General Care Discussion :: possible shell rot or septicemia [photo]

[caramelissa]

Hi, so I've been browsing back threads on septicemia for a bit now and I haven't found any solid answers to my questions. About half a week ago, I was taking my turtle outside by putting it in a cardboard box and carrying it out when it was fruitlessly trying to climb out and flipped over. I noticed a couple of red spots on the plastron, on the bottom of the picture. I'm not sure what those are... maybe shell rot and a precursor to septicemia? Then when I finally found my camera to take a picture, I looked at the plastron again and it looked kind of light pink to me. I'm not sure though, as I was staring at a bright neon blue pool for awhile.... Honestly, I never really paid attention to my turtle's belly and I took her to a vet 2 1/2 weeks ago and he checked all over her and said she was fine. I wasn't sure if the vet was a herp vet, but he seemed extremely knowledgeable when I was throwing out all these possible diseases my turtle could have and understood me completely. My question is, from what you see in the picture, is there something I should be extremely worried about? I'll also throw this out: I've been taking my turtle out to the kiddie pool in my backyard since the weather has warmed up and the basking spot in the middle is comprised of bricks...
THe picture was taken under sunlight.

[SpotsMama]

How is your turtle behaving? A turtle with septicemia is very sick - that's blood poisoning.

I'm not sure about the little spots. Maybe the shell has been slightly injured. Let's see if someone else on here has more experience with this type of shell situation and can provide some good advice.

[steve]

I think Starchick's painted recently had small, reddish spots. I do recall a situation where someone also had small red spots and had to give their turtle antibiotics. As to what it was, I don't remember any specific name.

[megcornell]

If the basking spot is made of bricks, I wouldn't be surprised if those spots are the result of the bricks being a bit abrasive and some of the material either getting in the scratches, or the spots simply being bruises from the bricks.
So long as the turtle is eating and acting normally I think I'd try switching the basking spot on the outdoor pool and see if that helps.

[marisa]

I agree totally with megcornell. The red areas look like the shell has been rubbed on something in those spots. Bricks, even though they may seem smooth, can really be abrasive and it doesn't take much moving around on the basking area on an abrasive surface to wear a turtle's shell. I once experimented with a terra cotta basking area (even smoother than a brick) and switched when I saw some wear on my RES's plastron (he would move from facing one direction to another).

Change the basking area to something nonabrasive. I recommend corkbark.

[caramelissa]

my turtle is behaving completely normal, especially her appetite. she's still trying to eat everything in sight. there's other things going on too: she's shedding her top scutes but I'm not sure if she's shed parts of her plastron yet, and also, she may lay another clutch in the near future. She's already laid 2, the most recent clutch just last week.

[marisa]

With that appetite, it sounds like she may be gearing up for more eggs. Does she have a nesting area? Her plastron doesn't look like it's ready to shed, although there does appear to be a slight white edge on a few of the scutes. Nice plastron.

[steve]

I totally missed the brick mention in the original post. How often have you been taking her out?

[caramelissa]

I'll definitely be looking for a new basking area. The bricks are supposed to be temporary as they make such a mess in the water. I've been taking her outside everyday for the past 2-3 weeks. She stays out there for about 5 hrs and I try to monitor the water's temp every half hour to hour.

So is there a way to somehow fix those red spots?

[steve]

If the bricks are the problem, then addressing that should help and be the only necessary step. Shell injuries can take particularly long to heal, but it seems minor. I would just keep a very close eye on the plastron.

[caramelissa]

alright, thanks guys for all the great advice! it's such a relief to hear it's not something as serious as I thought it was.

also, to marisa: I made a nesting area, just like in the directions on the main site, but so far she hasn't nested in it yet. Either I don't leave her in there long enough or have really bad timing, she's been nesting in my backyard. I think it's the latter.