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my two year old RES amie has what looks like an infection on the fourth nail of her right foot. i was hoping it would go away and i was taking her out of the water alot because i thought it might be a fungus, but then the fifth nail now looks like it has fallen off, while the fourth one is still very swollen. i will try to upload some pictures, and if anyone could give me advice that will be great! thanks!




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oh PS:

i also had questions about pyramiding on her shell and i was also wondering if the excess skin around her neck and front arms is normal or if she might be overweight. thanks!!

If you answer the questions in the sticky at the top of the urgent care forum it would be helpful. Most problems are realted to diet and/or habitat. About her shell, she seems to have a lot of retained scutes.

Is she in the tank with any other turtles? It looks like some sort of bite mark or injury. From the looks of things, the entire area around the fourth and fifth digits is very infected. I'd take her to a vet before the infection spreads.

The skin around her next and front arms is quite puffy. What about around her rear? When she wants to, can she pull her back legs and tail into her shell, or does the flesh sort of poof out?

What's her diet like - what does she get to eat and how much and how often? I suspect her diet needs adjustment, both because of the puffiness and also the shell condition.

How do her eyes seem? I may be wrong but to me they look sort of swollen. Does she tend to keep them closed or does it seem like they are bothering her?

She has a very sweet face by the way.

thanks. her eyes dont really seem to be bothering her i dont think. her rear isnt really puffy at all thats why i just posted the pictures of the front. i'm mainly concerned about her shell condition and her foot. any suggestions for improving the condition of her shell?

The shell can only be corrected with time and proper care. What is her diet like?
If it's high in protein that's why her shell is pyramiding. You'll need to adjust her diet to include vegetables daily and only give her pellets every other day. High protein sources like shrimp should only be a rare treat.
How is her basking area? She'll need to bask regularly under UVA and UVB rays to properly shed. It's important that her whole shell can dry off during basking.

Once the shedding and diet are in order, her shell should slowly start improving. You'll see positive changes with each shed, but not all of the damage can be undone. What's more important is that you prevent further shell issues.


I'd watch the foot closely. And keep her in extremely clean water. I would be very worried about the infection spreading and be ready to take her to the vet's if need be.

Also: I read in your intro post that you're planning on putting two new hatchlings in with your older turtle. Under no circumstances should you do that. They can bring any number of diseases and parasites into contact with the older turtle and as she's already immuno-compromised you could be setting her up to get quite ill. Not only that, but RES are aggressive by nature, and an older stronger RES can easily kill hatchlings. We've seen it happen time and time again on the forum. It only takes a minute for them to kill or maim, and it's just not worth the risk.

It looks like the claw next to the missing one was lost at some point as well and it's grown back (they never seem to look exactly like the original ones). Has the area above that nail healed completely? It would be good to gently clean the area of the missing nail (either with very diluted Betadine or chlorohexidine), let it dry and put some antibiotic ointment on it for a few days. I'd keep it dry (keep your turtle out of the water) over night with the ointment on it. Keep the tank water very clean.