Urgent Care :: what is this??

[cardboard]

i got 2 baby red eared sliders 3 weeks ago. i have them in a 40 gallon tank (about 1/3 filled up), 2 aquaclear 50 filters, a solar glo lamp (has UVB and heat) and a docking area as well as some plastic plants for hiding and a water heater. the temperature is set at 83-85 degrees farenheit, and is monitered daily.

in the past week, both turtles started developing a "worn out" or faded look on their shell, and one turtle has grown a white line across his spine of the shell. neither of the turtles shells smell bad, and neither of the spots have a fuzzy feel to them. also, the white line of the one turtle is actually almost harder than the other parts of his shell.

i'm not sure if this is fungus, mineral build up or shell rot.
please help me, i don't want to lose these little guys.
thanks!
ps pictures are posted below

Turtle 1:
http://yfrog.com/3oturts146j
http://yfrog.com/b5turts141j

Turtle 2:
http://yfrog.com/ngturts152j
http://yfrog.com/61turts151j

[mkga14]

I had the same thing with my turtles, seems to be normal, they usually grow out of that. Maybe its rapid growth? How much are you feeding it and how often?

[cardboard]

I feed them twice a day, and i feed them the size of their head + neck.. is that too much?
i read somewhere that you can feed baby turtles up to 3 times a day
thanks a lot for the reply!

[Jaysea]

Feed them once a day...the amount that would fit inside their head if it was empty. Turtle pellets have a ton of protein in them and to much feeding will cause shell pyramiding and overly fast growth.

[cardboard]

i will do that from now on.

so the shells on the pictures do not look like fungus or shell rot?

[steve]

Both look like they are growing a bit fast, and I'm not sure what's going one with the pictures of turtle 1. It's not fungus or shell rot, but I would try to correct the diet. You can also drop the water temps to 80F.

[marisa]

Both look like those top scutes need to shed. I'd set the water temp at 78F.