General Care Discussion :: Reversing years of poor care?

[Sassamo]

After a long search I found my turtle on freecycle(it's illegal to sell them here grrr). I have had her for 3 weeks. In that time I have totally changed her diet from 5 shrimp and "lot's" of pellets daily, too the turtle jello shots(every other day), fresh romaine lettuce(daily) and pellets once a week.
I noticed when I got her her shell is not even, it's lumpy and not symetrical. When I had her out 2days ago too add sand to the tank I noticed her sides where uneven. One side is a good inch longer bettween her legs then the other side. Anyone have any suggestions on how too fix this problem, I know it was likely caused by poor diet and probley small enclosure(she was in a 40long for the summer from the people I got her from, they got her off freecycle this spring, I was too late too get her then).
Here's a pic of her belly, you can see the one section of her shell is 2x bigger then the other side is.

[Bumby's Mom]

I am pretty positive there is nothing you can do. Shell deformities from being overfed are irreversible.

[untsmurf]

I think that might be a birth defect. I've never seen this sort of deformity caused by improper care. I might be wrong though.

[LeslieMW]

hmm..does kinda look like a birth defect thing. my yellow belly slider cosmo's plastron is a little weird looking, and it was definitley just a birth thing. he has like extra scutes on the bottom.

it doesn't look like anything you can reverse, just keep up proper care and she'll be fine!

[JimmyJam]

Yes, untsmurf and LeslieMW are correct. An improper diet or setup won't cause such a dramatic shell distortion. I can say for sure it was due to genetics, you know, a couple of missing pieces of DNA does heavy damage. But don't be alarmed, he looks quite well, and will continue to do well the rest of his life with the proper home and diet you have provided for him.

[megcornell]

How does the top of her shell look? Pyramiding can decrease over time with sheds and proper diet and conditions, but the actual shape of the scutes will not change.
It is a weird looking shell shape. It almost looks like she's crooked.

[PcBuilder14]

As long as she's acting normal and happy, I wouldn't be worried about it.

[Sassamo]

She does look crooked, atleast a birth defect make sence. I know animals bred for petshops are so inbred and overbred that health issues are so common.

Here's a few top pics:
Lumpy shell

not very round

Close up

[JimmyJam]

That is one fairly large bump on her shell. if you have the money you may want to take her to a vet and just have a checkup, but as for the crookedness the vet will tell you the same as we have said.

[mzkitty23]

besides the deformities, it's totally possible to turn around the bad care. of course, there's a chance some things are irreversable, but I know with my Krueger, he had REALLY bad care before me and I've had him about 7 months and he looks like a completely different turtle and acts it too. I'm glad your turning your turt's care around, that's great and despite the lumps and all, she's still cute!

[fultonh]

I agree with everyone and think that its a shell deformity.

I just was curious what is turtle jello shots. I've never heard of this and I am just curious.

Thanks

[PcBuilder14]

They're a turtle food recipe that Zooligist made.

[Sassamo]

I agree with everyone and think that its a shell deformity.

I just was curious what is turtle jello shots. I've never heard of this and I am just curious.

Thanks

Here's the link for the jello shots:
http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17486
I used romaine letuce, carrot, cuttle bone, tuna juice and some pellets.

[fultonh]

thanks!! sorry I didn't realize it was on the forum lol....I need to try making these:)

[chrisinva]

Deformed or unique?? I think he/she is very cute