I've had my slider for many years, she's about 5 inches long, has proper habitat, lighting, and heat (according to care sheets, posts, etc.) and she has a great appetite, clear eyes, active and alert. BUT she's never had a "good" shell and she'd recently been more sluggish. I started salt-water dips, povidone-iodine dips, and while that helped her shell coloring, I still had many questions about my slider's health so I took her to the vet and after throwing her around and poking her, the vet said she was fine and "good to go."
But here are my concerns:
1.) Speedie's always had an ugly shell - meaning white/beige scutes, she doesn't shed properly, loves to bask (the water is super clean), temps are proper, and more recently, the shell has been flakey, has pitting, and the scutes on her yellow carapace seem to flake off thick (like hard pieces). I read a lot about fungal infections, bacterial infections, and mineral deposits, but still couldn't tell what my baby had (hoping it was just mineral deposits). The vet took his fingernail to her and (to her agitation) scraped at her for 5 minutes, flaking pieces of her shell all over, revealing a darker shell color underneath. But she's still dry and flakey, even with "new" scute showing. He said, "She just has unique shell coloring," which I accepted... until in that same breath he said, "... unless her infection is so deep that you can't do anything about it."
2.) The vet said her shell oddity is not shell rot or fungus, but I also notice that at the edges of the large side scutes (the ones that touch the smaller, edge scutes of the plastron) bend inward if i push it with my nail - not exactly soft shell, but it's not rock-hard like the other parts of her shell when i push with my nail. Still hard to the touch with fingers, but not to nails. And I can't tell if she has shell rot underneath because of all the flaking. I read that the scute turns slightly metallic when it's ready to shed - when she's in the water and swimming and i get up close, all of her is slightly metallic... and i'm still waiting for her to shed.
3.) Recently, after I've flipped her over to inspect her underbelly and flip her right side up again, I noticed BLOOD in her skin. Like she broke a blood vessel or something. Not a lot of blood, but blood nonetheless. It fades after a couple of days, like a bruise fades. She also gets these tiny spots of red blood (literally one tiny spot!) on the part of her shell at her armpit (on one of those tiny scutes). In the past, she's been fine being flipped over and just lays quietly as I inspect her, but lately, she fidgets so much like she's in pain, and sometimes even pees (I think out of fear or pain). So I've stopped turning her over. But last night as I inspected her (right side up), I noticed she is pinkish/reddish all along the areas where her skin is attached her the inside of her shell. I feared it was septicemia. When I pointed all of this out to the vet, he said, "that's just the translucency of her skin." And I didn't know what to say so I didn't say anything.
4.) She loves to bask a lot. Which makes me think she doesn't like to be in the water, for which there must be a reason, so I don't force her into the water or take away her basking spot. I put in water conditioner (repti-safe) to keep the ammonia levels low, etc., because I've drank some of our tap water before and it's VERY mineralized and gross. Becuase she's out of the water so much, I feel like (and maybe I'm a paranoid mommy) that her eyes are sunken in and she's dehydrated. Her eyes are clear, no runny nose, clear mouth, etc. She even sleeps in her basking spot, she doesn't sleep in the water.
5.) She has UVA/UVB lamp with heat lamp. Everything is set up acceptably. She seems happy. I sometimes let her out to run around the living room. About a year ago, she'd explore every corner and nook and cranny and make rounds around the apartment. Even try to climb the fridge. Now she goes to her "sleeping spot" near my bookcase and stays there to nap. Is she tired? Is she bored? Has she memorized the floorplan of my apartment so she's not curious anymore?
6.) She has a great appetite. Will eat ANYTHING. I give her Nutrafin pellets, spinach (but not since the e.coli breakout), collard greens, leaf lettuce, and just yesterday - some persimmon (very rare occasion). She LOVES food. So no problem there. Although now that she's older (and was too fat a few years ago, so I now limit her food), her skin hangs out of her body if I tilt her forward or backward.
So my question to you all, dear forum helpers, is AM I WORRIED FOR NOTHING? Is Speedie just different?? Does she just like to hang out and nap instead of swim crazily like all the other turtles do?? Should I try to find another turtle vet? There aren't very many around here in SoCal, I found this one in Arcadia.
I will try to post some pictures of her "unique" shell coloring and flakiness tonight. And I'll try that vinegar q-tip thing on her shell and see if it's mineral deposits.
Sorry for the long post, but thanks for taking the time to read and comment!
).