General Care Discussion

About 6 months ago, I posted here about my hatchling "Submarine". At that time, I had just invested in a "proper" indoor habitat, and improved her diet. I was hoping to help her growth and overall health, but things have not gotten any better, in fact...her carapace has gotten worse.

I've made many improvements to her habitat, its about 13 gallons...

It has a Fluval U1 filter system (made for 15 gallon tanks), an aerator (under the mountain on the left), a heater which maintains the water at 78F, and a basking area on the right. The basking area is set up with a heat lamp and a UVB light.

Submarine basks probably 8-10 hours a day (we have the lights on during daylight hours), but also loves to swim. She is quite active, and interacts with us quite a but. She is less and less timid as time goes on.

I've been cleaning her tank and replacing the filter ever 2 or 3 months which seems to be working out pretty well. The tank was just cleaned today, which is why the temp is a little warm with the fresh water I put in this morning.

We've been feeding her 5 pellets every other day, and red or green leaf lettuce about once a week. We've also been getting her a feeder fish to hunt once a month (she LOVES it!). She eats very well!

The problem is here carapace, its continued to deteriorate and I don't know why. Maybe you can help me identify things I could do differently to help it improve, or maybe I need to get her some medical help. Please LMK your thoughts. :wink:

Here is a picture of her from 6 months ago.

And these are from this morning.

She's keeping her eye on me :mrgreen:

Hi, it looks like fungus. Many people will encounter it and it's a difficult condition to deal with. The most effective treatment would be silver sulfadiazine cream, though you might need to get it from a vet.

She is just too cute! And that water is crystal-clear...nice tank set-up, I hope it works out for her.

P.S. Great pics!

@ Steve, thanks...I see the creme available online. I live in Japan (but I don't speak Japanese), so online is a better option for me. Should I not buy it online? Also, do I apply it topically, and if so...how often and with what tool/method? (For example, do you just spear it on with your finger once a day?)

@ Miss Tee...thanks

I guess if the source is reliable. They usually have an expiration date, make sure you check it prior to use.

My suggestion for application at night (so they can sleep after application):

1 - Dry dock turtle for about 30-60 minutes. Additional shell cleaning is up to you.
2- Apply a very thin layer of the cream with your finger.
3 - Let your turtle sleep dry docked overnight.
4 - Wipe off any leftover residue. Then you'll need to rinse and might require to gently scrub any remaining residue.
5 - Wipe shell dry and return to tank.

* Please note that the cream is oily and slippery, be extra careful when handling your turtle.

If it is effective, results should be noticeable in 2 or 3 days.

Thanks Steve, I'll give it a shot and report back

Hey, Steve, all of that fungus that is on the shell, it's coming in contact with the water. What would be the easiest way to deal with that? (I'm asking in case I do end up with fungus or bacterial growth on one of my turtles).

Prevention (lots of good basking, shedding). I do plan on trying a UV filter, though I might not help with existing infections.

Well, after attempting to order from several online pharmacies, I've given up. Nobody will ship this stuff without a vet prescription. I'm stuck, if anyone has any extra and would be willing to help, please PM me. Thanks.

steve wrote:Prevention (lots of good basking, shedding). I do plan on trying a UV filter, though I might not help with existing infections.

There is a uv filter on my 300 gallon stock tank. For some reason my diamondbacks were the only ones affected by a fungus this summer. It started with one and it spread to the others. I thought too the uv filter would have stopped it from spreading. Only thing that seem to keep it under control was a complete water change.

Have you checked Amazon? Do you see any other vets that you can ask?

Just wanted to check in and see how Submarine is doing, good I hope. Also like Steve said... lots of basking and shedding are really helpful in preventing fungus growth. I feel that while shedding is important basking is more important as it allows them to dry out nice and good.

Niko basks off and on through out the day, seems to shed well and I havent thankfully had any health isues yet. He does have a couplle "white spots" but thats either hard water deposits or air under the scutes which is common as they begin to shed. In any case, I hope Submarine is doing better.

Best of luck with your little one, I've had Niko for something like two years now, wouldnt have to look at my sig which I can't right now lol.

Edit:

miahallen wrote:Well, after attempting to order from several online pharmacies, I've given up. Nobody will ship this stuff without a vet prescription. I'm stuck, if anyone has any extra and would be willing to help, please PM me. Thanks.

If it helps, look at generics which don't require vet scrips.

What matters are the active ingrediants

Edit 2: It looks like I've owned Niko longer than I thouht... I'm actualy going on three years next month.

@Steve, yes I tried Amazon. And I attempted to order the stuff from two different online shops putting n/a in the "perscription" field. Then adding in notes that it was just for a turtle. Both shops cancelled the order when they found I didn't have a perscription.

MoreBloodWine wrote:Just wanted to check in and see how Submarine is doing, good I hope. Also like Steve said... lots of basking and shedding are really helpful in preventing fungus growth. I feel that while shedding is important basking is more important as it allows them to dry out nice and good.

Niko basks off and on through out the day, seems to shed well and I havent thankfully had any health isues yet. He does have a couplle "white spots" but thats either hard water deposits or air under the scutes which is common as they begin to shed. In any case, I hope Submarine is doing better.

Best of luck with your little one, I've had Niko for something like two years now, wouldnt have to look at my sig which I can't right now lol.

Edit:
miahallen wrote:Well, after attempting to order from several online pharmacies, I've given up. Nobody will ship this stuff without a vet prescription. I'm stuck, if anyone has any extra and would be willing to help, please PM me. Thanks.

If it helps, look at generics which don't require vet scrips.

What matters are the active ingrediants

Edit 2: It looks like I've owned Niko longer than I thouht... I'm actualy going on three years next month.

No Submarine is steadily getting worse....the fungus is spreading pretty fast not and its really affecting his behavior now.

In reference to the prevention....He basks a lot, more than recommended in the reference section. But I've never seen him shed, is there a way to encourage shedding?

Today I cleaned his tank and when I was finished I put him in the water, he remained in his shell and allowed the current to flip him upsidown in the bottom of the tank and just stayed there. I picked him up and put him on his basking rock, and then he jumped off and started swimming around a bit, but his initial behavior scared me . :cry:

If anyone can help me find generics for sale online I'd really appreciate it, I looked quite a bit (and will continue to) but so far I have not had any luck.

Off topic. You went from calling it a "her" to a "him". Nice pictures. Curious how big is the turtle? Hard to tell from pics. (Sorry I notice off topic weird details. lol)

We we cannot form a consensus yet on the sex....still too little. he/she is about 2" long now.

General Care Discussion :: 6 months following the guides...carapace still getting worse

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