Hi Turtle Talk Community,
First post here, so please let me know if there's anything I can add to improve. My 16-year-old female RES seems to be sick and I've had her since I was a child. Sorry my first post isn't the most cheerful, but please let me know if there's any advice you can pass on! Very urgently looking for advice.
1) Pink Coloration
Attached (9x) photos: https://imgur.com/a/W8cocdL
During my last water change, I noticed that has developed pink coloration on the bottom of her shell and also in some covered areas of her skin.
She has been fed Muzuri aquatic turtle pellets for the past 2 years which are brown in color so I don't think its the food.
The top of her shell and limbs are still normal color
Not sure if this has anything to do with it but she is starting to shed shutes but I figured that was normal going into the colder seasons (I'm in CA so our winters arnt terribly cold though)
Could this possibly be blood poisoning (septicemia)?
2) Dark Spot
There seems to be a black spot on the underside of my turtle. It is rather hard when I tried picking it out with a flexible plastic toothpick. It seems to have been there for a while and I only noticed this issue because one of my RES bottom shell scutes came off with a perfect cutout (see photos) of the spot. Before I thought it was part of her shell.
Is this spot life-threatening? Should I attempt to remove this or will it cause more damage than good? Should I just leave it be?
Attache (3x) photos https://imgur.com/a/m7shjnJ
Thanks in advance everyone
- J