General Care Discussion :: White Mouth

[dboucher]

I just inherited a 3 year old turtle that I thought was a box turtle. I think she is a red eared slider. She likes to swim, is shy, eats well, and sun bathes. In the past few weeks she developed a white rim around her mouth. The inside of her mouth looks fine, pink, no sores, no blood. When Chloe is wet, the whiteness doesn't show, but it is very visible once she is dry. Could this be from the water? She seems healthy but I am worried. Any ideas how I should address this? I've attached a picture that I hope you can open.
Thanks
[/Users/Dee Dee/Pictures/Alaska/Originals/2009/Aug 15, 2009/IMG_0991.JPG]

[BullDog]

Check out this page on how to post a picture:
http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1811

[dboucher]

Thanks! Here is the picture of Chloe.
[IMG]http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab17/dianemboucher/IMG_0991.jpg[/IMG]

[Azfar]

Let me help you. Here is the picture...





I never seen case like this..

[worldpeace]

That doesn't look like a red ear slider to me.

[mikee]

d-bo This turtle looks like a land turtle. The front legs and paws are not webbed for swimming. Does he have a hinge on the plastron for with- drawing? The white looks very semetrical and I have not seen that before. Maybe someone will recoginize it on this forum today. Be careful not to drown this turtle. m.

[BullDog]

Definitely not a RES, and I agree with Mike probably a land turtle. I don't recognise it as any type of box turtle, but I'm not that familiar with box turtles.

In addition to the whiteness, his beak looks like it's chipped in several places.

I think your best bet would be to visit a vet, and he'll be able to identify him and help his beak.

[mikee]

Yep! Just make sure it is a herp vet. m

[dboucher]

Chloe does not have a hinge. She seems to resemble an eastern box turtle but she has red markings, certainly on her ears and her shell. Her mouth, when wet looks normal, not chipped. It's only once she dries that it gets white.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Thats a Central American Wood Turtle

[dboucher]

Thank you everyone. Chloe is a central American wood turtle! This will help immensely in caring for her.

[untsmurf]

Because it's located at her mouth, it might be something you're feeding her. What is her diet?

[dboucher]

She gets red leaf lettuce daily, reptile sticks with calcium every other day, and a few crickets during the week. I learned today I can add fruit and other vegetables to her diet so I will start that this week. I also wonder if it could be the difference in tap water.

[worldpeace]

Careful with the fruits, only offer them once a month. Look at the stickies under the Feeding and Nutrition section about what to feed and how often.

[marisa]

Looks like a CA wood to me as well. (Btw, even RES don't have webbed front paws and they're aquatic. The webbing would be on the hind paws.) Woodies are good swimmers, though. (Btw, it looks like a claw is missing on that one paw).

Look here for a basic care sheet: www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-caowood.htm It would be good to do some of your own research and find some others as well.

To me, it looks like the white is slightly "into" the skin, not just on it. If you gently wipe it with a moistened q-tip, does anything come off? The beak looks pretty rough as well. It would be good to have the turtle seen by a herp vet.

Btw, love the name.