Urgent Care :: There is something wrong with my turtles nose.

[lunabebe4]

My new turtles nostils are totally covered up and you can't see them. It's hard to tell what's over them it looks maybe like she was born that way. I dunno though. Should I be really worried? She can breathe obviously since she is alive.

[imderanged]

Can you get a picture?

[lunabebe4]

I keep trying to get a picture of her nose, but its hard. It looks like you can barely see only one hole, and when i take her out the the water water runs out of the one tiny hole, i cant even see a hole on the other side. Also, she has some sores on her skin, on her face and a bump in the skin on the bottom of her neck. and a scar in the red of her ear. Her shell i believe has fungus on it. or retained scutes maybe? When its dry its really dry and you can see where a lil has flaked off but the rest is muggy and brown and you can barely tell her shell under neath is green. I think the problems are all because i got her at a petstore because i know they are in a bad condition and wanted to save her. They only gave the turtles like 1/4 of inch of water, the lights they had for them, who knows if they were the right ones and even if they were they had a muggly plastic top between them and the lights so they were pointless. Any suggestions on how to get my baby girl better. I have a extoterra 5.0 uvb bulp 26w, and a infared heat lamp, her basking area is about 91, and the water is 75-78. Its pretty murky right now i think because she has been shedding skin a lot. I give her about 5-8 reptomin pellets per day which she only eats after they float to the bottom.I also have green leaf lettuce for her everyday but she hasnt touched it much. She likes carrots but i have only given them to her once and she has been nibbling on cuttle bone and had 3 goldfish the day i got her.

[imderanged]

It's kind of hard to tell anything from the photos, but if she has sores on her skin and a lump in her neck (the lump may be an abscess) the ideal thing would be to have a reptile vet take a look at her. It also concerns me that you describe her nostrils as being "crusty" in another post. A discharge from her nose COULD indicate a respiratory infection. It's certainly possible she could have RI from the poor living conditions you described. How is she otherwise? Is she having any trouble swimming/submerging? does she breathe with her mouth open? It is a good sign she is eating, but I think your best bet is to get her a check up at the vet.

[lunabebe4]

She seems healthy other wise, seems to like her tank, swims around, likes the bubbles from the filter, she didnt have water to swim in so i think she is kinda learning to swim still, she can get to the top of the water but she has to swim kinda hard some times and she likes to be lazy and hold on to things sometimes to stay floating but i think thats just her, she can get up with out doing that and can stay up with out doing it to. Like i said i think she is just lazy. She wasnt eating at first but she eat more lettuce through out the day. And there is one smart little fish in the tank she hasnt got she has fun trying to get it. I am going to talk to the vets office.

[TheComputerGremlin]

First and foremost, I recommend a vet visit, and you should probably try to take some action against the pet store. You can contact the ASPCA or your local humane society that has an animal welfare officer to investigate.

Just a few points beyond what imderanged said. 1) As turtles age, the bright green colors disappear. They should end up some combination of dull green and mostly brown when they reach adulthood. So don't worry too much about the color. 2) She will shed, a lot, because she is now in better conditions. Keep the water clean, it would be best if you had a good filter too. Try getting her to eat vitamin E rich foods, like blueberries, apple peel, and sweet potatoes, to help the shedding process. It will take a lot longer with the shell, but once she sheds her skin and shell, she'll look a lot better. 3) When you are at the vet, they will likely want to give a vitamin A shot. Make sure they think it is absolutely vital (esp. since she likes carrots, meaning she will get her vitamin A though them) because a lot of turtles have adverse reactions to the shot and in general, it's unnecessary.

Good luck!

[lunabebe4]

I hope these might help a little bit more, I am kinda thinking that rather than something being wrong with it, maybe it is a birth defect? Cuz it just seems like it was shaped that way this whole time rather then something covering her nostrils? Is that possible, I know i will need a vets opinion but just thought I would ask. Also momo's shell has been worrying me. since i am new i might just be a worry wart but it never hurts to ask. Her shell has a lot of red in it along with spots that almost seem like little round scars. Also her underside is so dry that on the lines where it kinda starts a new block of shell if that makes sense its so dry that you could stick your nail under the edge of it and it would break off.... I dont want her getting hurt or something if she hits it on a rock or anything. She also has some discoloration spots on her underside that are like little blotches of cream color. Its in the shell but i am worried maybe this is shell rot? The top of her shell doesnt smell funky the her underbelly smells kinda musky/gross. Thats what worries me the most. Well I have a lot of pics for you to see. Her nose if you cant really tell is where there is kinda a darker sport on the right side. Hope these help. Thanks

[TheComputerGremlin]

As for the nostrils, it's certainly possible that it's a birth defect of some type. Pictures that close up are hard to get, so you'll need to ultimately make the final decision on what you think. The only thing we would be concerned about would be if the nostrils have mucus/snot coming out of them, bubbles coming out (due to mucus/snot), crusty mucus/snot, you get the idea. If any of that is happening, you likely have an RI. That would be accompanied by lethargy, no desire to eat, trouble remaining underwater, etc. The other concern I would have is if there is a blockage inside her nose, from poor conditions. Not sure how you or a vet could fix that, maybe a little steam treatment from a cup of hot water, but I would wait until what your vet says before doing that. Otherwise, it's definitely possible that her nose is just malformed.

I'm still pretty new when it comes to diagnosing shell issues, so hopefully some of the other members will know what's going on. If it's shell rot or another fungus, the vet will have a treatment for that. If it just needs time to get better, it may take a whole year for her to start looking better. For that, keep up on the good foods: give her as much cuttlebone as she wants; make sure she has carrots once per week; sweet potatoes/blueberries/apple peel once per week; pellets every other day; lettuce (not iceberg or spinach) daily if you can. Keep her water as clean as you can, at the temp of about 76 degrees, make sure she is basking under her heat bulb and UVB bulb, and make sure you condition her water (ReptiSafe is a good conditioner) to keep the chlorine out and it also puts some vitamins in.

[lunabebe4]

I have been keeping plenty of cuttlebone for her, she has been have about 8 pellets everyday 1/2 the size of her head, and lots of lettuce everyday, she loves carrots so I do give those to her every week, I will get her some blue berries I do have apples I can give her apple peel. How much blueberries like 5-8. Her water temp its about 75-78 and her basking it 91. She has been basking and swimming a lot. She has a lot of fun in her tank. She seems really happy. She has a heat bulb and a extoterra 5.0 uvb bulb. I have been putting declorinator in the water. The new tank is a little murky but I am going to clean it on my day off. What kind of vitamins should I be putting in there? She has been eating a lot so i dont think she has a RI, she has been eating a ton, and she has been swimming and playing and no problems remaining underwater. As far as the shell I do hope someone can help me. I think her nose is fine she has been breathing and everything with no bubbles or anything so now I just need adivce on her shell. Hope someone can help. Thanks

[SpotsMama]

The good news is (besides her having a healthy appetite and seeming to feel good) is that she shows no signs of metabolic bone disease or pyramiding, so someone was probably feeding her right before she landed in the pet store.

There are a couple of spots on her carapace that look black in the photo. Are they soft or smelly at all? Any oozing? Are they indented, or is the surface of her shell relatively smooth and hard?

The black spots (if they aren't active infections) might be old healed over wounds. It might be also that she previously had a wound or infection around her nose which has left some damage.

First thing I'd do is clean her. Get some Hibiclense from a drug store (places like Walgreen's sell it). It's a good quality hand wash for people. Dilute it to half strength with water then use it with a SOFT toothbrush to gently clean her shell in a sink. Hibiclense is a soap so she'll be slippery and will wiggle a lot - be careful not to drop her. Rinse thoroughly.

If there's no active infection on her shell, then improving its condition become a long term waiting process. Eveything has to be right to create a beautiful, healthy shell - healthy varied diet with lots of cuttlebone, lots of basking where the turtle dries out completely, top and bottom, under good quality UVB, clean water always. Occasional foods with vitamin e (turnip greens, blueberries, tomato, apple peel, steamed sweet potato (a turtle favorite)) help with the shedding. Shells are very slow to heal and shed but if you create a healthy environment then over time that shell will be beautiful.

[lunabebe4]

All of her shell is hard, when its dry the top is for the most part smooth other then seeming just really dried out. Is the red on her shell normal? Like is that a normal color for her? She seems like she probably just needs to shed old scutes or shell lol not sure what to call it.

Her under belly is what worries me more. If you look closely on the right side you can see discoloration where is like cream colored spots. Is that ok. Where the black is i think its just peeled more there then the rest of her shell. The top of her shell doesnt smell bad just like a fish tank lol. No indendations execpt a few spots on her belly of her shell where there are two round light brown spots that seem like scars maybe? They arent soft either. The bottom of her shell does smell a little gross on the bottom half of it, maybe thats just cuz she peed(spl) when i took her out cuz she is still getting used to us and gets scared and pees lol. Her hsell has no soft spots or oozing.

Her nose like i said before I think she has learned to live with it like that cuz it just seems like thats her nose and its not something that can be fixed.

I will try the cleaning and give her the foods to help her shed. She has been basking a lot im sure mostly when we arent there. As i said she is still getting used to us since i only got her 3 days ago, when i come home she is always basking and runs into the water when i get there. Then stays in the water and swims for the rest of the day until we go to bed then she will get back up on her dock and dry out during the night also.

She has been eating a little cuttle bone but doesnt pay to much attention to it really that i know of unless I move it.

I know she has a good uvb blub so thats good. I think the reason she has a bad shell right now is because the store didnt feed her a proper diet or have the proper lighting for them. They had a glass between the turtles and the lights, and it wasnt even clear it was that foggy kind.

I am just glad she is eating very well and seems to be a lot happier then she was at the store. When we saw her at the store a few times all she ever did was hid in her shell and bask. So maybe she was too dried out.

Should I be worries about a hard bump on her lower neck? It doesnt seem to bother her at all so maybe its scar tissue or just a mass. I will have it looked at when i get her in the vet. Any other things I could answer to inform you better?

[SpotsMama]

"Cream colored spots" on the plaston is setting off alarm bells for me. Have the vet check them closely. Is possible there's some true shell rot due to the conditions at the pet store. It's treatable if caught early on but the vet's the best one to help you with it. Is your vet experienced with herps?

I'd be very interested in hearing what your vet has to say about the shell.

Red is never normal on the shell. I assumed the red in the photos was reflection from a red heat lamp. Is it really the shell itself? If so, best case is that the shell is simply stained a red color from something she's been around. Possible some sort of reddish algae has taken hold. Another possibility is shell infection. Worst case is septicemia, or blood poisoning. Usually a septic turtle is obviously sick.

A hard lump on the neck - is that on the top of her neck back near where her head goes into her shell? It's fairly common for the shell to rub against the neck there are cause a little sore. If it seems raw you can put a little antibiotic salve on a q tip and dab it on, then keep your turtle out of the water for 20 or 30 minutes to let it soak in. If it's an abcess, the vet will need to lance and drain it.

All I can say is your turtle is one lucky little girl to have found you.

[lunabebe4]

I havent got a herp vet for her yet. There arent to many right near me, most are a kinda far and living in seattle and traffic its hard. There is a herp vet coming to the vets office I take my dogs to soon so maybe I can have her/him check her out.

The lump is actually on the bottom of her neck and it is rigth about where if her head is pulled in a bit right at the end of her shell where her skin layers up.

The red has been worring me the most because i dont think its normal. My bf keeps saying its just her color. In the pictures about her basking dock the heat lamp is red and made her tint red a little bit. But if you notice in the other pictures on the inside of her top shell when I am taking a pci of her underbelly you can see at the bottom edges red coloring. When I look at her top shell very close they kinda look like tiny tiny red spots spread out to make her look kinda red.

The pictures of the top of her shell seem like a dark red/brownish color. Thats the color I am confused about. The bright red in the other photos is just from her lamp.

[SpotsMama]

On the red on the shell, I think I see what you mean. Is the color a reddish brown? When you wash her, see if it will wash off. I know it will be hard to get at on a wiggly turtle. Maybe you can wash her at the back end, away from her biting parts. You might use a wet paper towel on the area. I'd be afraid to use a toothbrush on the underside of a marginal scute because it's too close to tender skin, which you definitely don't want to touch with a toothbrush.

[lunabebe4]

Her shell just seems browish red, rather then green and yellow like other RES i see. Maybe it is because her shell is not as healthy as it should be, but I dont think it will come off, I tried kinda rubbing/scratching it really lightly with my nail and nothing happened. Its like i her shell. I would be able to feel it , if it was a fungus or something wouldnt I?