Urgent Care :: Free Turtle to Good Home; wasn't really FREE

[Argh]

Okay, so I got another RES today. The owners were given it as a gift, but after two weeks of trying to learn to love it they decided to return it to the pet store today. The RES seems to have grown considerably in this two week period, one of the scutes on the carapace seems to be soft (its off colour and concave), and there is a lot of soft matter on the plastron.



I think you can see the soft area of the plastron as the hazy area between the scutes.


To help this little bugger out I have put him in dry dock, will give him access to some water for part of the day. This hopefully will dry out his shell and dry out any infection which has started. If I am not happy with the results in a couple/few days I will be giving "Funguy" some sulfa baths.

Does this sound right?

I am amazed at how much a turtle can grow and become ill in such a short period of time. Luckily my original RES seems to be in good health; I think they may even be from the same batch.

[Argh]

Oh, I forgot to add... Funguy is very allert, clear eyed and active. It seems to be very strong, it was clawing at my fingers when I picked it up; you can see that in the second picture.

[tissigirl]

Poor little thing! At least he doesn't feel bad! Keep us posted on how he's doing!

[TNTurtles]

I had that soft area on the plastron when my baby was growing and in a few weeks it hardened and expanded his plastron nicely. dont know about the top tho...sorry.

[steve]

How is he responding to the treatments? Try to add a little extra calcium to the diet since both your turtles are growing.

[PaperFeathers]

Not that this is very relevant, but that turtle has a lovely pattern on its plastron.
Please keep us posted on his progress. : )