General Care Discussion :: Question about hatchlings "belly button"

[Bumby's Mom]

I noticed that Gimli's belly where the yolk sac was attached doesn't look like it is healing properly. He barely even had a yolk sac when he hatched so I am finding it odd that the spot looks way bigger and different from Marvolo's when Marvolo actually had a yolk sac. I took some pictures it might be a bit hard to see, but when Gimli is swimming the white stuff hangs down and moves in the water:
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id ... 470&size=m
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id ... 050&size=m
Then here is Marvolo's belly for comparison:
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id ... 578&size=m

And I have to share these extremely cute picture of the two:
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id ... 068&size=m
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id ... 644&size=m

[marisa]

The area where the eggs sacs were on the bigger of my eastern painted hatchlings (some were more robust when they came out of the nest than others) healed up much more quickly than the smaller/frailer ones. One of them was an obvious preemie (extremely small with parts of the shell and plastron not fully formed yet) and the area took what seemed at the time to be forever to totally close.

[Bumby's Mom]

Maybe that is the problem then. Gimli is smaller than Marvolo even though he eats more than Marvolo (the little pig lol). I will keep an eye on it.

[marisa]

Keep that water clean as well to prevent the possibility of bacteria entering if it's still open.

[Bumby's Mom]

Should I put one of those turtle blocks in there? I am going to get a filter today so that should help it out. Should I try putting a bit of antibacterial ointment on it?

[confrontinglife]

those blocks are garbage

[Vivi]

yea and they will probably try to eat it. why dont you just buy some cuttle bone. its cheaper and is better for them. IMO i dont think you should mess with it because you can make it worst. just make sure the water is clean and the lil guy should be good as new.

[Bumby's Mom]

How is cuttlebone supposed to kill bacteria? I was talking about those reptoguard blocks that are shaped like a turtle, they are health conditioners. I will just save it for later I guess.

[Vivi]

yea they suppose to do that but the turtles will probably try to eat it and make a mess. and besides why should you put a health conditioner if you are taking good care of you lil guy. i didnt mean that cuttle bone is going to kill bacteria its a good source of calcium.

[Bumby's Mom]

Oh. Well I have a piece of cuttlebone in there for them but they won't touch it. I only wanted to put the conditioner to make sure that no bacteria hurt Gimli since his belly still isn't closed. Nyx doesn't like the cuttlebone (the adult turtle) she just shreds it everywhere.

[steve]

No one is saying that cuttlebone kills bacteria. Keep the water clean by doing frequent water changes and get a decent filter.

[untsmurf]

I say just hold off for a bit on the sulfablock. I'm sure after a couple weeks his will heal up. Just make sure and keep checking it for any signs of infection.

And of course I have to add, they are just the cutest little things I've ever seen. When I looked at the last two pics, I actually started baby talking to them through my screen I'm hopeless.

[megcornell]

I think a week with the sulfa block might not be a bad idea in addition to keeeping an extra clean tank. I don't think they'll form resistance to sulfa that quickly. I think the problem is more with people who continually use the turtle blocks and then someday need to use a sulfa dip but to no avail. Although, I really don't know how good the blocks actually work so it may be a waste of money, but I don't think you have to worry about any adverse affects after a short use.

[SpotsMama]

I think Meg has a good point. You want to be sure an infection doesn't get started at the site of the egg sack while it's healing.

[Bumby's Mom]

Thanks everyone. I think the skin is just ready to fall off. Today I noticed Marvolo has some skin hanging too. It looks like when people get a sunburn and then they peel, its that thin. I ended up getting them a filter but Gimli got stuck behind it and I don't want to take a chance of them drowning in there. I am going to look into another filter that was posted on my filter thread.