General Care Discussion :: spots on shell.. dry shell??- updated-BETTER PIC OF SHELL

[mindy and zach]

if u look closly at the shell u see little brown looking spots theres about 3 kinda looks like dry skin if ur lookin at it in person what is it?

[steve]

It does look like some shell rot or some sort of infection. It could be water quality/temp issues, diet problems, lighting/basking problems or a combination of them.

Can you tell us more about the setup? You should also be trying to locate a herp vet near you at this point.

[mindy and zach]

well we got the turtle from my girlfriends sister who got a couple from someone and she gave us 1 but they were only living inside a small beta fish aquarium thing like maybe halfgalon cuz her sister didnt have a big tank or any uv lights and it probobly wasnt eating good and shes had them for a wile and we just got him yesterday feb 8th and i gave him about 4 reptomin pellets and he ate everysingle one then i put him in my big 30 galon tank with my other res wich is only a little bit bigger then this one and he basked for a wile and swam all over my tank has everything set up perfect i think its because how it wus living before i braught him home wich gave em the spots but it could also be from who ever my g/f's sister got them from also wich wus i think either NYC or some ocean i think she said i dunno but its in a really healthy environment now. will it make my other turtle sick with them both being together?

[industrial_girl_2000]

They really should have been separate for a while before you put them together in your tank just to make sure that turtle didn't have some illness that can infect your other turtle as well. The reason is that turtles are GREAT at masking illness so you don't know they are sick until weeks after you get them. On this website, the Mods recommend isolating a new turtle for 90 days when you first get them before putting him in with any other turtles just to make sure.

Is there any way of getting a clearer photo of the turt's shell? Are the spots soft, yellow, or do they have a smell to them? Are they peeling in the spot area only ("pitting")? All baby turts start off with softer shells than the larger turtles, but I am more concerned about the spots being soft.

What's the water temp of your tank? Do you have UVA AND UVB lights in your tank or just UVA? Do you know the brand of the lights? Just trying to get to the bottom of things!

[xsavingsaturdayx]

He has everything he needs for his turtle,he private messaged me when he got his turtle and i made sure he got exactly everything he needed for it.

Here is his link to his setup: http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7350

[marisa]

A clearer picture would be nice, but the shell looks very much like a hatchling I once had, the the dryness, brown areas turned out to be the result of poor living conditions and lack of nutrition before I got him. With improved living conditions and diet, when he finally shed, the shell underneath was fine.

[mindy and zach]

marisa, ya thats exactly wut i thought because he did have poor living conditions untill i braught him home and gave him a good home now hes been basking ALOT and swimming and eating very good

[mindy and zach]

also the link that xsavingsaturdayx posted was my tank set up with my very first turtle and the one with the spots is my 2nd turtle wich i just picked up from someone else 2 days ago so i took him out of a crappy environment and put him in a very good one i think his shell will heal up over time in his new home. oh and one other thing the new turtle and my old one get along great they bask together alot and follow eachother everywhere lol .