Urgent Care :: Newly adopted, shell concern?

[Markmassey]

Last night one of my employees gave me a turtle that her husband was planning on releasing into the wild. I do not know much about it. It’s a red ear slider at least a couple years old. It’s roughly 13 oz in weight and 5 inches long. I do not know much about how they were caring for the turtle as far as basking, diet and supplements. I’m pretty sure no uvb was used though. My concern is the shell. It almost seems brittle. Idk if it’s shell Rot or what. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advanced.

[steve]

Good on you for the rescue! Releasing the turtle is likely illegal and dangerous to the turtle. The shape of the turtle looks pretty good, there is a bit of fungus which makes shedding “complicated”. Thin layers of shed scutes are usually normal and healthy.

[Markmassey]

Is there something I can do to clear the fungus and what exactly is the fungus? The white blotches? Yes I was super impressed with the shape of the shell considering I don’t think the turtle was taken care of very well. Everything was included with the turtle except a uvb bulb which I purchased a new one for it. Couple other questions since it’s already posted with pictures here. Any indication of gender or roughly the age?

[steve]

Yes, the white is the fungus. The best treatment is silver sulfadiazine cream, which requires a prescription. I'd need to see more pics, but looks to be a male, maybe 4-5 years old. Age is really hard to guess since they can grow too quickly when younger.

[Markmassey]

Ok thank you much for the feedback. I really appreciate it. Now to look into a reptile vet clinic.

[steve]

You might be able to find it without a vet, but that's usually the way to get it. Keep in mind that it is contagious, so it will spread to your other turtle if untreated.

[Markmassey]

They both are in separate set ups and I use completely separate equipment for them. I practice really good hygiene so it shouldn’t be a huge issue as far as spreading. I just got back home with the turtle from the vet. He gave him an excede shot with a 4 oz bottle of chlorehexidine solution. From the sounds of it he said to use it in the water and to clean his shell. I’m hesitant in putting it straight in his tank water but rather using it to clean his shell and dry dock him. He said to increase the amount of “sunlight” heat and uvb so it will help inhibit the growth or spread of bacteria and fungus. He did categorize his shell issue as shell rot. Have you experienced this medicine before?

[steve]

I'm not sure about the uses of Excede w/reptiles. For chlorehexidine, I get the Hibiclens brand which is soapy (they use this in hospitals) but I hold my turtle while using it and rinse it off. I would not soak/submerge my turtle in it. It has been said to mix Betadine (Povidone-iodine) with water for a soak, but I preferred not to. Heat encourages the turtle to bask, which provides several benefits - one of which is to dry the shell that inhibits fungus growth. If there are no soft spots on the shell, I don't see any shell rot.

[Markmassey]

I’ve been doing about a 1/50 ratio for dilution and scrubbed with a soft toothbrush. After I scrub for about 10 minutes on the top, bottom and sides. I rinse then dry dock. I was told to do it 2 time daily. Should I dry dock or is the fungus not severe enough. He does have appropriate basking temperatures and was caught basking throughout the day yesterday, before I started medicating him. I was going to dry dock him in a 5 gallon bucket at around 88 degrees for nearly most of his day except for maybe a couple hours for hydration and food. I did try to research dry docking but it’s a pretty general discussion. Should I dry dock over night with lamp or just shut it off? I agree it’s not shell rot but the vet was saying bacterial and fungal are all categorized as shell rot when it’s on the shell. I am kind of doubting the knowledge of the vet I visited. But hey, at least he gave me a cleaning agent a lot of people use for turtles though.

[Markmassey]

Here is another picture of his shell after dry docking. It definitely shows more since he was a lot dryer in this picture than the original pictures.

[steve]

In my previous use -- undiluted scrub, sit for a few minutes, rinse, then dry dock, did nothing against the fungus. Dry dock helps with shedding and that gets rid of infected layers but at that point the fungus is already on the new scutes. I would not dry dock in a bucket, that would be incredibly stressful and the turtle might hurt itself. Setup a corner in a room or something and let it have more space. Dry docking overnight is usually the least stressful for turtle and keeper.

[Markmassey]

Ok I can easily dry dock in a corner of a separate room. If the Chlorhexidine undiluted doesn’t do anything for the fungus then should I go back to the vet and see if they give me something else? Or go to a cvs or Walmart and pick up povidine iodine and use that in conjunction with the Chlorhexidine? Also I tried researching lots of ways to clear the fungus and I noticed people use triple antibiotic creams such as Neosporin or similar types. Is that a good idea? Chlorhexidine to clean, iodine to rid fungus and cream for healing? With a mixture of night time dry docking? Sorry I just want to do this right haha

[steve]

I'm sure you can find different answers but the most effective one will be silver sulfadiazine cream. If you can get it, do it. Hibiclens and Betadine didn't do much for my turtle. If you plan on dry docking for long periods, doing it at night would be the easiest.

[Markmassey]

Alright thank you much, again. I’ll see if I can find the cream if not I may have a to improvise and I’ll keep this post up to date with recoveries or more concerns if it turns for the worse.

[Markmassey]

Here’s an update on his shell several days later. I’m not really seeing any progress. I’m maintaining 2 daily cleanings. Once in the morning after his dry dock and once at night before his dry dock. He dry docks at night between 8-12 hours. He’s definitely becoming more accustomed to the cleaning and keeps peeping his head out more. Every cleaning small sheds come off, some days more than others.