Photo Gallery :: I Finally Got Pictures of Leo!!

[Brianthedog18]

Here's some pictures of my res, Leonardo! (It's through glass, so bear with me)
Here he is in his "action" pose


The Belly


And here he is soaking up the rays!


Well there thats my res, just wanted to share him with the people who taught me how to take care of him!

Just so you know, the water isn't that murky, it's just a bad camera

[Grifter420]

nice looking res there, love the big claws the boys have (hoping one of my babies is a boy) his shell is looking very good too, bit jealous of you there, my big girl from pet store had some pyramiding when i got her so nowhere near that smooth.

[steve]

Those claws look mighty dangerous!

How big is that tank? All the close-up shots make the tank seem small.

[sonyj]

Good looking boy!

[Brianthedog18]

Yeah, it's not that decieving, unfortunately the tank is only 30 gallons (Leo is 4 inches). I desperately want to upgrade, but not only can I not afford it, I wouldn't be able to fit a bigger tank in my dorm room (this tank fits perfectly on my dresser and anything bigger would hang off).
I'm planning on upgrading in a couple months once I save up some money and move to a bigger room!

[flutterby]

My Scoot is just barely 4 inches and was in a 30gal long... we just got him a 100 gal stock tank. Its no biggie and could always be worse.

[cam722]

The 10 gallon per inch of shell is a guideline. You won't be hauled off to some prison for turtle abuse if your turtle is over the "limit"..

If he has the rest of the requirements, I'd not panic that he's a wee bit over the 10 gal/inch rule. Heck if you did that you could be upgrading every few months in the beginning. When you do upgrade, get something that will last for a few years, that way you don't have to worry

[JessicaTS]

Nice smooth plastron

[Brianthedog18]

Hey does anyone know what that little pink area on his shell in the last picture is?

[Brianthedog18]

OK, so I tried to scrub off the white spots with a toothbrush and they won't come off. I'm not quite sure what they are, so I took some close up pics, maybe you guys can help me figure it out.
Here are the spots:

This is just an overall shot of his shell to show where the spots are located:

And this is just an awesome pic I took that I want to set as my avatar, (by the way, how do you resize it to be appropriate for an avatar?


Thanks for all your help guys, I appreciate it!

[JessicaTS]

It looks alot like shell rot. You can use silver sulfadine, or novassin from your vet. I hear many people use betamine but you need to becareful. An overdose of betamine will get too much iodine in the blood stream and cause many organ problems such as liver and kidney failure.
You can resize the picture at your online photo shop where you dl all your pics. Sometimes it doesn't get small enough and your avatar turns out huge

[Brianthedog18]

Can I get it from a pet store? And what is it, do I just feed it to him or is it something I rub on the shell? Thanks for your quick response!

[JessicaTS]

the silver sulfadine is a creme. I'm not sure if you can get it in a pet store, like sulfa dips. It will take several months to completely heal the shell rot and the aftermath, which most likely, it will soften then harden again.
Make sure during the treatment, that your turtle gets lots of direct sunlight, but not enough to become dehydrated, and soak him in salted water for a few minutes daily(using aquarium salt)
Betamine usually kills the pathogens but slows the healing process and regrowth of the cells.
Chlorahexidine is a non-prescription medication, you may be able to find those. It is also called Novasan and it heals up the rot quicker

One more thing, the Chlorahexidine is from name brand called Chlorhexiderm. It's a solution, blue, must be diluted into the tank = 1 ounce per 1 gallon of water.

[Brianthedog18]

Ok thank you for your info, just curious, what could have caused this in the first place?
Also, how do I make that pic my avatar? Thanks!!

[JessicaTS]

It may have been caused by fungus or bacteria, or direct injury in the shell that not been noted quick enough and the infection began. It can also be that he is not drying off his shell as much. The spots on his plastron... is your basking dock completely dry? The dock cannot be submerged in water or damp, the turtles need to dry off their carapace and their plastron.
Do you plan on visiting a vet for your turt? It would be best to and she/he can give the right medications.
You cannot resize your pics on the forum, but you can resize it in the photoshop you downloaded the pic to onto your computer