills the good tissue along with the bad).

phish, the sores you speak of are where the scars were? It would really be good if you found a herp vet who would know about shell problems you're describing, even if you have to go beyond the area you live in. If you're seeing blood, the infection is likely to get into the system and your turtle is going to need antibiotics. There's a post near the top of the Urgent Care forum with links to finding one. I wouldn't delay getting her treatment.