Turtle with Shell Rot  - 1/6/06 I have a male Peninsula or River Cooter that is 2yo.  He is housed in a 20 gal aquarium with a 6 inch feeder goldfish.  I use ReptiSun UV bulbs and I have two over the edge filters, one at each end of the tank.  He doesn't have a great basking spot, so I take him out of his aquarium for 4-5 hrs a day.  Sometimes he goes outside if the weather allows, otherwise he hangs out in a Rubbermaid box in my garage.  He eats ReptoMin sticks twice daily and crickets or mealworms occasionally.  I've been fighting a spot on his plastron for about 2 months now.  I thought it was shell rot because it was soft and it was a round area where his shell was missing.  It has never been "cheesy" now has it had any odor or discharge.  I treat it every day with Betadine and allow him to stay dry for a period of time.  It has grown from 3mm in Nov to 7mm in Dec.  It doesn't seem to be getting much larger, but the tissue inside of it is puffy and firm, like a soft tumor.  It is a little rounded from his plastron and now the edges of the outer shell are starting to peel, like it wants to grow again.  The tissue looks white to pale pink and sort of rough.  Is this still shell rot or something entirely different?  My husband is not exactly thrilled with taking the turtle to the vet; I'll have to work on him!  Thanks for any help you can offer in the meantime. < A trip to the vet is probably in order. This is a bacterial infection. A good hot basking site would have probably prevented this and dried out the shell. The basking site should get up to 85 F. The correct light bulb is very important for vitamin development but heat is required to fight infections. Think of it like you getting a fever when you are sick. Turtles cannot generate their own heat so must seek an exterior source.-Chuck>

Baby Turtle Needs Help With Soft Shell Hi crew! Thanks very much, your website is really helpful to me. I'm scared with my newly purchased red eared slider since the sides of  his shell are soft and tends to bend. I found out about it since I  needed to place him in a proper container. He is just an inch big. I  think he is just a hatchling. Hoping to hear from you very soon. thanks! Ja < A common problem with baby turtles is soft shells. This is caused by inadequate amounts of calcium or vitamin D3 in the diet and inadequate lighting/heat on the basking spot. I would recommend Zoo Med Turtle Hatchling Food and a Zoo Med Reptisun 5.0 UVB lamp for the basking spot.-Chuck

Talui's Funky Shell - Problem? - 12/25/2005 Hello, <Hi!> We have had two map turtles for 2 years now.  We keep very good care of them.  They are in a 60 gallon tank that is kept at 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and there is a floating basking area with a heat lamp above. We have a Fluval 304 water filtration system.   <Sounds great.> One of the map turtles has developed something new on its shell that caught our attention. There are small spots on the top of the shell that look a slightly lighter color.  I believe the discoloration is due to air pockets on the shell that get filled with water.  When the turtle is out of the water, the shell is not discolored.  The shell is nice and hard everywhere. Except, at the locations where there is discoloration in water, it seems like there is a very thin layer of the shell that is loose.  I can see it move slightly if I rub it hard.  It is very subtle.  Otherwise the turtle is doing well.  It eats well and is behaving normally.  The other turtle displays no symptoms.  Please let us know what you think.   <It could just be that he's shedding.  Turtles do shed the outermost layer of shell once in a while.  Otherwise, if it seems to get worse and is not resolving itself, I would heartily recommend that your turtle visit a veterinarian that's used to dealing with reptiles, just to be on the safe side.> His name is Talui.  Thanks. <Tell Talui we wish him the best.  -Sabrina>

Possible Shell Rot  10/6/05 Hello! I have recently purchased two red eared sliders, they're very small, their shells are maybe 2.75-3 inches long at most. They might be illegal, but I bought them from a licensed pet store .One of them has a white spot on (her?) shell that has been there since I bought her. At first I thought it was shell rot but it's not soft or fuzzy and it hasn't changed in the few months I've had her. She's very active, eats well and enjoys basking on her island under her lamps. I keep the water very clean and she shares the tank with her brother and a handful of hearty zebra danios. The tank is well ventilated and I have a very good completely submerged filter that agitates the surface of the water. She eats turtle pellets and I keep a calcium block and a medicated block in the tank with them. What could the white spot be and how could I get rid of it?  It has a sort of darkish ring around it and I'm afraid she might be sick. Thank you! Sarah < Keep an eye on the spot and measure it. If it gets bigger then it may be shell rot. This can happen underneath the outer layer of shell too.-Chuck>

Treating Sick Turtles  10/5/05 There is no vet in this area that know about turtles.  I have checked already.  That's why I wanted to ask you about it.  Is there any way I can treat it without driving a long ways to a vet.  Please help. Jessi Rae < Treating shell rot can be done at home but it is very difficult. You need to get a sharp Exacto knife and cut away the infected areas down to undiseased shell. The cleaned areas should then be treated with a wound control antibiotic, like Repti Wound Healing Aid from ZooMed. The tank must be very clean. A Dr. Turtle Sulfa Block  by ZooMed needs to be in the water to help prevent infection. The basking spot needs to be at least 90 F.  Supplementing the food with vitamins would be a big help. Good Luck.-Chuck>

Turtle With Shell Rot  10/3/05 I have one more question about this abandoned turtle I have found.  I was holding her yesterday because I check the shell every day.  Well on the bottom of her shell she seems to be losing parts of it.  There are red spots where it looks raw, and white spots where it just fell of recently.  I'm not sure what it is so I don't know how to treat it.  Please help me ASAP she needs to be taken care of properly and I want to be the one that does it.  Thanks much Jessi Rae < Shell rot is a bacterial infection. The area must be cleaned before antibiotics are applied. You should take your turtle to a vet.-Chuck>

Turtles With Shell Rot  9/26/05 Hi, I'm Jennifer. I just got 2 baby red ear sliders from a little stand in Brooklyn. < Bad Idea> They don't treat them very well. < That's why it was a bad idea.> Anyway one of them has grey spots on it's shell, like 3 blotches. and the part of the shell between his tail and left leg are very soft. I have only had them for 3 days, but I have them in a tank with rocks and a filter and a heat lamp, when winter comes I will put a heater in the tank. I feed them turtle pellets and dried shrimp. Is he sick? < Yes. Shell problems are very serious.> Should I take him to the vet? < Yes, a good vet will be able to treat your sick turtle with antibiotics.> Will he get the other one sick? < Maybe. If the tank is not kept clean and the proper conditions are maintained then you other turtles can get sick too.> My last 2 turtles didn't have any spots on them. Please e-mail me back, I saw some stuff about a pinkish color and a cheesy looking bacteria, but this isn't like that and I am very worried. < The pinky-cheese stuff is the bacteria that is under the shell. Many times a vet needs to get into the shell to treat the bacteria that is living under and in the shell. Once the infected shell is cut away then antibiotics are applied. It is a shame that a stand is allowed to sell sick turtles like this.-Chuck>

Turtle Troubles  9/20/05 Dear Experts, My Son has had a RES since May 21st (my Birthday!!) The RES is about a 4" shell. He "looked healthy" when we got him, BUT he has always been very picky about eating, and recently --for about a month now-- he appears to be NOT eating at all. We have a long 20 tank, with a heating/UV lamp, with a bio-wheel filter, which is cleaned frequently; a basking (plastic) rock (also provides hiding underneath), a REAL biggie rock (for quieting the filter splash flow) and little more in he tank. His tank temp is always between 75-80 degrees. His water is almost ALWAYS clear enough to see right through, and is fed from softened water, (so doesn't need chlorine treatment) HERE are my primary concerns: 1. shell rot area on top of his shell now beginning to s-l-o-w-l-y spread outward, with peeling shell. 2. not eating, despite food sticks, fresh feeder fish galore, real meat, veggies and lots of variety... 3. poops (I think they're poops) which look like long white stringy muscle shreds, or fat thread. What's going on? Thanks so much!!!!Paul < Use a thermometer and place it on the basking site. It should get up to 95 F plus. This is where the turtle goes to increase his body temp to fight off diseases, help digest his food and utilize minerals. I suspect that this area is not hot enough and has lead to all these problems. Get a bigger wattage lamp or move the source closer. Get a second florescent light that provides UVA and UVB lighting. The shell rot will require exposing the affected areas, cleaning them out and applying and antibiotic ointment. The dietary problems of not eating and white stringy feces are probably related to food rotting in his stomach because his metabolism has not been adequately warm enough to activate the enzymes and digestive fluids to dissolve and absorb the food. Find a vet that treats turtles for adequate treatment for both problems.-Chuck>

Turtle with Spots on Its Shell  9/3/05 Hi! We purchased a hatchling RES in August 2001.  We live in  Florida.  He is now in a large wading pool, sunk into the ground, with  filter and large basking ramp.  I do have to drain the water every week or  2 since the filter is not keeping it clear, algae.  He eats mainly turtle  pellets, lettuce, other greens.  There are always small local fish in with  him as well as occasional goldfish - that he has to catch. All has been well but  this summer there are 2 spots on his shell that are turning white.  His  shell is still hard and looks great except for these spots. The spots are not soft and we scrubbed the shell to get a better look. I noticed on your  site you mention sulfur blocks - I will add one of these.  Anything else I  can try? THANK-YOU in advance. Laura < Shell rot can occur under the shell too. Watch the spots closely and monitor them for any change in size. With elevated summer water temps the water can quickly foul and become a breeding ground for bacteria. Try and keep the water as clean as possible by not over feeding and cleaning the pool more often. After the turtle sheds you may get a better look at the spots and then determine their origin.-Chuck>

Turtle With Spots  9/5/05 Chuck, The spots have enlarged a little bit over the summer.  I will  keep the water cleaner.  He shed in Feb or March and I'll watch for his  next shed. Anything to add or soak the shell in - salt water - (on just  shell)? Thank-you Laura <Get a Dr Turtle Block from ZooMed and put it in the water. This will help resist diseases.-Chuck>

Re: Turtle Shell With Scarring  9/1/05 How scarred will it be? < The initial infected area will probably heal up as a black area. Every time he sheds the black or dark areas will become a little smaller.> He is only 4.5 inches long right now but the places cover a fairly large spot of his shell.  Is there anything I can do to reduce the amount of scarring? < No sorry not really. The area affected by the bacteria is gone, eaten away. Healthy tissue will eventually fill in the darkened areas but they may never fill in completely-Chuck>

Sick Baby Red Eared Slider 8/29/05 I have a baby red-ear slider about the size of a quarter. I got it for about a month now, and recently, I've noticed that on the shell of my baby turtle, it started to develop irregular black marks between the scutes. I'm worried if it's sick, so I've consulted a few other websites and they suggested that I keep the turtle out of the water and only allow it to be in the water twice a day for 30 minutes each time and kept at a warm temperature. That is what I did and in addition I gave it a coat of antibiotic cream on its shell each time I took it out of the water. I would like to know if irregular black marks is a disease or is it natural. Also, my turtle seems to be sleeping 80% of the time with its eyes always closed. However it is alert with its surroundings each time I try to put it in my hand and/or tap its "home". From what I described and what you can see from the attachment, do you think my turtle is sick? If so, what do I do? Thank you and please reply. Kevin S.Chen < Very little new born turtles like yours can come down with numerous shell problems. Lets look at a few things first. The sleeping all the time may be the beginning of a respiratory problem. Keep the tank water clean and don't let it get below 70 F. Make sure that you have a good basking spot where it heats up to about 90F. How is the diet? Is it eating well? Make sure the turtle gets a well rounded diet. If your turtle does have shell rot then the infected areas need to be cleaned before the antibiotics are applied. Internal injections may be required for advanced or stubborn cases.-Chuck>

Turtle losing Shell Fragments 8/20/05 My red eared slider (don't know age, but I've had him for 8 months) recently lost the back edge of his shell near the right back leg.  Is this trouble, what can I do to help him? Thanks, Mary < This is not good. Most shell problems with baby turtles can be cured with diet and heat. Use a good quality basking light like a ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 or equivalent on the basking spot. The basking spot should get up to 85 F. You need to supplement his food with vitamin D3 and add calcium. The shell rot is a bacterial infection so keep the water clean and add a ZooMed Dr. Turtle Sulfa Block. In bad cases the rotted shell made need to be cut away and antibiotics applied to the affected areas.-Chuck>

Turtle with Shell Problem 7/16/05 Hi~ I have had my RES for over a year and he has a green spot on his back.  I have tried a Dr. Turtle, and I clean his tank about every other week.  I have put Vita shell on it a few times and I don't know what else to try. I didn't know if I needed to change his UV light or what to do. I use to have five gold fish in his tank but I just took them out to see if that would help. Thanks, Kristin < Shell rot is not completely understood as to the causes. If it is just a dark spot on the shell then it may be a scare or abnormal coloration. Shell rot is where the bone degenerates into a cheese like consistency. This can happen underneath the scutes. The area needs to be cleaned of the cheese like material down to the bone and then an antibiotic ointment needs to be applied to kill the remaining bacteria.  For a first defense I would put vitamins in this food. Then I would increase the heat on the basking spot to a higher wattage or put the light closer. Then I would give your turtle a Repti Turtle Sulfa Dip. If after all this the spot keeps getting bigger or deeper then a visit to a good reptile vet is in order.-Chuck>

Turtle with Fungus on his Shell and Neck 7/9/05 Hi, my name is Brooke, I have a red eared slider that I got on Easter last year and he seems to have some kind of fungus growing on his shell and neck. Is he sick, will he die, will my other red eared slider die too, is there anything I can do? Please e-mail me back and help me out! Thanks! Brooke < Fungus usually attacks dead or dying tissue. This could be the result of a bacterial infection. Clean the tank. Change all the water and clean the filter if you have one. Your basking light may not be hot enough. Get it closer to the basking spot or get a light of a higher wattage. Dip the turtle in ZooMed's Repti Turtle Sulpha Dip and get a ZooMed Dr. Turtle Sulfa Block for the water. You should see some improvement within a week.-Chuck>

Turtle with Spot Problem 7/17/05 Hi!  I hope someone can help with our problem.  Our turtle recently visited grandma's house.  He  had the same diet , lights etc. the only thing different was the water.  He is over one year old and has been very healthy with a beautiful shell.  When we got home from our vacation we noticed a couple of gold spots or patches that seem to glow or reflect light when he's in the water.  They are not really noticeable when he is basking on his rock. They also seem to be spreading.  The spots are not soft nor have any different texture or anything unusual other than the gold color and sheen.  We have spent hours looking on line for a diagnosis, but cannot find anything that describes this unusual problem.  We will take him to a vet, but I have a feeling that the vet may not know what it is either and will just tell us to treat it like shell rot or something.  Please help us with our beloved pet.   Thank you!  Mom and Daughter < Take your turtle out of the water and gently scrub his shell to see if the gold patches go away. It may be some goldfish scales stuck to the algae on the shell. After scrubbing the shell the spots may still remain. Look at them closely with a magnifying glass to see if there are any true holes in the shell. If there is then you turtle may have some shell rot. Get some Reti Turtle Sulfa Dip and a Dr Turtle Sulfa Block and follow the directions on the package.-Chuck>

Turtle with Spots II    7/18/05 > Chuck- Thanks for the quick reply.  We have scrubbed the spots.  Nothing > happens.  He is kept in an aquarium alone, not in a pond.  There are no > holes in his shell.  The spots appear brownish when he's out of the water. > Could this have something to do with the minerals in grandma's water?  Her > water is very "hard" with a lot of mineral content.  He did bang around a > lot and fall off his rock at grandma's house.  He was in a ten gallon tank > instead of his usual twenty gallon long tank.  Can a shell get bruised > from falling, tumbling and hitting the side of the tank?  Thanks!  M & D < Turtle shells are pretty tough.  I doubt these spots are from any physical trauma. Shell rot has been associated with hard water but it is not certain why. If the spots are symmetric al then I would think it is a color pattern and not a disease. If the spots get bigger then take a very close look at one of them and see if there is a bacterial infection growing under the scutes. This would require cutting a small hole into the shell to get to the brown material under the shell. I would not attempt this unless I was very sure that there was a problem.-Chuck>

Turtle With Spots being Treated 7/20/05 Hi again!  We talked to a vet on the phone yesterday.  She suggested that it probably is a mineral imbalance caused by water with a high mineral content. She said that turtles are pretty sensitive to environmental changes.  She also said left untreated he would probably be ok once we got him back in his water for a period of time.  Just incase he's got a fungus, she thought it would be a good idea to treat the spots with an iodine solution at least once or twice a day.  One cup of water with 2 teaspoons of iodine.  She said it could take a month or more to see any results.  The iodine won't hurt him in any way and is just a precaution incase it s fungus which could lead to shell rot.  The vet also said that any unusual spots on a shell could be treated this way.  If we treat him and it gets worse or we don't see any improvement in a month, we should take him in to the vet.  I hope this helps anyone who has a similar problem with a turtle.  Thank you for your help! We'll let you know if the treatment works!    M & D < Thanks for the follow up. Hope this will help others with the same problem-Chuck>

Turtle Trouble in Japan Dear Wet Web Media Crew, I'm living on a military base in Japan. Our vet doesn't service turtles and I'm at a loss. I've had my turtle since it was a hatchling (the size of a quarter). It's about 2 inches and is currently in a 10 gallon tank. I change its water once a week. Feed it pellets 2 times a day and offer it tuna, carrots, apples, etc. (though it currently ignores all veg./fruit - which I've read is normal for young turtles). I have a basking area in the tank, lighting, 3-stage filtration. I use a water conditioner and dechlorinator. I've read that turtles shed, but I'm not sure if my turtle is shedding or has fungus.... whatever it is, it doesn't appear to be going away on its own. One web site recommended adding 1/4 c. salt for each gallon of water, but I read in one of your sites Q&A's that sliders can't process salt. If I suspect fungus, what can I do? Are fungi treatments for fresh water fish ok for my turtle? Also, one site recommends live feeder fish, while I noticed a link on your site warned against it, just wondering what's best and why. Please help. Stacia <Aquatic turtles often suffer from whitish patches of fungus on the skin. Zoomed makes a medicated sulfa block called Dr. Turtle that will treat 15 gallons of water for both fungal and bacterial problems. The salt is an old remedy that affects the disease but not the turtle so they really don't have to absorb or process it. I would stick with prepared foods and stay away from the feeders for now and go with a more invertebrate diet for smaller turtles. Larger one may take more vegetables. Feeders are messy and have bone that may injure a young turtle.-Chuck>