General Care Discussion :: Sunken Scutes & Strange Black Spot On Neck

[Turtle Mummy 101]

Hey all,
I was recently cleaning out Charlotte's tank and at the same time, cleaning her shell. She is only 4 months old and has never shed her scutes but I noticed that some were sunken. What is the cause of this? What can I do to fix it? She swims and basks regularly. Here is her feeding schedule if that helps:

[b]Feeding Schedule:
Monday - Sunday: Every morning gets 4 pellets and a veggie (usually romaine lettuce or the water lettuce from PetsMart).
Monday, Wednesday, Friday: Gets head sized piece of cuttlebone.

Now, my second question. I also noticed she has a tiny black spot on her head - near her ear. Thinking it might be dirt, I tried to take it off but it will not come off. Its not a raised spot but it's definitely not some kind of marking she has. There have been no changes in behaviour - she is healthy and as active as can be

Any advice would be helpful. Thanks Guys

* I've attempted taking pictures of both issues, but I can't seem to get a clear shot. I will continue to try, so I can maybe post a picture

[marisa]

Is that the RES in the avatar?

Pics of the areas you're concerned about would definitely be good...

[Turtle Mummy 101]

Marisa: yes that is Charlotte, but it is an old picture. It was taken about 4 months ago after I got her. She looks the same except for the problems with the shell. She is a bit bigger though and her shell is brown now.

I would love to post pictures and have been trying to take some but They just keep turning out blurry to the point where you cannot see anything. I will keep trying though.

[steve]

Try to take the pic further away. If the image is too large, I'll crop it for you.

[Turtle Mummy 101]

Thank you Steve. I'm getting a new camera over the weekend so hopefully i'll get some decent pictures. She seems to be fine, as in behaviour wise so whatever it is it dosen't seem to be bothering her. Would you suggest I see the vet?

[steve]

Well, it doesn't ever hurt to research for a vet. You don't want to be scrambling during an emergency.

[Turtle Mummy 101]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I couldn't get any decent pictures to put up, so I took Charlotte to my local herp vet. She said that her shell looked fine, but that Charlotte is in need of a good shed. As for the tiny black spot on her neck, she said it was just a little birthmark.

Thanks again everyone for your help!

[Cayte Catastrophe]

Yay! Glad to hear everything is ok!

[jwinters]

Good to know Charlotte is okay.

When taking pictures it might help to use a video camera. It helps when I take pictures of my turtles since they're always moving

[Turtle Mummy 101]

Thanks guys! I'm glad everything is ok too!!

jwinters: Thank you for the tip. I will try that in the future