General Care Discussion :: Nuchal scute and watery eyes

[Melvira_Fox]

We're planning on taking Korma to the vet this week, but I was wondering if anyone else has had these issues.

Korma was a wound on the top of her head. Right now it just has a scabby appearance when she dries off and it doesn't seem to be changing. I think it's from her nuchal scute which appears to be elongated (I'm not positive if this is the cause, but it's my guess). Korma is going through some serious shedding right now because her previous owner didn't have the proper lighting for her. She's been basking a lot lately, but it looks like she's about to shed almost three layers of scutes.

Anyone else have (or have seen) turtles with elongated nuchal scutes with wounds on the tops of their heads?

Also, when she basks one of her eyes waters (I've only noticed one doing it). Could it be that her eyes are drying out because of the light? They don't appear red or swollen.

We're going to do a partial (if not complete) water change later today because she has that wound on her head and her eye is watery. Just it case it's the water.

Would anyone suggest turtle eye drops or should we just keep the water extra clean and let her do her basking thing?

[steve]

I've seen a few elongated nuchal scutes. If it poses a serious problem, the vet might be debriding or trimming the scute. Might not be necessary due to the shedding.

Not sure about the eye, it's probably nothing if there is no color change or any swelling. You can always use the eye drops as a preventative measure, but I don't know anyone who does that.

[Melvira_Fox]

Both Korma and Sid went to the vet today.

They believe that Sid has laid all of her eggs (see my "Turtle and my mom" post) so she's perfectly healthy. They said that it did appear that she had been overfed and that her retained scutes should shed with her improved diet.

Korma is perfectly fine too. They thought that maybe her eyes were watery because she's been basking a lot lately. They believe that since she's never had an appropriate basking area that she's just making up for it (and probably enjoying it a lot). She was rubbing her eyes a lot last night and I was worried, but I guess it was just because they're dry. They also went ahead and removed all the scutes she was about to shed. She still has a lot of marginals that need to come off.

My husband took them both in and I guess the vet's attitude was like, "I don't know why you're bringing in two completely healthy turtles." :S Oh well, now I can stop worrying.

If anyone lives in KS and is interested in taking their turts to the KSU Vet Med hospital- I recommend it (any animal in fact). Our cat had dental surgery there and the experience was very positive. The office call fee for the turts was about $40 each, but nothing else had to be done so I thought it was pretty affordable.

[marisa]

An elongated nuchal scute would cause a wound on the top of the head if the turtle were ccnstantly rubbing or hitting against it. I find it curious that over time the nuchal scute on my male RES (he's going into his 9th year) has become significantly smaller in size and is now pretty much dwarfed by the marginals abutting it.

The tearing of the eyes is indeed from the heat while basking. My RES doesn't do it noticeably, but my Eastern painteds will when they're basking in the sun outside. They will eventually look for a cooler place to be.

[untsmurf]

glad that your guys are doing so well. It sounds like you have a wonderful vet!

[Melvira_Fox]

Thanks everyone!