Urgent Care :: Brown spots on plastron/Growing too fast?

[JNZBCBnLIL]

My RES is acting normal- eatting (like a pig and begging like crazy), swimming around (not abnormally at all), and every once in awhile I'll catch him/her basking but of course as soon as i walk in the room s/he goes running into the water! S/he's pretty skiddish! But I know that as a hatchling this is a very delicate time! I'm worried because his/her tummy is discolored a bit from what I remember whenever we first got him/her! could that be because s/he's just growing and changing or could something be wrong? I tried to get a picture but I try not to take the baby out of the water too much because I don't want any drastic changes from the normal tank temp that s/he's used to, I'll post the attempted pics but I know they're not great- I'm not sure you can tell anything from it! Also you know the swirlies on the belly? Well in every one of those swirlies there is a brown splotch! I don't know if I should be worried because they're not random spots- they're directly in or atleast somewhat touching every single swirl and nothing more then that amount! is that normal?

I'm also going to post a pic of the baby compared to Brandon's hand from when we first got him/her to one I took today so I can get an idea from you guys if s/he's growing too fast or growing normally! We've had him/her for a little over a month and s/he's already gotten so much bigger! I do my best to feed only a head size worth of food per day! I also always keep romaine lettuce available which s/he likes to nibble on!

Any advice would be very helpful! Thank you! I just want to make sure if I'm doing anything wrong that I can fix it sooner then later!

Attempted Belly Pics (sorry so bad)




Whenever we first got him/her::


Today::

[cprcheetah]

It's hard to tell from the pictures. My RES has brown spots on his plastron:


As I understand it, they change as they grow. How is your turtle acting? Does it have the proper set up and diet?

[scripta_elegans]

I think the pattern's regularity is comforting instead of a concern. I can't really see from the pictures, but it sounds like part of the plastron's markings and not an infection, as it is regular and predictable. The turtle looks healthy to me. The fact that s/he is skitty is actually good. If they aren't feeling well they tend to be lethargic and move slowly. I don't know how long you've had your turtle, so I can't say for certain, but it looks like normal growth to me. I have hatchlings too, and I would say their growth from May to now is extremely close to your turtles. They were ill for about 6 weeks, so they may be a little behind average? I am certainly no expert on turtle growth, but as lond as this took place in a period of months instead of weeks, I think it's normal.

[JNZBCBnLIL]

I've had my RES for a little over a month now! I got him/her while I was in FL around September 19th and the first picture of Brandon holding him/her was the day I got home from FL! I'll try to get some better pictures of the belly asap- I'd like to show the discoloration on the plastron since it seems the brown splotches shouldn't be a threat! His/her belly is still very yellow but it seems there's a tiny bit of discoloration around the edges!

I have him/her in a 20 gallon tank with heater and 50/60 gallon filter- temp is reading 80 degrees steady! Feed daily a head size and always have romaine lettuce available- sometimes carrots! And there are feeder fish in the tank which s/he likes to catch and eat on a occassion!

[JNZBCBnLIL]

here is the most recent pic of my set up, but there are a few changes since then- more greenery and more feeders.

[scripta_elegans]

The set up looks great, and it sounds like you are feeding Leo quite well, so he's probably a healthy little turtle. The only thing I would even question is the Rosies or Guppies. Does Leo eat them every day? Or is it more like one a week? I know that they are high protein and can cause fast growth if they are eaten on a very regular basis, but if it is more like one a week, everything sounds perfect!

[JNZBCBnLIL]

Well it's hard to tell because I think s/he ate a few in one day but other then that one day s/he's eats them very rarely- they're more like his/her tank mates then anything and will come up and nibble off the food while s/he's eatting and s/he'll just look at them like "hey that's mine" rather then looking at them like s/he wants to chow down on them!

[cprcheetah]

Nice set up! Your turtle is adorable.

[SpotsMama]

Lil Leo sure looks cute in that great big beautiful tank.

[marisa]

Do you mean how the splotches look a little blurry, like they're not really in focus? My RES's splotches did this when he was growing a little too fast. When his growth slowed down, they became more distinct.

[the_orphaned]

I think this is due to habitat change. Turt did the same thing. When I first got him, he was so tiny ans was kept in a small "death bowl" with other turts in the pet store. Then I moved him to his bigger setup, around 30 gallons then he grew like crazy for a couple of months. Now, his growth has slowed down considerably. He is now steady at 3". And while he was at his growth spurt, his plastron did the same thing as yours. It'll clear up when he reaches his optimum size. Turtles tend not to grow much when kept witd other turtles on a small habitat. Nice setup, I'm pretty sure that he is growing to his normal size because he has no cmpetition for space and food anymore. It should slow down in a couple of weeks time since you've had him for little over a month now. Basically, he is getting to his normal size according to his age since I dont see any pyramiding so it means you're not overfeeding him.

Hope this helps. =)

[SpotsMama]

Re. the brown splotches - there are some real clear pictures of turtle plastrons on the topic below, and they look to me like they've got brown splotches on every scut that sort of overlay the normally swirlly thing. Is that what your turtle's plastron looks like JNZB?

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6208

[JNZBCBnLIL]

SpotsMama-
Not that big of brown splotches- in those pictures it looks like the brown splotches are taking over where the swirls should be- they're smaller then the swirls there are just small brown splotches in or near every swirly- is that normal and they get bigger as they grow and get older? or could something be wrong and they could grow bigger if I don't do something?

the_orphaned-
he was in a tank with a TON of other turtles but it was a pretty good size tank- defintely not big enough for as many turtles as there were in there though! I hope he's growing like a normal baby should!

[SpotsMama]

I honestly don't know if the brown splotches are ok or not. Someone who knows more about it will have to respond. I just noticed the slotches on that other post and thought they might be similar to yours.

[CountryGirl68]

Can you get clearer pictures of the turtle? It's hard to say if anything looks "normal" or not because the pictures are so orange.