Urgent Care

Hey guys,

As per topic above, i need urgent help for this case. Well, its not actually my turtle, i saw it at one of the aquatic pet shop where i always buy supply for my existing RES, and since i saw that baby seem sick and the owner didn't seem to care about him, i just instinctively bought it and bring it home. I kept it together with my two res at first but the next day when i feed my turtle the baby seem so sick, and as i inspect him all around, i notice that his shell especially at the end near his tail is getting softer, i also notice that his tail was bitten of, i don't know if it was done by my turtle or it happen before that but the wound seem to healed so i assume it happen before i take him home. Next step, i separate them, my baby res now staying alone in a small place. The next morning i say his shell where the soft part is starting to peeled off, as per picture, so i bring it to a vet (general vet since my place only have 2 vet and none is herp vet) and he just applied iodine to his tail and his shell. I am not questioning the vet expertise over here but i just feel there should be more that can be done. i just can't stand the fact that my baby res will die without me doing anything. So i hope you guys can help me on this issue.

How big is your turtle? 1.5 inch (baby)
How long have you had it? 3 days

What is the water temperature? 82 F
Did you use a thermometer? Yes, Digital and analog
Are you using a water heater? Yes. On main tank. for now baby is dry docking
How much water is in there? tank around 80L of water, now baby is dry docking
Are you using a water conditioner? Yes. Nutrafin
Are you using any filtration? Yes. Canister and underwater

What is the basking temperature? around 27 - 30 degree C
Is there a basking light? Yes. Heat and UVB
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? Yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? Driftwood and exoterra turtle bank
Is there a UVB light? Yes

What have you been trying to feed it? Pellet and ghost shrimp
When was the last time your turtle ate? an hour ago, 1 pellet stick

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? tank can fit 300L water
Is the tank near a window? Nope
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? Nope

Have you read the Basic Care section? Yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? Yes. but couldnt find any with the exact same case

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? he dont really eat much.

What do see under the part that has peeled off? Has the turtle been basking?

Nothing cause the part that peel off is at the end of the shell, hes been basking whole day and that worries me sometimes, he rarely went into water unless i make him to..

Any pictures?

Just updating.... my baby passed away just half an hour ago... thanks for trying to help.

Sorry for your loss. Pet shop owners like that need a good butt kicking!

Well, i cant agree more on that, they have a misconception over here on how to take care of res, almost every pet shop owner overhere that will give advice to new res buyer that res cant live inside a tank full of water, for them its enough to keep the water at half of turtle body height, they also never knew about the importance of uv and proper diet for it, i always try to correct their information but who am i to do so, obviously youre going to trust the owner then a stranger that happen to buy at the same shop, btw i still have my 2 res, i have them for almost a year now... but sadly they grow so fast, one is almost 5.5 inch and the other almost 5 inch... hope they will stay healthy for a long time

Soo Sorry for your Loss, but you did the right thing adopting this little one and trying to help it. I personally think pet stores don't know much about most of the pets they sell. We are big ferret Lovers in this house and so many times have we seen baby ferrets kept in inappropriate conditions not to mention the advice you hear them give to prospective new owners. We always try in a nice way to inform pet stores of wrong advice or improper conditions. Fortunately, most have taken the advice and implemented it.. I don't know what pet store you bought the little RES from but if it was a chain store like Petco or Petsmart, write management and show the pictures you took and the conditions of the turtle. They will step in and reprimand that particular store. If its a private owned store, other then talking to owner and the owner probably don't care or they wouldn't be trying to sell a turtle in that condition.

Sorry I'm late to chime it. If that "collapse" was recent or sudden, I don't think there was much you could have done. RIP

redfalcon wrote:Well, i cant agree more on that, they have a misconception over here on how to take care of res, almost every pet shop owner overhere that will give advice to new res buyer that res cant live inside a tank full of water, for them its enough to keep the water at half of turtle body height, they also never knew about the importance of uv and proper diet for it, i always try to correct their information but who am i to do so, obviously youre going to trust the owner then a stranger that happen to buy at the same shop, btw i still have my 2 res, i have them for almost a year now... but sadly they grow so fast, one is almost 5.5 inch and the other almost 5 inch... hope they will stay healthy for a long time

I would say that the problem isn't just where you live. Its all over the World. I'm glad at least you have done your research and know what they need. Sounds like your turtles are doing just fine. :-)

Yeah... theyre doing fine now, my only problem with this pair is one of them is a very picky eater, the female will eat all those vege you gave her and her pellet of course but the male one will not eat any vege, plus he will only eat when being hand fed, he will not eat those pellet if u just let them float, u need to feed him one by one... im fine to feed him when im offduty, but the problem is when im on duty, i wont be home for 2 weeks.. and sometimes my brother dont have time to feed him , anyone know how to settle this?

How big are they? You can try an automatic feeder in the future, but I think you still need to find some way to get them occasional supervision. Unless you can do a huge pond-type enclosure.

Sorry for your loss

Urgent Care :: Need help with my baby res shell getting soft and peeled of.

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