General Care Discussion :: Piece of shell broke, do I need to call the vet?

[Bumby's Mom]

Nyx got spooked (by me its my fault for lifting the lid off of the tank when she wasn't paying attention) and she dived off of her dock a bit sideways and just caught the edge of her shell where pieces were already broken off and ended up breaking even more of the edge. It isn't completely off but I don't see how it is connected. Also, just a bit underneath of it I can see some grayish white stuff, now I don't know if this is mold or bone since I seen another topic where they said the bone was gray? It isn't directly underneath of the piece she just broke but it is sort of to the side where another piece was already broken (her shell is completely messed up from whatever attacked her before I got her). She has been to the vet once regarding her shell and the vet thinks she was attacked by another turtle (which makes sense if my assumptions of her previous care are correct) but she didn't give me anything to put on it. The vet she seen was my bird vet though and she said if Nyx needed care in the future or something I would need for her to see the vets partner who is a herp vet and knows more about turtles then she does. Should I set up an appointment for Nyx or just wait and see what happens? I should also mention that she is shedding right now, I haven't seen any of the top come off yet but her plastron scutes are coming off so I don't know if that contributed to her breaking a piece but I do know it wouldnt have got caught had there not been pieces already missing. Thanks in advance.

[Bumby's Mom]

I hope I explained this clear enough. If necessary I can take some pics of the area I am talking about but I don't know how clear they will be, they get grainy and blurry when I zoom.

[Tenodera]

I would definetly call a vet.

Is a whole chunk missing or the top layer on the shell scraped off? Could it be a scute? Scutes are very bendy and thin, kinda like plastic.

[Bumby's Mom]

No it isn't just the scute. This particular piece was thin to begin with because it was chipped. It is the little squares that are below the scute, here is a pic of her wounds that I have taken when i first got her:


and I just realized that it shows the wounds really good in a pic I took the other day with Gimli sitting on her (I only put him there for a photo shoot):



it is one of the little "notches" of the shell that stick out.

[Tenodera]

AWW! LOL Baby sittin on Mommy!!

hmmm I'm not expert on shells but I don't think it's life-threatening. But you should, for sure, take him to the vet for some antibiotics. (If he needs any)

Also, is getting a lot of calcium in his diet? His shell seems brittle to have broken pieces like that.

[Bumby's Mom]

I have cuttlebone in there (and the babies tank) but none will eat it. Nyxie gets Reptomin and some other pellets for a variety. I have only had Nyx since May so I don't know how long she was out in the wild for (definitely couldn't have been too long she is way too friendly) or how she was taken care of previously. Maybe I will try hand feeding her some of the cuttlebone. She seems to take things easier if I hand feed them to her.

[SpotsMama]

I think a trip to the vet (to be seen by the herp vet) would be a good idea because you don't want any infection to get started. If the break has gone beyond the very surface of the shell then there's probably exposed tissue or bone that needs to be treated.

By the way, your turtles are just gorgeous. That photo is wonderful.

[tissigirl]

You can also dust her veggies in calcium dust, which you can make by just crunching up the cuttlebone. My turtle won't touch cuttlebone either, so that's what i have to do.

And that pic of momma and baby is awesome! I think it should be submitted for pic of the month

[marisa]

I'd probably have her seen by a herp vet just as a precaution. Another turtle did that to her?

[industrial_girl_2000]

Oh my gosh, that picture of the 2 of them is so cute!!!!

[Bumby's Mom]

I don't know exactly what happened. When I took her to the vet a few months ago the vet said it looked like another turtle or a dog got ahold of her, but I have had other people tell me it looks like turtle bites. I found her in the middle of a busy road on a college campus the week when everyone was moving out of the dorms and apartments to go home for summer. Nyx has been friendly since the day I got her so I am making an assumption that she belonged to a college student who bought 2 turtles (all the pet stores sell painted turtles) and kept them in a tiny tank together which is how Nyxie got attacked and then once it was time to leave the person dumped them. Again, that is my assumption based on the way Nyx acts. She is just way too friendly to have been wild her whole life. She follows me around the house and I can hand feed her. I will call the vets and see when I can get an appointment. The herp vet isn't in everyday so it will probably have to wait until the weekend. I will call tomorrow and ask them what I should do. Thanks everyone.
P.S.- The broken piece is still attached. Is it possible for a wound to heal itself if it never falled off?

[Bumby's Mom]

Thanks for the comments on the picture I love it! I want to get both babies on her shell but I don't know how well it will work. Where is the photo contest?