Urgent Care :: SHELL DISCOULOURATION!!!

[za94]

I noticed recently that my turle hasnt been eating much lately and has been basking alot more than usual. Today i noticed that he has this white purple-ish dicolouration on his shell near head, i thought it might be shell rot but then even his black markings have faded purple! I'm very disturbed by this and i take alot of care whit my turtles! I even clean there shells once a week with disinfectant . Does anyone know what this is? He's under a year old so he's been eating mostly meat, could it have something to do with this? If so how do i get him to take to veggies?

So far i've seperated it from his tank mate but what do i do now?!

[vear]

Hi, can you post a picture? Also, you disinfect his shell? what are you using?

[za94]

The dicolouration is alot more purplish then it comes out on camera. I dont think its a very bad case of what ever it is yet but what worries me is that my turtle is very young, around 6 months old, so i'm very concerened. I use jhonson&jhonson rubbing alchohol, i figure it's safer as it's made especially for childrens skin. I also wash the shell after i've disinfected it just to make sure my turtles dont end up intaking any remnants of the alcohol or that it doesnt get into their eyes after i put them back into water.

My turtle is still not eating and he seems a little down since i've seperated him, here is the link: http://za94.deviantart.com/art/Turtles- ... Aza94&qo=0

[marisa]

What's the water temp and basking area temp?

From the pic of that green hatchling in the link, I don't understand what is wrong with the turtle (that is your turtle, isn't it?).

Posing a pic of what you're concerned about would really be good.

[za94]

I bought the basking lamp from the pet shop, i think it's around 50 degrees but the pet shop owner told me it's specified for turtles, i put a rock underneath it so that it heats up to. i try to keep the water around room temp.

There's a discolouration at the top of his shel by his head. it's greyish. it's alot more noticeable in real life and im worried because my turtle has stopped eating and hes sleeping alot.

[vear]

hey za94. I don't know if this is correct or not, but I don't think you should be disinfecting your turtle's shell with alcohol. Somebody else can correct me if I'm wrong.

About your basking lamp, what do you mean it's 50 degrees? Do you mean watts? Do you have a thermometer for both the basking area and the water? It's important to have accurate measures of your temperatures. If your water is too cold, your turtle will slow down, and not eat. I can't see the picture right now (because i'm at work) and the link is blocked. But, can you see the discoloration on the picture? If not, try to get a better picture so we can help you out.

[za94]

Yes i meant 50 watts, sorry, and i keep the water at 25 degrees (room temp). If they havent basked in a while though i let the water get a little cooler. I live in a desert country so i take them out to get a little sun aswell, temps outside are about 40 deg.

I have checked on a couple of websites though and i'm quite convinced now that it's shell rot. They do recommend that you should clean the infected shell with diluted povidone-iodine solution or an antibiotic ointment. I think that i will take him to the vet anyway. I'd still like some suggestions though as to what you guys think it is. Do you know a sights were i can upload a picture because this sight only allows pictures of up to 265 kb and my picture is to big.

reference to the iodine : http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebinde ... ellrot.htm

[za94]

k finally resized picture and circled the area of discolouration.

[kittyclover]

If its shell rot it mostly likely will have a yucky smell and it would feel a little soft to touch. Honestly I still don't see a huge variance to be alarmed, as they get older the shell will darken in color.