Urgent Care :: dont know whats wrong with ts shell...

[Obiturtle]

allright, so Ive had my red eared slider for about three months now, and Im begining to get really worried about it.. him... her... whatever it is. lol

what Im worried about is her shell, its all peely, and I found little green spots on it yesterday, I have a 20 gallon turtle tank (the stupid ones made for turtles...) and I fill it up about half way. I have a heater for a 20 gallon tank, but no filter. which is only because my parents are to lazy to take me to the pet store... but I do clean it every other day about.

anyway. I really dont know whats wrong with its shell, and I was hoping somone could help. sorry the pics are so blurry.




poor tobaymi...

[Vtolds]

Any obsessive basking? sleeping all the time and not swimming? It is possible that she is just shedding I dont think it is shell rot.

[megcornell]

It looks like she needs a good shedding. The discoloration could be the start of a fungal infection. The picture is a little too blurry for me to be sure.

[SpotsMama]

When you say her shell is all peely, do you mean sections of it are actually peeling off? Or does it look like they are about to peel off but don't? If they are peeling off, what does the shell underneath look like?

[megcornell]

Can you also post a picture of the turtle's set up?

[marisa]

To the green spots come off? If so, it could be algae.

Do does your turtle have a UVB light or just a heat light? If your turtle has both (and s/he should), what brand is it and how old is it?

The shell looks rather dried out to me, with some areas that look like they need to shed. What's the temp of the basking area (check it with a thermometer)?

[Obiturtle]

ok, so I just got a new tank, since the old one was cracked, but heres a pic of the old set up.




as you can see I didnt put much thought into the lighting, I just used one of those reptile bulbs you can get anywhere.... it says "neodymiun" on it... and 60 watts.... and "daytime heat lamp" .... yeah.... this lighting stuff confuses me.

and actually yeah, I have been seeing allot of her/ him just laying near the heater, and excessive basking. what does that mean?

I just thought it was because he/she didnt think they had enough room to swim... which she didnt I dont think because of how low I had the water.


EDIT: I've tried to scrub the green spots off with a toothbrush, but its not working very well.... Ill try and get a better picture of her shell.

[octpusgirl8]

It looks like your setup is lacking in UVB lighting. Turtles need UVB for healthy shell development. You need to get a UVB lamp in addition to the heat bulb you have now. As for the excessive basking/heater lounging, what is your water temp at? He/she might just be cold.

[Obiturtle]

I usually have it around 70 degrees

[octpusgirl8]

That's a little cool, try turning the heat up to around 75 and see how it goes.

[mikee]

Yep!! And a couple of more inches of water would help. What kind of filter do you have?

[Obiturtle]

I actually just got a filter.... but it wont fit the new tank I got. -_-

but Ive been just cleaning it out every other day.... its exhausting lol


but yeah, I have the water up a few more inches now aswell with the new tank.


I have one of those heaters with no thermostat... but it says its supposed to keep it at 78

EDIT: these pics might be a little bit better....

[TheComputerGremlin]

If you can, go out and get a new water heater. You don't need one with an actual thermostat on it, you just need one that is variable with a dial to turn. They cost like $20 at PetSmart. This way, you can alter the temperature as needed (such as if your turtle got sick, you could bump up the heat a little). What is the temperature of the room that your turtle is in? That can have a major impact on the turtle tank heating.

As for UVB lighting, PetSmart has light hoods and bulbs for probably around $30-40 for a single light setup. You need to get some UVB in there for the shell.

What is the filter and why doesn't it fit? You can probably take it back and get a different one. For a smaller tank setup, a Rena Filstar XP2 or XP3 are around $70-100 (online).

The fact that you are cleaning the tank every other day may be causing some of your problems, if nothing else undo stress on your turtle. You may not be correctly conditioning the water (like dechlorinating it completely) and constantly adding the turtle into new water can be very harsh on the turtle's skin.

[marisa]

Basking under correct lighting (this means getting a UVB bulb) would help that shell. What is your turtle's diet like?

[Obiturtle]

ok thanks.... and as far as its diet, just the pellet things... I cant get her to eat any vegetables or anything. or atleast not the ones Ive tried. any suggestions as to what else I could try and feed her?