General Care Discussion :: white spots on shell

[leeduk]

My 5-year-old RES has just developed small white spots on her shell. Some are sprinkled around the back part and some form a line down the center line of the back part of her shell. She dries off and basks in the sun daily.

What is it and what should I do about it?

[steve]

Can you take a picture of the shell while it is dry? White spots are usually mineral deposits (OK) or fungus (major pain). If it looks like something that is spreading around, it's likely fungus. Mineral deposits will more likely make the shell duller.

[leeduk]

Here is the photo. Yesterday when I noticed that there were more white spots than before I looked all over the web and noticed many people advocating diluted Betatine and Silvadine. Since I was in the midst of installing a new filter and had to remove her from her usual place, I took the opportunity to put both of those on her shell (since I already had both) and left her in a bathtub with only enough water for drinking overnight.
Today when I went to take her pictures I noticed that the white spots (to the right of the stripe) weren't quite so white and the middle of the long white stripe had returned to its normal color.

So does that mean that remedy worked? Should I do the same thing tonight?

http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss23 ... espots.jpg

[Kemul]

Suspicion of fungus then. Yes, keep applying betadine and silvadine until the spots
are gone. Fungus is hard to deal with, but easier when treated early.

[theartbook35]

The two white spots in that photo are right along the top of the spine, and are pretty aligned with each other. Maybe your turtle was rubbing it's spine on something, they tend to do that when they need to shed. Could you post pictures of other area on the shell, please?

[marisa]

From the pic it looks like the shell was scraped on something.

[steve]

It looks more like exposed bone than fungus. Does the area feel rough?

[Sniffa]

1 of my turtles had something like this, Not that bad though.
I thought it was a result of pryamiding. Like the spine was growing faster then the shell. because i used to over feed my turtles before i found this site.
But the lines eventually went away and its shell looks normal now.

Edit- i just found out what pryamiding was. its not what i thought it was.

[Turtle Girl]

I have a two year old Slider, she doesn't bask in the light. So now we have to dry dock her - originally I used turtle dip sulphur, but her shell dried out... took her to the vet [to confirm the dryness]. The Vet gave her medicine to coat and moisturize her shell - this application is for two days a week for 15 mins each time.

You may not have bateria spots, the shell may shows signs of dryness. Suggestion- take your turtle to the vet for a check up.

Turtle Girl

[leeduk]

I've been waiting a few days to respond again to see if my regime was working.

After a few nights (only -- not daytime) of being "drydocked" with the meds on her shell, I can see changes. The white spots are gone. However, now what I see is what looks like the top layer of the shell (the layer with color) appears to have been eaten away by whatever the white was. (See below.)

Does this mean I can stop the med regime? If not, when?

Or should I take Turtle Girl's advice and see a vet for the medicine that coats and moisturizes the shell?

*****
To those who think the shell had been rubbed off: The reason I didn't treat this earlier is I thought that that was what happened when she jumped out of her tub the wrong way (she has a ramp) and landed on her back. But I realized that it wasn't the case when I saw the nearby white dots.

Shedding suggestion: That back part was the only part that was white. It has nothing to do with shedding as she has shedded before (not yet this year) and there was no white then.

It's not exposed bone as it was superficial and the newer dots were to the side, where there's no bone.

Here's her shell as of today. Note what was opaque white is now gray and looking like one level down.

http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss23/leeduk/day4.jpg

[steve]

Hi Turtle Girl, what was the medication? Moisturizers for RES have not come up in discussion, so I don't know what it could be. Was it a medicated ointment? They sell "Vitashell" in pet stores, but that is generally considered a bad product.

If its beneath the scute, it could be be a bone layer. Could be shell rot (especially if htere is an odor) or an infection. If it has a rough texture to it, I would still lean towards bone.

[leeduk]

no odor
smooth texture