Urgent Care :: Help! Pink Shell and Red Filter Foam?

[FattyTheTurtle]

Hi everyone,

Last week when cleaning filter parts, I noticed that the foam in my Aquaclear 50 was red - I attributed that to having fed the turtle red lettuce. Today, we picked him up to remove from tank while we cleaned it and noticed a pink tint to his bottom shell, as well as some flaking and whiteness covering a couple of his spots...

I read about the pinkness on the shell potentially being blood poisoning - we were hoping we could just clean his water out really well and hope he would get better, but does he really need to get to a vet? Is it possible that the redness in his filter foam was blood-related?

Thanks! Am feeling very nervous and scared for turtle.

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How big is your turtle? shell is maybe 4 inches long, 2.5 inches wide.
How long have you had it? five months

What is the water temperature? ~80 degrees
Did you use a thermometer? yes
Are you using a water heater? yes
How much water is in there? about 2/3rds of a 50 gallon tank
Are you using a water conditioner? no
Are you using any filtration? yes

What is the basking temperature? not 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? acrylic ramp
Is there a UVB light? not yet

What have you been trying to feed it? mix of pellets and lettuce
When was the last time your turtle ate? today

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 50 gallon
Is the tank near a window? no
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? yes

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

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? he did bask today, but not for very long...

[grey goose]

Can you post a pic of his plasteron (bottom shell)? The redness in the foam is worrisome.....what color is his feces? Any red in it?

[megcornell]

I don't see how red lettuce could turn the water or a foam different colors.
Do you have any ornaments in the tank that could be seeping dyes into the water?

I believe septicemia usually shows up in the skin first, and usually by the time the coloration symptom shows there are other signs that something is seriously wrong like lethargy.

Definitely post pictures if you can and get a look at his feces. Something could definitely be going on.
To answer your question, if it IS septicemia only a vet visit will allow you to get the drugs you'll need to cure such an ailment.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Don't panic. Sometimes the "pink" color can be attributed to a bacteria/mold in the water. GENTLY rub his shell with a soft toothbrush, soft rag, or even a Q tip to see if the color comes off. If so, it's something in your water and you just need to recycle the water and give your turtle a gentle scrubbing. If it doesn't come off, however, then we need more information. As for the flaking and whiteness, I agree, more pictures needed.

[FattyTheTurtle]

There is one of those standard pet store large rocks in his tank, and when I just scrubbed it, some red came off...

I can't recall any redness in his feces, but will check next time. I wouldn't say he has been particularly lethargic.

I am trying to post images below - let's see if it works - thanks for all the help!

[TheComputerGremlin]

Let's try this:

There is one of those standard pet store large rocks in his tank, and when I just scrubbed it, some red came off...

I can't recall any redness in his feces, but will check next time. I wouldn't say he has been particularly lethargic.

I am trying to post images below - let's see if it works - thanks for all the help!

Okay, the links are working for me, but I don't know if it's because they are cached now ... Her webpage is: http://picasaweb.google.com/alexandra.d.delvalle/FattySSadShell?authkey=0ht7UFcmR_Y

[grey goose]

It doesnt look like septicemia, but some sort of shell irritation, possibly compounded by poor water quality......at any rate it seems this has been going on for some time......something is irritating his shell. Could he be rubbing against something in the tank? Maybe something on his basking ramp?
Water quality could also be a factor.......Do you use a water conditioner when you do water changes? Is the water clear or cloudy?

[grey goose]

Also 80F is too warm.....take it down to about 75-76F.

[steve]

**Pictures can be deceiving** It looks to be an early shell rot infection, but it's impossible for me to be sure. Is there pitting in the area, is it soft, smells? Is it spreading? Does it come off if you wipe it?

If there is something red in the filters, it might be discoloring the plastron.

[RESnTX]

I had this problem with my res last year. First I noticed the filter foams were turning pink and then the skin around his bottom, inbetween his toes and around his next started turning pink. At the time I had goldfish in the tank and they also got pink and died. The vet said it was a fungus. I dry docked my res and also did daily soakings in diluted betadine. What really seemed to work was applying the betadine to his skin with a qtip then putting him in his dry dock overnight. Mine never got as far as shell rot though.

[FattyTheTurtle]

Thanks all,

His feces does not appear red, and some searching around on the internet at pictures leads me to believe it may be very early shell rot... am trying to get him into a vet today or tomorrow.

I appreciate all the advice! Am also buying a hose pronto to make sure that his water doesn't get funky again.

[SpotsMama]

I think you are correct on the diagnosis. A vet should be able to help. Bacterial colonies sometimes are pink.

As he's healing, keeping the water clean will be very important. In addition, it's critical for shell health that the turtle bask frequently under good quality light (ie, UVB light). How does is your guy for basking - does he bask for hours every day, and are you confident that the UVB bulb is the right kind and still fresh? When he basks, is he able to dry off completely - this is essential - top and bottom? If the temp on the basking platform isn't warm enough (needs to be around 90 degrees), he won't want to bask like he should.

You might also take a look at the basking rock. I'm not familiar with the rock you are using, but if it's surface is rough like a real rock it could be damaging his plastron. (I learned this the hard way.) In addition, if it's actually a rock and not the floating type of dock, it's taking up space in his aquarium that he could use for swimming (turtles love to swim and dive...that's what they do in the wild). Having more water in the tank will also help with water quality (ie, dilute the waste further). The basking docks made by Zoo Med have softer surfaces that don't damage a shell nor do they take up swimming space. A lot of people use acrylic docks for larger turtles which are also good. You can also build a dock yourself - handy people on here have come up with some nice ones.

Also, there should be pieces of cuttlebone in the tank at all times for calcium.

Here's a standard caution for anyone taking their turtle to see a vet. If the vet offers to give a vitamin A shot, first make sure the vet is positive your turtle really needs vitamin A and then discuss other alternatives to shots with the vet like eye drops with vitamin A, cod liver oil or food supplements. Several turtles have recently had very bad reactions to vitamin A shots and I think it's best that if vitamin A is needed (and often it's not) the safer methods be used instead.

[FattyTheTurtle]

It's hard to tell about his basking, since he pretty much refuses to do it if anyone is in the room... We used to frequently come home and find him diving off the ramp as soon as the door opened, so we figured he was basking just fine. He basked in front of me on Saturday, but only for about 30 mins when I was very still.

His ramp is that nice acrylic one with the green stuff for traction... very easy for him to get up on.

His light, however, is an issue - he currently has the repti-spot one which I know doesn't give him the range of UV that he needs, so I am hoping to get him a new lamp today but have admittedly been putting it off due to cost. The temp on his basking platform is in the 80s, never 90, so I know we need the kind that gives off heat as well.

That rock was one he doesn't use to bask, we had just kept it in there for him so he could have a little privacy behind and around it, now that his shell is messed up we took it out.

After calling a vet and pricing this out, we are thinking of trying to home remedy his shell issue, doing the steps as posted on a couple of other sites - treating with povidine/iodine and scraping it off a bit, then using antibiotic ointment and seeing how it goes over the next couple of days... any thoughts or tips would be welcome!

In terms of keeping the water clean while he is healing, should we change out some of the water every couple of days or is that too much change?

[SpotsMama]

Here's a good description of how to treat shell infections from a reputable source (Austin's Turtle Page). It's pretty much what the vet prescribed for Spot when he had a shell problem and it worked. The salve mentioned (silver sulfadiazine) is prescription only from a vet - perhaps your vet will let you buy some without you bringing your guy in.


"Listed below is a regimen that I have followed in treating shell problems and has yielded great results. Keep in mind that shell injuries will take months and sometimes years to get back to looking normal if the possibility exists. It takes weeks before the shell will look like it's getting better. While treating, you are not looking for signs of healing or repair - you are looking to ensure that it is not spreading.

Clean infected areas thoroughly with a strong, undiluted betadine, iodine or Nolvasan solution. Let the turtle air dry in a warm setting for about 45 minutes.

Apply a generous coating of Silvadene cream. Work into problem areas.

Leave the turtle dry and warm, ensuring that you do not over-heat, for 18-21 hours each day.

The next day, scrub entire shell with a one of the previously mentioned solutions, using a soft-bristled toothbrush

Place them into fresh, clean water. Let them swim, drink and eat for approximately 1 - 1 ½ hours.

Repeat procedure from Step 1.

This treatment performed daily or twice daily, depending on your time allocation, has been successful in as few as 8-10 days but in more extreme cases can take a few weeks. It is difficult to tell success right away, so it is often discouraging. It is, however, quite effective and you will begin to see small improvement (in most cases) in only a few weeks. "

[FattyTheTurtle]

Hmm - that's quite different than what I had seen at http://www.anapsid.org/shellrot.html (see below).

would you recommend one method over the other? it might be hard for us to keep him dry and warm for the whole day since he would be home alone in an nyc apartment with frequent fluctuations in temperature (quite frequently, there is no heat). and do you think the solution posted below would work if we are unable to get the silvadene from a vet without bringing him in?


"Initial home care for non-penetrative lesions:
If the area of infection has not yet eaten through the shell, you can try initially to treat it at home while at the same time assessing the care setup to figure out why the defect occurred to begin with that enabled the fungal or bacterial organisms to get started.

The infected area should be swabbed with a dilute povidone-iodine solution. The areas of infection can then be gently scraped away using a blunt edge such as a disinfected table knife. The scraped areas are then swabbed with povidone-iodine solution or ointment.

Since you don't know if the infection is bacterial or fungal, first try a topical antibiotic ointment, such as a triple antibiotic ointment, which contains three different broad-spectrum antibiotics. Dab a bit on the infected. If the chelonian is an aquatic turtle, keep the turtle out of the water for at least 10 minutes to give the medication time to penetrate. If there is no observable improvement within a couple of days, try an antifungal cream. There are several available, each with a different active anti-fungal ingredient. Try one, keeping aquatic turtles out of the water for at least 10 minutes to give the drug time to penetrate. If there is no improvement after a couple of days, take the chelonian to your reptile vet. These infections are not something to mess around with for very long at home, given the potentially lethal nature of systemic infections."

thank you!