General Care Discussion

I recently purchased two baby RES (illegally I found out) from a shop that was keeping them in terrible conditions. Not wanting to leave the babies to die, I brought both home with me on an 8 hour drive. I already had a tank and filter from before so I put them in that and immediately gave them dechlorinated water, UVA and UVB bulbs, a basking spot, etc. only one of the turtles is mine and the other is staying until my friend is able to purchase the equipment for her turtle. I've only had them for 6 days but I've noticed brown spots appearing on the back of their shells. And a tiny black spot on the shell of mine. I've read that fungus and shell rot is usually white or pitted and these spots are just flat and brown. They're very small so i haven't taken them out to try to scrub the areas or coat them in iodine yet (don't want to jump to conclusions if this is actually normal). I've included the Urgent Care questionnaire as well just to help.
How big is your turtle? About 2"
How long have you had it? 6 days

What is the water temperature? 78-79 F
Did you use a thermometer? Not currently. Still searching for the one I previously had
Are you using a water heater? Yes
How much water is in there? 3/4 of a 10g tank
Are you using a water conditioner? Yes
Are you using any filtration? Yes, fluval brand for a 10g tank, I believe

What is the basking temperature? Not sure yet but definitely hotter than the water
Is there a basking light? Yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? Yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? The acrylic ramp with green texture
Is there a UVB light? Yes

What have you been trying to feed it? Krill and ReptoMin sticks/pellets
When was the last time your turtle ate? 10 min ago

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 10g
Is the tank near a window? No
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? No

Have you read the Basic Care section? Yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? Yes

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? No

I had pictures but haven't converted them to a URL form yet so I will be posting those soon. Any thoughts before that? :mrgreen:

It's hard to tell what those darker spots are, could be a type of algae/diatoms.

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w42 ... TURTLE.png
here's a picture

The area doesn't have an odor and it's not soft either.

That doesn't look very good - I'd review their diet, UVB and basking habits.

Any ideas of what it could be? I just purchased the UVB light so it's good. The Reptisun 5.0 type. I also have a new basking lamp about 10 inches away from the basking dock. This is also new. And I only recently got them to start eating, maybe 2 days ago. I was wrong about the brand of pellets, I have ZooMed. I also have been putting some aquarium salt in the water hoping that it would help and I use a biological aquarium suppliment. And water changes every 2 days in addition to the filter which cleans up to 20 gallons. I'm just assuming that any problems were caused by their terrible conditions previously. I'm hoping to give the one turtle to my friend once I find out/cure what's wrong with them. And I'll upgrade to a 30g+ tank this summer.

I've never dealt with it, so I can't be certain what it is though it usually appears on hatchlings than adults. Since the shell is softer and fragile, is it more susceptible to disease and infection. Usually a good diet, UVB and basking helps a lot (some sunlight would be great).

I'll take them outside once it warms up a little more and wait a little longer to see if it gets better.
Also, I tried one of the suggestions in other posts of cleaning the shell and attempting to scrape off the brown stuff with a credit card but I was too afraid of chipping their shells so I didn't press hard and nothing came off. Again, I'll keep their conditions as good as I can and hope for improvement in the meantime.
Thanks for your help!

Try a toothbrush. Less chance of doing damage with a toothbrush.

-Michael

General Care Discussion :: Shell rot, fungal infection, or actually normal???

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