General Care Discussion :: skin fungus?

[octpusgirl8]

I know turtles can get shell fungus, but what about on their skin? I was looking at Samson basking yesterday, and he had been up there for a while so he was nice and dry. His shell looked gorgeous and clear, but i noticed his skin, especially on his head and neck, had a white powdery looking substance on it. It was thicker in some places than others, it seemed most prominent on the area on top of his neck where the skin folds over itself, but it was all over, even around his eyelids. At first i thought maybe it was hard water stains, but wouldn't that be on his shell too? I don't know if Turtley has the same thing going on, he's much more bashful about basking than Samson is. I'll try to get a picture soon, does anybody have any thoughts?

[BullDog]

My thought is also hard water stains. I know Frankie gets white spots over her eyelids when she's basking. My theory is because the water can collect in all the folds of their skin, more minerals are deposited there. So since there's a lot of folds on the neck, there can be more mineral deposits.

Can you see anything when he's in the water? I think you can see fungus both in and out of the water (though I could be wrong). Mineral deposits you would just be able to see out of the water.

A picture will definitely make things more clear.

[octpusgirl8]

No, things look very normal in the water. Hard water stains might make sense, i'm living with my parents for the time being, and they have well water rather than the city water i've been used to. It just seems weird to me that it's not on his shell as well. I'll get a picture up as soon as i can, my camera is useless for now, so i have to use my mom's.

[MoreBloodWine]

Im guessing thats what it is myself because Niko gets the wite stuff especially o nthe shell when he / she is dry but in the water he / she looks perfectly fine cept for a slight brown tinge from some algae.

[ESG4Life]

shedding maybe?

[SpotsMama]

I don't know about a dry, powdery film on the skin being a sign of infection. It may be like has already been suggested nothing more than mineral deposits or a little dry, dead skin. The descriptions I've seen of skin infections have included white or brown patches, sores on the skin, very heavy shedding, slimy feel, unpleasant smell.

I've seen this recommended treatment for skin fungus: mix a tablespoon or two of aquarium salt in a gallon of water, soak the turtle in this solution several times a day for several days. Sounds fairly simple and harmless.

I recall that one person had a turtle with some sort of bacterial skin infection that had to be treated with an antibiotic. The symptom was very heavy, never ending skin shedding.

Austin's Turtle Page has several home remedies listed for various bacterial or fungal skin conditions. Here they are if you aren't already familiar with them.

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/medshell.htm

[steve]

Is he becoming melanastic? My RES recently has gone that way and his skin is grayer and duller, plus there are some other dramatic changes.

[BullDog]

Really Steve? I'd love to see some pictures of that...

[steve]

Nice try, but thats against forum rules