General Care Discussion :: normal shell?

[kmichael55]

I have seen in the photo gallery quite a few turtles with spaces between their scutes that are dark in color... is this normal? one of my turtles is overcoming shell rot and has considerable spaces still between his scutes but is fine otherwise. my healthy res has no spaces but has almost black lines between each scute. thanks for any help, wish i could post a pic but i don't have a camera

[kmichael55]

here's a pic from the photo gallery of what Fred looked like when the vet said he had shell rot. He no longer has the gray in between, its dark green/black now. http://www.redearslider.com/gallery/200 ... clmt_2.jpg

can't get the link to work, if anyone really feels like it its the 10th from the last one in the March 2006 gallery

[cheech&chong]

my turts have a little gray... the vet didn't mention anything... is somehting wrong?

[industrial_girl_2000]

my turts have a little gray... the vet didn't mention anything... is somehting wrong?

You would have to post a picture in order for us to help you.

[marisa]

The gray seam in the picture in the Photo Gallery looks like your turtle was growing (the line between the scutes looks light grey/tan and it's most visible in the water). Without seeing a picture, the only thing I can think of offhand is that dirt and perhaps a little algae would make the area in between the scutes look really dark, almost a blackish green. Moisten a q-tip and gently rub it over the area. Does anything come off? Does the turtle's shell look healthy otherwise?

[kmichael55]

no nothing comes off, yes the turtles healthy otherwise, thanks for your input...maybe i'm feeding too much if he's growing fast enough that the scutes have space between them??

[roxxi224]

that is totally normal my turtle has that and the vet didn't say anything about it .I wondered about is for awhile.

[industrial_girl_2000]

no nothing comes off, yes the turtles healthy otherwise, thanks for your input...maybe i'm feeding too much if he's growing fast enough that the scutes have space between them??

If he's healthy, he will grow & get spaces between the scutes. Also, keep in mind that their shell color changes as they grow older so you will see the shell change as he/she gets older. The babies are always born with a green color shell, but the adults develop more of a coppery brown shell.

[SpotsMama]

Kstewart55, when the vet said Fred had shell rot, how did you treat it?

[kmichael55]

i can't remember what it was called, a disinfectant like a bactracin sort of thing which i applied with a q-tip and let his shell dry out completely, left him out of water for a few hours, then put him back in the water...he said it was a mild case, but there was the gray "cheesy" substance that i was told to scrape out before applying the disinfectant...he no longer has the stuff in between that needs to be scraped out

[marisa]

Betadine?

[kmichael55]

yeah i think thats it

[the_orphaned]

hi. When you put Betadine on the shell, make sure to let it dry for at least an hour before putting your turt back in the water. So that the solution will have an effect and also so that your water wont taste like Betadine for your turt. =P Also, forced basking might help a bit, put your turt on a container with little water which forces the shell to be dry, shell rot thrives on wet shells and dont do well on dry shells.

Did that therapy for my turtle before because there are no herp vets here in the Philippines, the shell rot went away after a few days. Just put betadine and let the shell dry for at least an hour a day. It might help.

[pumpkinsherbet]

my turtle john looks like his scutes were drawn in with marker. i posted a picture of aeryn with a similar look some time ago. i was told that was just the shell stretching out to grow.