General Care Discussion :: stress and red skin?

[RESnTX]

I took Buddy to the vet today for his follow up for his infection. He has had this infection on and off for 8 months. At first dr's thought it was a skin issue, so I did the med baths and dry docking. Just recently it came back and I did injections every 3 days for about 3 weeks. Before I took him out of his tank for the 30 minute drive and dr. visit he had some pinkness but it was barely noticeable. When we got there and I took him out of his carrier I swear he had areas on his skin (mostly around his bottom) that were almost bright pink. Has anyone else noticed that when their turtle gets stressed they get red? I know that birds "blush" but I wonder if this is true for turtles as well.

[BullDog]

Was he basking when you took him out? And what was the temperature in the car ride over?

When my turts are basking for a while, their skin gets a pinkish tinge to it. If it was too hot in the car, the same thing could have happened.
That's the first thing that crossed my mind...

[RESnTX]

When I took him out of his tank he had been swimming and was normal looking. If anything he got cold in the car and the waiting area of that place is freezing. I know he was cold because as soon as we were in the room and I took the lid off his box he started to act like he was basking and looking up for his light. Poor guy. hmmm....When I put him in his carrier now he gets very agitated and bangs around alot. I don't know if he got hot with all that moving around. Maybe I am the one stressed?

[SpotsMama]

Turtles don't have the most powerful circulatory systems. When they sit still for awhile blood can pool which looks pinkish under their skin. Once they start moving around again, the pink blush should fade away.

[steve]

Indoor lighting can play tricks on what you see (at lease to me -- I've had pink skin panic attacks before)... how does it look in sunlight?

[RESnTX]

Thanks guys for your help. I have been so upset over this whole thing. I do agree with the dr that he has some pick skin issues still, but I can't figure out why it's pinker sometimes than others. The weather out today is pretty cloudy with rain, so I will try to let him have some outside time later or tomorrow to test Steve's theory. I think SpotsMama has a good point too. Once he got home and swimming around, he wasn't so pink.
The thing that gets me is he doesn't act sick at all. He is so active and eats like crazy. He's currently shedding all of his scutes and even gained weight since his dr visit at the beginning of the month. In October of last year when he first got sick he definately looked like he didn't feel good.
Do you think maybe I should continue the fortaz injections a while longer just to be sure?

[marisa]

How many does he have left? He was prescribed X number of injections over X number of days? If so, I wouldn't stop them just because he doesn't appear sick. I'd use up the whole prescription. (If I had an infection and was given a prescription for 10 days of antibiotics, I'd take them for the full 10 days even if I was feeling better.)

[RESnTX]

I have used them all. The checkup was to decide if we should go longer or not. The injections where every 3 day for 21 days.

[marisa]

What does the vet think?