General Care Discussion :: My res white shell

[lizamarie0686]

My 5 year old res is white but has peeled in some spots and underneath is black. Whats wrong with my turtle and what can i do to get rid of this.
Will post picture soon.

[Linus]

Could be turning Melanistic, or could be a fungus. Pics will be needed.

[steve]

RES shells will get darker as they get older, but a pic could help a lot.

[lizamarie0686]

i have tried to upload pictures and the best one i have its too big

[lizamarie0686]

this is what it looks like

[lizamarie0686]

another view.
the other one is better tho, she was dry in that one, this one she is wet

[Tokapeli]

are you saying the areas that are now dark used to be white like the rest? Im not an expert by any means but I would think thats a good sign.

[steve]

The white is fungus. It's mainly an old one... and the darker scutes are normal. Hopefully the fungus doesn't continue onto the new scutes.

[lizamarie0686]

yes the places that are dark used to be white, but when they peeled off the scutes underneath were dark. As of right now the black scutes are not white and its been about 3 weeks since they peeled off. Is there anyway to prevent the fungus? Or even get it off faster or will it just have to peel off by itself? Cause thats all im letting it do now

[steve]

As long as it's coming off by itself, you should leave it. If there is a very loose piece, then you might want to see if you can get it off.

People are saying what germ pellets (koi food) encourages shedding. Before that people said blueberries. UVB and basking help a great deal. If new fungus re-emerges, I might try to treat it before it spreads.

[lizamarie0686]

thanks for the help(:

[lizamarie0686]

Well all of the white scutes have came off and her shes is starting to get her color back (:

[steve]

Good to see it. Keep an eye out for new infections.