General Care Discussion :: Please advise...

[puiyanpuiyan]

Does this look like Shell Rot? His bottom and side shell didn't look like this before...
Please take a look at his chin...there's some mysterious reddish mark on his chin...should I be concern?
Thanks!

[steve]

Not sure about the chin, could he have rubbed it against something?

The shell looks ok, was there something specific you wanted to point out?

[puiyanpuiyan]

He's been jumping up the water trying to climb out of the tank lately, some new bad habits he has developed and probably hurt his chin...the reddish mark appears out of nowhere and then it would disappear after a couple days, on different loctation...sigh.

I'm not sure if the longest line going from head to toe is suppose to have that little gap....does it look abnormal at all? And then there are these little black marks on the bottom side of his shell (2nd picture)...I was hoping it's not shell rot....he does bask for a couple hours a day.

[steve]

From the pictures, things look OK. The seam looks OK too, it should be consistent with his other seams. The black marks... the little grey specs? How old is he now?

[puiyanpuiyan]

oh thank you, I was hoping he's not sick. Yeah, he has quite a few those little grey/black specs under his shell where his hands and arms are...he's 16 now, will be 17 in May. Is it just a sign of aging? I don't brush his shell with a toothbrush that often, he hates it...should I be doing it more often?

[steve]

It could be signs of melanism, with is normal with males. My male became melanistic pretty early and quickly.

[puiyanpuiyan]

That's so interesting, his shell is pretty dark but I wouldn't have thought his bottom side would also get dark as well.
Thanks so much, I was worried sick that he's not well. Really appreciate it!