Urgent Care :: Plastron discoloration

[jessa2003]

Hello Everyone,
I am new to this RES site and forums. I have a couple questions...but first, here is a bit more info....
How big is your turtle? at the most 2"
How long have you had it? 2 months

What is the water temperature? 75-79
Did you use a thermometer? Yes
Are you using a water heater? Yes
How much water is in there? about a quarter of the tank size (10Gallontank)
Are you using a water conditioner? no
Are you using any filtration? yes

What is the basking temperature? not sure
Is there a basking light? yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? A large Aquarium rock
Is there a UVB light? yes

What have you been trying to feed it? pellets (Reptomin)
When was the last time your turtle ate? today for lunch - 1 pellet

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 10Gal
Is the tank near a window? yes
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? moderate

Have you read the Basic Care section? yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? not yet

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? and now on to my question...

I've had Sunny for a couple months now and have just noticed today that the bottom shell - plastron - is showing signs of discoloration. He is eating normal though which is kind of throwing me off. I read some info on this site about septicemia and got concerned. The color is a dark red brownish color that is clearly from under the shell and not fungal or anything from his tank.
I was wondering if at this age/stage of growth is this normal? How red do the areas need to become for me to really get concerened? What other signs should I be looking out for?

Thank you to anyone who reads this.... I am new to the RES world and probably seem a little paranoid, but Sunny was a gift for Xmas and I'm worried.

Any info...any advice...any attempts are welcome.
Thank you again
Jessica

[megcornell]

Hello, and welcome.
Can you post any pictures of sunny? That's always a big help in figuring out what, if anything, is wrong.
From the sounds of it though it sounds like he's getting some pigmentation around the little dark circles on his plastron, which is normal. When you say discoloration I'm assuming you mean some variant of brown/grey, etc... not something alarming like brick red... Take a look through the photos people post and see if you can find a turtle with similar coloring.
Also, I'm sure Sunny would enjoy it if you'd fill the tank up more. RES are aquatic turtles and need as much swimming space as you can offer.
Also, how much are you feeding Sunny? Take a look at the nutrition section to see the dietary needs of a RES.
There's a lot of good info around the site so don't be shy about reading up and asking questions

[jessa2003]

Hi Meg.
Thanks for feedback.
I've taken pictures but have not been able to post yet. Tomorrow. After looking around through posts I've seen a couple turtles with reddish areas on their bottom shell so that eased my nerves more. But I will still post a pic for your opinion
Yes I need to add more water. He's in our study which has alot of windows, so lately the water has been evaporating quickly. I'm planning on moving his tank this week to a cooler area since we are gettin into spring here.
Sunny eats 1-2 pellets in the morning and about 4-5 pellets for dinner. I'll give him 1 for lunch every other day. I am picking up some green leaf lettuce today to start him on that...I wasn't too sure about that but reading more here I feel more comfortable with changing his diet.

Thanks again..
I'll post pic tomorrow.

Jessica

[jessa2003]

Okay.
Here are pics of the bottom of sunnys shell.
Tell me what you think

[grey goose]

He looks OK to me.....besides he a little young to be showing signs of shell problems or being septic.
As far as feeding I would suggest you feed him pellets once a day and leave a piece of veggies in his tank to graze on. Feeding him three times a day will condition him to think "why should I eat this lettuce when I'm going to get pellets any minute now".
Also don't forget the cuttlebone.......

[marisa]

To me, the pink looks partially the result of growth (from what I can see of the seam/line in between the scutes looks a little pink to me as well); the pattern is regular and the color is closest to the blotches on the plastron. If you're feeding regular size Reptomin, I'd cut the amount down to about 4 a day and break them up. Try some different foods as well.

You said he has a larger aquarium rock to bask on and that it's easy for him to climb. Is the rock abrasive at all? If so, he may be scraping parts of his plastron as he climbs it or even when he's moving around while basking. This could also redden parts of his plastron...

[RESCHIU]

What your turtle have is fine, but if the plastron ever turns white or a bit green (not the surface), and have bad smell, make sure you take your turtle to vet to do a scute test as soon as possible, my turtle had once be like that and it turned out it's a very bad bacterial infection, luckily she was cured, but lost a good portion of her plastron, that's a very painful lesson for both me and my turtle

[marisa]

OT, but how is your turtle doing RESCHIU? Has the plastron healed?

[RESCHIU]

Yes it has healed for quite a while(my poor baby got 5 shots), however, the topic that I just posted recently got me alerted again, I just hope it's not coming back ...

[jessa2003]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I will definately change up his diet and check out his basking rock. It seems pretty easily accessible but then again i'm not a turtle. I'll do some investigating

thanks again

have a wonderful week!

Jessica