General Care Discussion :: worried about a soft spot...

[KatieSmeltzer]

i had filbert outside today to get some sun while i changed his tank water. i usually wipe down his shell a little bit before i put him in, and i noticed that the marginal scutes near his butt are soft. it also dents in a little. when i pushed (gently!) on the spot, it moved. not the scutes themselves, but the WHOLE shell. i'm putting up some pictures, sorry that they're blurry, but you can see the basic shape of the shell... also, he's retaining scutes like crazy and it's making his shell look really crappy. help please...
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and a video...

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

Do you have a UVB bulb in his tank?
if not go get him one cause it sounds like he has soft shell

[KatieSmeltzer]

i have a uvb... i have a dock... i see him on the dock... he's a normal turt and doesn't seem to like to be on the dock when i'm in the room. but at the same time i'm at work 9 hours a day, so he could be on it then.

is soft shell something that can be remedied on it's own? is there something more that i can be doing for him? (sorry, i'm freaking out a little. feeling like a bad mommy...)

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

Don't worry its not your fault.
Do you feed him allot of calcium? If not thats the problem.
Feet him gut loaded crickets/worms and put a cuttle fish bone in his tank.
I also looked at the picture one more time and i see little white patchs where you are saying its soft which is soft shell.
Feed him allot of calcium. And make sure he basks, you said he won't bask when your around so mabye if you can set up a video recorder before you leave for work and see if he basks.

[Sir Max]

Did you get him recently? did someone else or a pet store have him before you?

maybe they didnt have proper care..maybe he didnt bask enough or eat properly previously..my turtles shell was horrible when i got him..he was free they thought he was garbage..but with proper care his shell is improving quite a bit

hes only a baby your turtle i wouldnt throw crickets in there for him..i doubt he will even eat minnows yet..just make sure the temperature is correct in his basking area and the uvb is at a good distance so he is exposed to enough rays

feed him proper food and maybe get a small piece of cuttlebone..you dont need to stuff his face with calcium he is still a baby he wont drop dead one day because of a soft spot..

shell problems wont cure over night they are a slow process..

no need to freak out your a new owner and you want whats best for your turtle

[coreyvht]

babys shells are soft naturally no worries give it time to harden

[Melvira_Fox]

^^^

Part of being a baby.

If you're giving your turt plenty of proper lighting (the sun is great!) and some cuttlebone, I'm sure he is fine.

I can't really tell in the pictures if he's retaining scutes, but keep up the sunlight. From what I understand it can take awhile before he will shed them.

[KatieSmeltzer]

i've had him a year this past mother's day. i try to put cuttlebone in there, but he usually doesn't seem interested. his shell never seemed soft before.

oh, and sir max... filbert *loves* minnows already. i bought 5 randomly one day and threw them in his tank. they lived happily together until he got hungry. he picked them off one by one. but he knew to pace himself!