Other Turtle Discussion :: nesting area

[lushusblonde]

Also, I've been dry docking her in the coconut husk. I only put her in water when I feed her.

[steve]

Well, fungus can make scutes retain longer. And since it is white, it's hard to see underneath the scute which allows water and debris to retain under the scute. So even if your turtle basks, the stuff under the scute is continuing to cause damage. With my RES, the gunk made the seams very soft, and some bits of the seam had overlapping scutes were pitted from an infection. Once I removed a few scutes, I noticed that a few areas also had a yellowish fluid. This also caused some pitting in the shell.

I think you need to be a little aggressive. Hopefully this vet is very experienced in these matters, if not seek additional advice from breeders and recuses.

[lushusblonde]

Is there any anti-fungal that I can treat her with now, until I can get to the vet?

[steve]

No that I know of. You can try using some diluted betadine or hibiclens to gently scrub the shell.

[lushusblonde]

I called the vet to see if they could recommend anything, and they said to use the Betadine solution and a cotton ball once a day to affected areas. I asked the girl who answered if adding salt to the aquarium would help, as I have read that on some forums, but she said she had never heard of that treatment.

Hopefully, with persistence, I will rid Lexi of her fungus!

Thanks for all of the advice.

[steve]

Salt has a mixed reputation, I would think it can be skipped. Again, I would seek a rehabber or someone who can check out those scutes and make sure there's no gunk lurking. The fungus can be dealt with after. I'm attaching a pic of what concerns me:

[lushusblonde]

I will check out the Pittsburgh Herpetological society's website to see if someone around here can help out with those areas. I have noticed that lifting.