Urgent Care :: Shell Issue Please Help!

[kortneyerin]

I know I posted before (back in August) about my little buddy's shell and of course I totally over reacted. This time it's really scary me. He's almost a year old (this spring) and his shell is about three inches long. He has been shedding/peeling his scutes like crazy over the last three months. I think just about all of then have shredded except the ones directly above his tail and head. Well tonight when I got him out of his tank to feed him (I feed him in a separate tank) I noticed another one but it look so different from all the rest (see attached pics) and the scute that it came off of does as well. I immediately thought shell rot because to me it looked like rot on the piece of scute the peeled off and the new exposed scute is softer than the others. It's really hard for me to explain that's why I posted a set of pics on my Flickr account for you all to see for yourself and hopefully advise me on what it may be and what I should do if it is rot or whatever it may be. I don't have the money to take him to the vet right now or I most definitely would. I personally don't think it's fungus because, it doesn't look or feel like cotton. I also want to add that he did have a fall a couple of weeks ago and I thoroughly examined his shell and didn't noticed any cracks, but I'm no expert this is my first res so I could have overlooked it. So Is it rot? Whatever it may be I just need some help as to what I have to do to resolve the problem or stop it from getting worse. Thanks for help!

Here's the link for the pics
http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/100580798@N06/sets/72157639712382955/

[steve]

For some reason I can open the larger images. Is it different colored from the others?

[steve]

I'm able to check it a little better. Looks like that tiny scute could not keep up w/growth. Is it discolored? Is it just that small scute that feels softer?

[kortneyerin]

Thanks for checking it out Steve. The link I posted is to an entire set of pics (10 pics) it's the scute above the smaller ones that are directly above the tail and yes it's dis colored. There's also a picture in there of all his scutes that have shredded and you clearly see the one that looks different. I thought he was growing pretty quick but I also read that the grow the most during the first year. I stopped feeding him daily (not sure at what age exactly I'm supposed to that?) I'm still feeding him hatchling formula pellets and green leaf (I call him the lettuce monster. He tears the lettuce up) and other than that one scute he is perfectly healthy. He's eating, swimming and basking as usual. Is there anything You suggest I should do? Thanks again for your help!

[kortneyerin]

Here's another pic I uploaded and have the scute in question highlighted
http://m.flickr.com/photos/100580798@N0 ... /lightbox/

[steve]

How long was his shedding process? Is the whole scute soft? It will probably take some time and a few sheds to heal correctly. I can't tell if there is anything still going on under there, have you tried doing any shell cleaning?

[kortneyerin]

Steve it took him about three mons to shed. He's pretty much shed all of his scutes except the ones directly above his head and tail. He's even shed the ones on his belly (plastron?) and yes the entire scute that I have circled is softer than all the rest. The only shell cleaning I do is with a soft children's toothbrush and warm water. I haven't cleaned that particular scute since it shed because, I'm afraid that I may hurt him.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

To me it actually looks like that entire area had probably shell rot, what is left is healed flesh mixed in connecting to the scute, not exactly sure on that. That area will probably always be like that.

[kortneyerin]

What exactly causes shellrot? And what do you suggest I do to prevent it from happening again?

[Diamondbacks4Life]

What exactly causes shellrot? And what do you suggest I do to prevent it from happening again?

Most likely in this case basteria got trapped inbetween the new scute and old scute. Sounds like the scutes might of been sticking if its been 3 months and still have some top scutes to go. Wheat germ pellets can help shedding go faster. The longer old scutes take to shed the better chance bacteria has to grow in there.

[kortneyerin]

Thanks Diamondbacks4life! I read somewhere that adding a sulfa block(?) to his tank will reduce any bacteria. Is that true? I went to PetSmart looking for one last night and couldn't one.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Id just save your money and not worry about it. Sometimes it just happens, ive seen turtles get shell rot and the owners are way overkill on filtration far above the normal what people have.