General Care Discussion :: Stuff on the bottom of my turtles shell

[DocShay]

Its been there for awhile now, I tried scrubbing lightly with an old toothbrush but it didn't come off.

Just some Information that might be useful...

He's about 1 year and 2 months old
He has an out of water basking area (custom built top with ramp to come out of water)
His diet mostly consists of red leaf lettuce, romaine, and other store bought organic greens, and food pellets every 2nd day. Occasionally little amounts of bloodworm's (maybe once or twice a month max).

His basking temp is 34 Celsius (93.2 F) at the coldest spot, to 36 Celsius (96.8 F) at the hottest.

[SpotsMama]

Do you mean the white patches? It's a little hard to see.

Is the top of his shell ok?

What materials have been used for his custom built basking area? I want to know what materials the bottom of his shell comes into contact with.

[DocShay]

It was there before his custom dock, was using a zoo-med dock before.

top of the shell is fine, but if you'd still like to know the material I used is an outdoor fake grass type carpet - Not Astroturf, but its a dark green material. But as said, the white spots were there before hand.

[octpusgirl8]

What are the spots like? Are they smooth or textured? Do you know what it looks like when they are getting ready to shed scutes? Air trapped under loose scutes can look alarming if you don't know what it is. It's really hard to say a lot from the picture. Is it possible for you to take him out and photograph his plastron dry?

[SpotsMama]

When he basks does he dry off completely - top and bottom - or does the bottom of his shell stay damp?

[DocShay]

From what I recall, it didn't feel much different than his shell. But i'll double check that when I go take a picture in a little bit.

No idea what shed scutes look like either.

[DocShay]

He can definitely bask his top and bottom off. The material isn't damp either when I touch the places he basks on.

[marisa]

Too bad the pic is so blurry...

When the plastron is dry, do the whitish areas look like they're lifting from the shell at all?

Shed scutes from the plastron would look like a thin fingernail (but the shape of the scute). Sometimes a faint pattern where a dark blotch was can be seen.

[industrial_girl_2000]

If the white spots are smooth/shiny when dry, then it isn't any problem & is most likely just stains from minerals in the water (or the scutes are getting ready to lift off). Stained scutes aren't harmful to the turtle, they just look bad.

If the white areas are rough, then he might have scraped the bottom of his shell on something & you should remove the item that is scratching him.

[DocShay]

Sorry it took forever to get new pictures, heres pictures of it completly dry.

When I rub my finger over it it feels no different than any other part of his underside.

[FLhaven4strays]

How long has it been like that? And has it been spreading...how quickly? I'd be worried too...

[DocShay]

Been like that for a few months, seems to be spreading - I don't recall there being that much when I first noticed.

[steve]

I'm positive thats the fungus/yeast issue that several of us have encountered. Search the forum and you'll get some pretty detailed topics regarding this.

[eugenetimpog]

does it need a lot of time to kill those fungus?

[marisa]

The shell is hard? Does any of the white look like it will come off in really thin pieces (thinner than a regular scute would be)?