General Care Discussion :: White places on shell - fungus, shell rot, mineral deposits?

[kikicool]

I'll have to look into the pink. It is there before the hibicleans, sadly. However, it is only very faint, and could be normal. I'll get a picture. I have two turts, both about 4 inches. They are in what I THINK is a 55 gallon tank--it COULD be larger. (seems more like triple the size of my 20 gallon but... based on dimensions, the forum decided 55 gallons). I know, it's a bit small, but it's all I can afford for the time being (just bought a "fixer upper" that's turning out to be more like a "money pit." Add that to the fact that we are expecting to move into said pit in about three months, and I kinda thought I'd wait to set up the new tank there.) In fact, some of you may remember I found the tank in someone's TRASH! I cleaned it up very well, of course, and made sure there were no leaks before filling it. And in case you're wondering, the white spots were there before this tank. I have an aquaclear 110 filter. I do NOT test for nitrates, but I think I will! Thanks, Spotsmama!

I've had the turts since last summer. Now that you mention it, there WERE shell problems then. I treated them in summer because I was able to have lily on the porch with me and sitting in the sun. It's a bit scarier inside, because of the two dogs and dog hair everywhere. Harder to let them wander.

In addition to getting a nitrate/ammonia test kit, do you recommend I hibicleans more often? Spotsmama, I do the same thing with it, no soaking, just toothbrushing. I let them watch in the mirror. They like to try to bite me or the toothbrush when they can see it moving towards the front (YES. that's RIGHT. They DO seem to have self-recognition in the mirror!)

Starchick, your avatar is TOO funny! I'll try to get pix of the shell. I'm bad about the dang camera.

[SpotsMama]

Sounds like a plan. Just a technical point - there are two chemicals - nitrate and nitrite. Nitrate (with an A) is not good but not really harmful. Nitrite (with an I) on the other hand you really want to completely control as it is harmful.

With a tank as small as 55 gallons (small being a relative term here) and the turtles being as big as they are, I wouldn't be surprised if you weren't getting ammonia and nitrite buildups between water changes. That wll be a lot easier to manage once you're able to get them into a bigger tank. Do you feed them in the tank or out? Feeding them outside the tank should help with water quality.

I haven't showed Spot himself in a mirror. I'll have to try it tonight when I clean the filter!

[kikicool]

Oh I feed them inside the tank, too. It's funny, the bigger the tank, the less work there is to do. I can't WAIT to get a bigger one! If anyone hears of one...

okay so it's nitrite that I'm looking for. WEll, that I'm testing for. Thank you! Will keep you all posted.

[SpotsMama]

It is so true what you said about the big tanks being easier than the little ones. I started with a 10 gallon, then 20 gallon, then 55 gallon and finally 100 gallon. The 100 gallon (with a good filter) is the least trouble by far.

[thebernreuter]

Update:

The white spots are still there, but in the midst of that drama he developed a more serious issue with a swollen eye. I stopped the hibiclense treatment while I treated the eye with eye drops. It's better now, and I'm about to resume hibiclense treatments.

I stopped using Brita water. I just treat my tap water with chlorine drops now. I'm trying to eliminate as many potential causes as possible. Although the Brita water might not have had any adverse impact, it could be the cause if they are in fact mineral deposits.

Also, apparently I was feeding my turtle the adult ZooMed formula instead of the formula for growing turtles. I switched that too in case there was any kind of nutritional deficiency going on.

Lastly, he is now outside for the summer, so perhaps exposure to natural sunlight will have an impact.

Thank you all for all of the feedback so far!

[marisa]

The natural sunlight should do a world of good, and over time should fix up that shell.

If you feed a varied diet, it really doesn't make much difference if you feed regular ZooMed or the ZooMed micro pellets.

[the_orphaned]

A lot of pet shop turts here in the Philippines have that. I'd say that its some kind of shell infection that might eventually lead to shell rot if untreated.

[Andrew7769]

my turt has this same thing and basically it seems to penetrate a few layers of the shell and spread from scute to scute, after a few shedding cycles it will come off but it might be on another scute by then

[marisa]

Andrew7769, just curious, but is it one of your painteds or your RES that has the problem?

[industrial_girl_2000]

Looks like mineral deposits to me. My turtle gets these & then her shell peels & she is nice & brown again. The mineral deposits can come from having the turt in hard water & are not necessarily harmful, just unattractive.

Just make sure you have a good UVB/UVA lamp for your turtle to sit under. UV lamps are really good for shell development.

FYI - eventually the mineral stains will peel off when the shell peels. It takes a while though & you will most likely get more stains before the turtle peels. Once the shell peels, your turtle will look all perfect again!

[SpotsMama]

Kristin, do you think there is a definitive way to distinguish between fungus and mineral deposits? In photos they look similar. Here's what I've been thinking:

1. Fungus tends to start in one or a few small places and gradually spread to cover larger and larger areas. Mineral deposits will cover the whole shell more or less evenly, starting out rather translucent and getting more and more opaque over time until the scute sheds.

2. Once a scute is damaged by fungus, the white won't come off until the scute sheds. Sometimes several layers of scute have to shed if the infection has penetrated deeply. In the case of mineral deposits, however, the deposit will come off if you gently rub it with a vinegar soaked q tip.

3. If you treat fungus correctly with a disinfectant like hibiclense, it will stop growing. Mineral deposits will continue to collect until the scute is shed.

4. You would most likely see fungus where a turtle's shell hasn't been drying out regularly and/or where the water isn't clean enough. Fungus also seems to be associated with retained scutes. You would most likely see mineral deposits where the water is "hard".

In your experience, does that sound fairly accurate?