General Care Discussion :: White Lines in between scutes

[mavansino]

Hello,

I have an adult RES she is 12 years old and lives in a outdoor pond. I am concerned because she has developed white lines in between the scutes of her shell. It does not appear to be fungus. And her behavior is normal, eating healthy and swimming happily. Does anyone here have any advice on the issue?

Thanks

[papoopeepoo]

Welcome to the forums!

Do you have a picture or pictures to help your description?

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Pics help like papoopeepoo said. You just get her or had her for 12 years? Sounds like growth lines but id need a pic.

[mavansino]

Hello, sorry for the delay, I have not had an opportunity to take pics until now. Here they are, I look forward to hearing what everyone thinks. Could it possibly be mineral deposits caused by hard water?

[JimmyLo]

How often does she bask?
In natural or artificial light?
Is she outdoors all year? If not, where does she stay indoors?
Do you condition the water she swims in?

Take a very, very, VERY fine brush (a baby's toothbrush is what I recommend) and soak it in hot water for a few minutes. Then VERY carefully see if you can rub it out - pick one spot, don't do the whole shell even if it works. If it comes right off, watch that spot specifically and see if it comes back.

Mineral deposits can be the culprit, usually caused by hard water or poor quality of the water - especially if it just appeared and has gotten stuck between her scutes.

[mavansino]

She basks daily as long as weather permits. We get 300 days of sunshine here in colorado. And she comes inside at night and sleeps comfortably wrapped up in a blanket. The condition of the water is very healthy, she lives in an aquaponics system with several fish and very fresh and clean water. However the water in my neighborhood is very hard, and I have noticed similar looking spots appear on her basking stone, leading me again to believe that it is hard water related calcium deposits.

Do you recommend any safe ways to soften the water in a system such as mine that is not harmful to fish and plants as well?

Thank you for your response.

[JimmyLo]

I'm not very experienced with outdoor enclosures.

One thing I can recommend though is not putting her under a blanket at night - blankets can gather bacteria that can be harmful to her, which can cause fungal issues (which this could be)

Any possibility of having an indoor tank for her to sleep in? Our turtles love to sleep in the plants that we put in their tanks - makes them feel safe.

[steve]

Has that area shed recently?

[mavansino]

To Steve,

No I do not believe that area has shed recently. Its winter now, so she has been eating less, shedding less, but sleeping more.

Also I have been doing some research and discovered that concrete when wet will excrete calcium. I have several concrete stepping stones that I use in the pond to form a little cave and her basking dock. I have noticed similar looking deposits forming on the top of the stone. So I am really leaning towards believing that this is mineral/calcium deposits caused by hard water.

What do you think?

Thanks

[steve]

I don't think that would be it. Is the area as firm as the surrounding shell?

[mavansino]

So I just took a real good look at her and could barely find that spot on her scute (photo above), it looks healthy and is as hard as the rest of her shell. I only noticed the slightest of white specs on it. However, the white on the lines between her scoots are still there.

[steve]

Those are probably hard water build up.