Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 10:57 pm
I put a response in your other post. The photos are pretty blurred so it's hard to tell. Some characteristics of fungus are (1) it starts in one place or a couple of places and spreads out, it doesn't generally start all over the shell at once and (2) sometimes (but not always) fungus is slimy or smells bad.
There are several other possibilities. One is shedding, though it's unlikely that such tiny turtles would be shedding. It's also unlikely that they would have retained scutes at such an early age. Another possibility is mineral deposits from hard water. Usually these deposits will appear all over the shell at once. If it's mineral deposits the white stuff may come off if you rub it gently with a q tip dipped in white viniger. Why don't you try that and see what happens.
If you turtle does have some sort of shell infection, it's probably caused by poor lighting, water that isn't clean and/or poor diet. Could any of these be factors?
SpotsMama
