Urgent Care :: HELP! is this shell rot? :(

[jazzie00]

hey! This is my baby Crawl, and this week (starting about monday) he started to develop this... greyish colour on his shell! the vet is far so i dont want to make the drive until i'm sure that i'm not overracting! I purchased him from a sketchy man at the flea market (approx 3-4 weeks ago) and when i go him he had pneumonia and a vitamin a defficiency! I take him to the vet every week for a shot, but we dont have an appointment until friday! help! i really worry about this little man! He is still very active, and eating alot! His tank is a 5.5gallon (small for now, plan on upgrading) his water temp is at 84(vet recommended) he has a uvb light and a basking dock and heat lamp (currently at 88) his water level is about 5-6inches.
sorry the picture is so blurry, had to be taken with my phone as my camera takes to large of photos to upload?
HELP PLEASE!
his shell still feels pretty firm, and his water is slightly smelly (like a pond) but i believe thats from his plants, since its been like that from day 1. also, he weighs 8grams currently(as of last friday) and that is up 2 grams from when we first got him! also, he gained those 2 grams in about a week!
thank you!!!

[richieboy]

Try photobucket.com to upload the photo. I don't think plants will make your water smelly. Are you using a filter? If not change his water everyday. Just make sure to let it sit for 24 hrs if you have treated water. Also, the more water you have the longer it will take to dirty. Maybe you have a larger storage container or something that will hold more than 5 gallons? Someone will chime in that can better tell you what's going on. Though I would recommend you get a better pic up. If it's shell rot, or fungus you need to keep its water as clean as possible. Good Luck.

[marisa]

How much water is in the tank, and is there a filter? If there's no filter, how often is the water changed? 84F is quite warm (I'd lower it a degree or two), and if the water isn't kept clean, the bacteria count will grow very quickly. The pic isn't very clear, but it looks like there could be the start of a fungus there.

[jazzie00]

there is approx 6 inches of water in his tank (so a little more than half full) and i change his water fully once a week! except for this week i did it twice! yes he has a filter system and i am cleaning that once a week as well! today i noticed that it looks like his shell is flaking off? like little transparent pieces sort of.

[jazzie00]

okay hopefully this helps:

[steve]

I can't be certain of anything since the pic is a bit blurry. I'd still make improvements in the habitat - water, food, UVA, UVB and basking areas.