Urgent Care :: new turtles shell problems

[regalesse]

How big is your turtle? there are three 2 are 11/2 the third is 2 inches long
How long have you had it? 2 days

What is the water temperature? 76
Did you use a thermometer? yes
Are you using a water heater? yes
How much water is in there? 3 inches
Are you using a water conditioner? yes
Are you using any filtration? yeas

What is the basking temperature ? 90
Is there a basking light? yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? resin
Is there a UVB light? yes
What have you been trying to feed it? turtle pellets
When was the last time your turtle ate? unsure

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 30 gallons
Is the tank near a window? no
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? yes

the three hatchlings were rescued by me yesterday after a concerned friend told me of these three little guys living conditions.

they were living in a tupperware container 12 across by 7 wide with an inch of water that was being changed everyday yet had no filtration. i am unsure of what the disabled and was trying to do her best by them and looked for someone able to care for them.

they were clean when i got them, there was no evidence of moss or anything line that when i picked them up from her home. but they are injured. two of them have places on the top of their shell that has no green hatchling color on them at the neck and tail area on the skutes. the third one has obvious deformities see pics. please tell me what i should be doing with them till my vet can see them on monday.

they have been cleaned with an antibacterial soap and water then all their shells were rubbed with silver sulfadine ointment then rubbed with vita shell.

they were struggling to swim in the 6 in water depth they were at orriginally in quarantine and now they only have about three inches to swim in and are managing it.

[regalesse]

the first pic shows the discoloration that all three turtles have. the other two pics show the deformities that the largest of the three have.

[marisa]

The curving of the shell is basically due to an unbalanced diet and/or lack of calcium. Improving the diet, increasing the calcium and ample basking under proper lighting (UVB and heat lights) may lessen the curving somewhat over time, but will not completely reverse the damage that's been done.

Don't use any kind of soap on turtles or objects in the tank (it leaves a residue that can be harmful). Silver sulfadyne ointment is helpful for disorders like shell rot. But I'd skip the Vitashell---it's oil based and will coat the scutes and not allow the shell to breathe, which it should do.

Can you take another pic of the first turtle with the shell dry?

[regalesse]

i will try to get those pics when i give them their next round of silver sulfadine in the morning. but the pics might not get posted till late in the evening. my vet has never seen that and took pics himself to send to a friend but he said to use the silver sulfadine on them still and use the vita shell once a week and rub any excess off after applying it. he to said that the deformities were from the neglect but he also said it might reverse itself in time too.

[marisa]

It is from a poor diet and lack of calcium (as well as Vit D3), which is basically neglect. I'm sorry but I'd drop the use of the Vitashell, although once a week isn't nearly as bad as using it daily. There are pics of turtles on the net showing shell problems with regular use of the product. It's up to you.

As I said, there will be some improvement with the shell over time, but I doubt that it will ever look totally normal. But the better diet and living conditions will make the turtle healthier, and there should be no problem if the shell isn't completely normal.

[regalesse]

the vitashell was only going to be used till they were on a more regular diet and they were beginning to show signs of improvement. i found out today that the poor little guys were being fed ground up dried dog food instead of their pellet foods. she claimed the food had the same ingredients as the turtle food. she failed to realize the proportions of protein to vegetable matter and other vitamins/ minerals are all different. oh well, it will be an adjustment but it is better for them.

[regalesse]

the turtles are all finally eating. they were trained to eat on dry dock so that was what i began trying a few nights ago. they have a good apetite and seem to be tolerating the turtle pellets well.

[steve]

I'm sure things will become fairly normal once they get used to everything.

[regalesse]

they've rearranged their quarantine tank, caused their filtration system to fail twice, (little jars make it stop working) and have given me at least three heart attacks in seven days but they are already much improved.

[steve]

What's their setup like? It shouldn't be so easily disrupted by their activities.

[regalesse]

i planted several fresh cutting of ludwgia, four new onion plant, and four cuttings from an anarchis they uprooted them all trying to hide in them and the filtration is a unit on its last legs so if they touch it it stops working. they love their dock since it 20 inches long and hurl themselves off it to get back on a few seconds later. the didn't have this ability before since they were in a 12 by 7 by 1/2 inch of warer and that included their bowl to eat from. they are in a 50 gallon rubbermade container filled to two inches from the top with a river sand bottom that was taken from a quarantine holding tank from them.

[regalesse]

they are all improving dramatically. the shell rot on the two smallest has diminished by half and the biggest with the worst visible malnutrition problems has started to shed. she has been the fastest recovering so far.