How long have you had it? 1 year
What is the water temperature? mid 80s
Did you use a thermometer? yes
Are you using a water heater? yes
How much water is in there? 8-9 gallons (bad, I know, but I am looking for a bigger/additional tank)
Are you using a water conditioner? yes and anti-chlorine drops
Are you using any filtration? yes
What is the basking temperature? unsure, but warm enough that they bask frequently
Is there a basking light? yes, either 50 or 75 watt (my father replaced it while I was away, so I'm unsure)
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? standard basking lamp
Is there a UVB light? not for several months
What have you been trying to feed it? No feeding issues, aside from the fact that the larger turtle often eats more of the food if they are not separated; they eat pellets and lettuce daily, carrots and/or zucchini 3-4x week, reintroducing tuna and blueberries ocassionally
When was the last time your turtle ate? a few moments ago
How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 10 gallon tank (again, I'm working on it)
Is the tank near a window? No
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? No
Have you read the Basic Care section? Yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? Yes
Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? Just his usual skiddishness
I recently moved my turtles (Kirk and Spock) back in with me after a prolonged period where they lived with my parents while I moved around. My father took decent care of them but I couldn't ask him to do the kind of care they really needed (water changes, more varied diet, etc) - and I missed them! At the new year, I moved them back in with me and, at that time everything seemed fine with both turtles. I cleaned everything in the tank when I moved it and even gave the turtles a little scrubbing with a soft toothbrush to try to get off some of the mineral deposits they'd accumulated and help some of their shedding scutes along. They've had a lot of trouble shedding scutes (...they haven't done much of it at all), since their UV light broke last year and I haven't been able to scrape together enough to get a new one on my grad student budget.
This week, when I went to do a 50-75% water change after a weekend away, I noticed something distressing about Spock's shell: there are raw patches/bits of scutes missing! I'm not sure exactly how long his shell has been this way since I only did a 30% water change last week and didn't bother taking them out of the tank for it, but it can't have been long. Like I said, his shell was fine just after New Year's and I tend to keep a pretty good eye on him to make sure he's getting enough food and not getting picked on by the larger turtle. Spock doesn't seem to have changed his behavior much (if at all), aside from perhaps being a little more hesitant to bask than usual. Even this I'm not sure of, though, as he's pretty skiddish and usually basks when I'm not in the room anyway.
Here are some pictures. I apologize for their quality, but it's the best I could do (bigger pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/serenityfou ... directlink):
Those two were taken when his shell was still pretty moist. The problem seems to be localized to the centers of certain scutes on his carapace. The pink areas don't actually seem to be very "soft" or fleshy when I touched them and Spock didn't really flinch or react when I did so, which seemed weird to me.
This is dry. As you can see, the problem areas down the center turned kind of a greyish, rough looking...color? texture? Also, the curve of his carapace isn't smooth down one side as it is with the other turtle - it is kind of concave. I think you can see it in this picture, but I'm not sure.
So...here's what I think happened. When I was brushing and "helping along" some of the scutes on the top, I either irritated something or scutes came off before they were supposed to. I didn't force any off, but I am still pretty inexperienced at this so who knows. My questions now are do you think my assessment is right and how do I deal with it (without going to a herp vet, if possible - I can hardly afford my own medical bills)? Can I put a little Neosporin on it and dry dock him? Should I just let it be and see if it heals on its own?
