General Care Discussion :: is this shell rot?

[turtleboi1]

they arent cottoney and they dont have an odour. they also arent soft or anything. they have been there since i got harold (almost a year ago) and havent grown. is this a problem??

[SpotsMama]

Are you talking about the white stripes down Harold's back? They don't look like shell rot. Has Harold shed his scutes since you've had him?

[turtleboi1]

yes he has shed (the spot in the lower corner of his shell is shedding in the pic)

[SpotsMama]

When he shed the scutes with the white stripe, did the white stripe look the same after the shed?

[turtleboi1]

I think so.. Oh and I've noticed that they are brighter after he basks

[steve]

He looks like he's growing a bit fast... have you kept track of his size and diet?

[turtleboi1]

see now it all makes sense, before i was only feeding him krill. then thi site warned me about pyramidding. now he is on a diet of pellets and im trying to get him to eat carrots.

[SpotsMama]

Little hatchlings frequently have pale stripes down their backbone that look kind of like your turtle's but he's old enough now I'd think he would have outgrown them, but maybe his baby stripes are just lingering a bit longer.

Another possibility is that the white is caused by injuries to his shell, that he's scraping it on something. Where it looks white would be where the shell is "tallest". Is there anything in his tank that he could be scraping against as he goes under it that's rough and could be causing some injuries?

I think steve is correct - looks like he was getting too rich a diet. It's good that you're correcting it now. Instead of frequent carrots, try putting red leaf lettuce or green leaf lettuce in the tank every day. He may not eat it right away but eventually he will. Carrots are really good too but they contain quite a bit of sugar and should be reserved for maybe a couple of times a week as a treat.

If the white stripes aren't growing and you can't find anything in the tank that he's scraping against, then I'd just monitor it for awhile and eventually it will probably go away.

[turtleboi1]

thanks alot i was relly worried. ill start feeding him lettuce more. and ill monitor anything he could be scraping against. thanks again