Urgent Care :: Fungal Infection - blulite

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Post Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 12:45 pm   Fungal Infection - blulite

edit - I made this into a new topic

can someone help me with my turtle i think he has shell rot. he as like this when i purchased him 4 weeks ago

Image

Image

can someone please advise.

i have got some clotrimazole cream and tablets. i disolved a clotrimazole 500mg in the water during the last water change and i have been rubbing clotrimazole cream into his shell once every 2 days. it seems to be clearing a little but i am still concearned. there is no smell coming from the shell.

i keep the water at 26c and the basking area is 30c.

he is fed on dried shrimp, frozen gammouris, frozen turtle food, meal worms, dandelon, various fruits and veg once a week. i also have some live plants in the tank that he sometime snacks on. also he does eat the fish food that i give for the guppies.

he has both uvb and a heat lamp.

filteration of his tank is done by an interpet ipf duo 2 and a fluval 2. plus 25% water changes each week and random poop scoopings when i see fit.

any help and advice will be great.

if you need better pics please let me know.
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Post Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 2:29 pm   

It would have been better to start a new thread...

That said, the pics are somewhat out of focus (clearer ones would be good), but the white areas look like a fungus rather than shell rot. The shell itself is not soft in those areas?

The clotrimazole is from a herp vet? If not, I'd be cautious with it. I once tried a similar antifungal cream on a turtle and it made the situation worse.

I'm not familiar with the first filter, the Fluval is an internal filter or a canister? How big is the tank? How many gallons of water do you have in it? How often is the tank cleaned?

What kind of UVB light does your turtle have? How old is it? How much does he bask?
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Post Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 4:49 pm   

the shell is soft in those areas. it is not soft as in spongey but it is possile to push it in slightly.

the clotrimazole is not from a herp vet but it sems to be clearing up although not very well.

the interpet ipf duo 2 is rated at 450l/h and is acompanied by the fluval hich is an internal filter. the tank is 24 x 12 x 18 (l x w x h) and according to this site http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/tanks-uk.htm it is a 16gal or 19gal US. though i do have this one to put him in when my filter arrives and i get it set up. this one is 5ft long 20 inches wide and 2ft high.

Image

the tank is just over half full so there is around 8 - 10 gal of water in there. the tank is cleaned every 4 - 7 days with a gravel cleaner although there is no gravel in the tank. also i use a manetic cleaner for the sides. i change approx 25 - 30% of the water each time i clean the tank.

the uvb light is one of the small clip on type. as that is all i could afford at time of purchase. the light is approx 2 months old. as for basking he only basks for around 3-4 hours a day. i thought this may be due to his shell being poorly.

here are some better pics.

Image

Image

Image

Image
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Post Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:23 pm   

Well,it doesn't look like shedding.I don't know if it's shell rot,but you do need to clean their shell,and keep it clean so it won't happen again.If it does start again it may be the diet and/or lighting.If continues see a turtle vet.
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 5:47 am   

do you guys think i should keep him out of the water as much as possible untill i see if it clears up any more. it was suggested some here in the forum that they should be kept out of water and only put in there when its feeding time. do you think this will help. if this is a case of fungus does any one have any tips on healing it. have any of you had experience with the same problem.

oh and what should i clean the shell with. a toothbrush and what other items.
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 6:30 am   

hi guys im back again having found this on another website. do you think i should try this and see what happens in a week.

fungal infections

Remedial Measures
1. Gently scrub the fungal patch (you can use an old soft toothbrush) removing as much of the
growth as possible.

2. Swab well, the entire infected area with a diluted (5-10%) Betadyne (or any other Iodine tincture)
solution. Keep a cotton swab dipped in the diluted solution on the infected spot for 10-15
minutes. Wipe/gently scrub the entire shell with this diluted solution.

3. Pat shell dry, apply a topical antibiotic cream.

4. Keep turtle in a 'warm-box' (maintain a temperature of 26-29oC or 80-85oF) that has no water
under a basking light for most part of the day, except for two 1-hr warm water soaks, during
which it can also be fed. Make sure you add multi-vitamin supplements to the food.

5. After soak let is swim for 30 minutes in warm water that has 2% Betadyne (or any other Iodine
tincture)

6. After swim repeat Step 3 & 4.

For established infections you can also administer (under vet supervision) the antibiotics
cephalosporins and amoxicillin orally.
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 10:45 am   

Yeah,you could just use a old toothprush and scrub it gently under warm,running water.
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 11:16 am   

today i have dry docked him and gave his shell a right good scrubbing with salt water. during this time i scraped away any crap from the infected area with my finger nail. there was a lot of flakey shell that was removed by scrubbing and scraping. do you guys think i should repeat this a couple of times a day and see what happens. also do you think i should continue applying the clotrimzole cream. the cream is described on the box as:

clotrimazole cream 1%...... treats fungal (and other microbial) infections

Active ingredient: clotrimazole 1% w/w. Also Contains: Sorbitan stearate, polysorbate 60, cetyl esters wax, stearyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, 2-octyldodecanol, benzyl alcohol, water.

this is the exact product.

http://www.chemist.net/PD/Pharmacy/Medi ... Care-.aspx

and another article for the product:

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100005053.html

i was thinking scrub and scrape twice a day with salt water and after each clean apply the cream. as for him swimming i plan to let him swim also twice a day for maybe 1/2 to 1 hour. also these will be feeding times. and in fresh clean water. with a rinse of salt water and a scrub when he is done swimming. what do you guys think. should i use the cream along with the salt baths. or just use salt baths. i also plan on buying some betadine mid week and some hydrogen peroxide. any views on my plans would be very much appreciated.
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 1:28 pm   

blulite - I made this into a new topic. I can't comment on your treatment plan, though I wouldn't recommend what you are doing. And do not use an old toothbrush, get a new one.

The infection looks like a classic fungus case. First, it is contagious to other turtles. Next, poor habitat conditions, especially basking issues, can exacerbate the problem and should be corrected prior to treatment.

A highly effective treatment would be silver sulfadine (Silvadene) cream. Search the forum for SSD and you'll see several cases.
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 1:33 pm   

Well,I wouldn't do it a few times a day,but maybe once a day.
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 2:01 pm   

steve wrote:blulite - I made this into a new topic. I can't comment on your treatment plan, though I wouldn't recommend what you are doing. And do not use an old toothbrush, get a new one.

The infection looks like a classic fungus case. First, it is contagious to other turtles. Next, poor habitat conditions, especially basking issues, can exacerbate the problem and should be corrected prior to treatment.

A highly effective treatment would be silver sulfadine (Silvadene) cream. Search the forum for SSD and you'll see several cases.



STEVE i havnt yet started a treatment plan other than giving the turtle a dry dock and a good scrub with a new toothbrush, did i actually say old??? not sure. anywho the treatment plan was an idea only, it has not been put into practice as i dont yet have enough information or replys to start.

also water conditions are ok. as i stated in the first post the turtle was in this condition when he was purchased 4 weeks ago.

thanks for putting together this thread :)

basking has been a problem since we bought him. i think he dont bask much due to him being crammed in a 20 gal tank inthe store with like 6 other turt's and them not having sufficient basking space. he was the largest and most handled turt in the store thats why we purchased him. not knowing anything about turt's i diddnt think much of the discoloration of his shell untill i started googling.. but now we are in the process of trying to reverse the damage done before it gets too late.
can silver sulfadine (Silvadene) cream be purchased over the counter?

you know in a way i am glad the turt we purchased has a problem as it will be a great learning curve and crate greater interest. but obviousley we hate the fact our new family member is poorly.
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 2:37 pm   

Fungus thrives in water, so unless your turtle can do some serious basking, I would not start treatment. Silvadene a prescription drug, but fairly inexpensive. Fungus under control is not too bad, though it can lead to other infections if it gets severe. Betadine or chlorhexidine did not work for me, but I think adding a bit of aquarium salt might be helpful. There is also a turtle sulfa dip from Zoo Med, you can give it a try but I would not expect dramatic results.
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 2:45 pm   

ok i will keep that in mind. along with everything else. lol. i have the turt drydocked now so he has been forced to bask. i put him in a small spare tank with his heat lamp and uvb. i plan on keeping him out of water unless it is feeding time. do you have any suggestions of an ointment i can use untill i get the ones i need. should i keep using the clotrimazole cream and/or saltwater baths.
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 3:54 pm   

Dry docking and "forced basking" are not the same. No turtle should be placed under a basking light without means to move to a cooler area.
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 4:38 pm   

oh ok i will post some pics shortly of what we have him in at the moment. but basically it is a small hexaganal tank with a small heat lamp in and a uvb. which are both over one side of the tank. so there is a cooler spot on the other side. although im not sure if there will be much difference in temperature.

i do have a bigger hexagon tank. or maybe. should i put him in the new tank and leave his lights in one end? would that be better. the new tank is 5ft long and 2ft square. the one we have him in at the moment is 14inches tall and about 10 inches across. the larger hexagon tank is about 2ft tall and about 18inches across.
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