Urgent Care :: White Spots on Shell and Aggression

[greentree]

Hi everyone. If you're wondering, I used to be active on the site but was forced to create a new account because my password didn't switch over when a new board was created (or something to that extent).

Anyway, I've had my turtles for six years now. When I was younger my parents thought it would be nice to get them for me from a kiosk as a "surgery present." I'm sorry to say I regret this.

Last fall I began college. I couldn't find a home for my turtles on Long Island so my father had to take care of them while I was away. When I came back about a month ago my turtle's tank was a complete nightmare. He overfed them (one is a bit chunky), and he never cleaned the water. I couldn't even look in and see where the turtle were in the tank. It isn't even a big tank. So upon seeing this I immediately got things in order. Cleaned the tank, washed down all items in it, cleaned out filter etc.

A week later I began to notice a white spot on one of my turtles' shell. I thought nothing of it until another week had passed and there were more. I did some research and I seem to think that it is shell rot from the bad water. I looked through the home treatment methods and for the past three days I have been cleaning her shell with light soap, brushing it with a tooth brush, trying to gently scrape the white stuff away, putting providone iodine on it, and keeping her out of water as much as possible. The white is a bit soft. I was able to actually remove one chunk of it, but the rest seems like it is a part of the shell after I scraped the initial soft parts off. It is smooth.

There is no change in any of her habits except for tonight. I have been putting her back in the tank with my other turtle who she has been with all her life at night. Tonight when I put her in she kept trying to bite him. I thought maybe she was stressed, or forgot the environment she was in so I kept her in the tank and put my other guy in a smaller plastic tank for the time being. Is there anything I can do about this?

Also today after cleaning with a toothbrush I noticed one white spot was red, or maybe is brown (?), I can't tell if I'm being paranoid. Should I stop the treatment and let it heal?

She also doesn't like to be out of the water. They do have access to a dry basking area but she in particular never really uses it. Today I let them run around outside in an environment I created for them (I thought the sun would be good for them), but none of them were interested in basking, only trying to escape, so I brought them back inside after about two hours.

Does anyone know what this is or what I can be doing to help the situation. Like I said, I regret receiving them from my parents because I really do not have the means to take care of them (I'm in a college that doesn't allow them, my parents won't let me get a bigger tank, etc). I feel like this is all my fault because I can't give them the care they need and deserve. I've tried the adoption links this site suggests multiple times for years now. Does anyone else know any other ways I can find them a better home before I have to go back to school in August?


Thanks for reading, and for helping


PICTURE OF SHELL
http://i.imgur.com/YX9hv.jpg

[steve]

I can't tell for certain, but it does look like shell rot in the picture. The aggression does seem like it's stemming from this treatment.

Refer to these pages: http://www.turtlepuddle.org/health/shellrot.html, http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/medshell.htm
People started using a new medication called "Maracyn", just google it for treatment with turtles.

I'd check the Yahoo mailing lists of local rescues and orgs for people nearby. I do think a good story will help you get attention from members on those sites.

[greentree]

Yeah I've been on those sites. I detailed the treatment in my post above, which came directly from those websites. Thanks for you're help. She isn't getting any better, seemingly worse. I put her out in the sun during the day with water and basking area and dry dock her at night. She isn't aggressive with the other turtle anymore, I think it was a one time thing. She now is forming red spots where the white used to be. I read around and heard that this is seriously bad? Is there anything I can do to hold her over or jut pause the spread until I can get her to a vet next week?

[steve]

I wouldn't be able to tell what kind of infection it is. It does seem she needs to be on antibiotics, so I'll just try to keep her comfortable until she can be seen.