Urgent Care :: Shell Problem on turtle, PICTURES! updated!

[cooleststan]

thanks davidy and marisa, I am just desperate for help, sorry for being rude
marisa, now that I look at it, it does seem like just an injury to the shell, it hasn't realy changed since yesterday, it just looks like a marking
im going to pick up some betadine and hibiclens just in case

[marisa]

I would use one or the other, not both.

[SpotsMama]

I read that a wound would not heal as fast with betadine as with hibiclense.

[marisa]

Betadine (iodine) is said to not promote the growth of new tissue, unlike Nolvasan which is supposed to (Hibiclens and Nolvasan aren't exactly the same). However, depending on the wound, I'd still use Betadine if that's what I had.

[cooleststan]

Ok , I have pictures now. you will see a brown stripe sort of on his last central scute. the last and first pictures show it best.:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Shark.Snacks/TurtleSck

what does this look like? I just washed him with betadine about an hour ago, he is sitting in a dry box with a light shining on him right now.

[SpotsMama]

thank you for posting the very good quality pictures. It really helps.

Could be a wound that's healed or is in the process of healing. I'd clean it a few more times like you did with the betadine solution and watch it closely to see if anything changes. I think eventually the damaged shell will shed and look better. Does it seem to be lifting at the edges?

If it looks like it's going downhill - getting bigger, darker, starting to feel slimy - best get him to a herp vet.

Good luck!

By the way, he's adorable.

[cooleststan]

do you mean the entire shell lifting at the edges or just the scute lifting at the edges? The scute won't budge at all!
and it didn't seem like washing him with betadine really helped all that much
but ill continue to do it and let you know what happens

he seems perfectly healthy, is very strong (can claw his way out of my fingers) and swims around a lot.

thanks for the help!

[SpotsMama]

The whole shell won't lift - just separate scutes.

Here's a thread with some good photos of a shell shedding:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... ht=lifting

About half way down are a couple of links to photos of a shedding turtle. That's about as clean a shed as you're ever going to see. Those scutes are just falling off. If you gave them a little tug, off they'd come. You may not ever see such a clean shed.

The second set of pictures towards the bottom is more typical in my experience. The shell is getting sort of pale and opaque looking and you see a little lifting around the edges of a few scutes.

And there are still other ways that shedding can manifest itself. Sometimes you can see through the clear surface of the scute that there's water underneath, and when you press gently, water may ooze out.

Also, when the turtle is under water, sometimes it looks like there are metalic or coppery patches on the shell. This is air trapped underneath the scutes that are getting ready to drop off.

[SpotsMama]

By the way, it's not clear to me that your turtle is on the brink of a shed. I just don't see it. Maybe somebody with sharper eyes will see it differently.

[marisa]

The clearest picture to me was the last one. The left side of the 4th scute? Looks like an old injury to me, and if you keep him healthy, when the scutes shed (don't look like they're going to for a while), the new scute should look much better.

The process will take time, so don't expect immediate results.