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How big is your turtle? 4 inches
How long have you had it? a year

What is the water temperature? 75.0 degrees
Did you use a thermometer? yes
Are you using a water heater? no
How much water is in there? 180 gallons
Are you using a water conditioner? no
Are you using any filtration? yes

What is the basking temperature? 91.0 degrees
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? eggcreat
Is there a UVB light? yes

What have you been trying to feed it? pellets, lettuce, carrots, blueberries, cuttlebone.
When was the last time your turtle ate? today

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 180 gallons
Is the tank near a window? no
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity?no

Have you read the Basic Care section? yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? yes

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? no


ok today my turtle escaped for his tank and when i found him i noticed that part of his scute had chiped of, in the middle of his shell and part of his bone is showing, probably the size of of F10 on the keyboard(the center of the zero)

Should i take him to the vet. and also he was in the process of sheddind his scutes.

Right now I want to say yes .

Do you have a picture so we can be sure of what you are seeing.

It depends. If you have access to a vet, that may be the best option. You want to seal up the area, as if there was a scute there, and allow the scute to grow back. There are a few ways to do this, but all of them require a lot of attention from you. Basically you want to get some form of waterproof plastic and stick it on there, whether with some super glue or tape or whatever. You want to keep the water out as much as possible. I'd probably put some neosporin on it before you get the waterproof part on. You want to keep your water AS CLEAN as possible. And I'd probably dry dock your turtle at night, when you can take off of the waterproof covering, until it's healed.

Ok ill try your idea thecomputegermlin, but how long would it take to heal?

I'm not sure, hopefully a more experienced board member will come around, but I'm going to take a guess and say around a month with the plastic covering and then it should be healed enough to continue healing on its own. But I'm not 100% sure of the exact time.

The exposed bone (white?) is the size of the the zero on the F10 key? This is quite small, more like a chip (lucky for your turtle). I don't think I'd cover it. I would get some Nolvasan (chlorohexidine) and clean the area with it daily with a q-tip, letting it dry on the shell (I'm not talking about Hibiclens). It's an antimicrobial agent, and will help protect the area even after your turtle has gone back into the water. Make sure your turtle has nice, clean tank water, and plenty of opportunity to bask under a UVB light and heat light.

If you're really concerned or it doesn't look like it's healing (which could take a while), by all means have a herp vet look at it. I've seen turtles with much larger areas of exposed bone than yours, the bone stayed exposed without the scutes growing back.

So far i dry docked im for the night with some neosporin and it looks alot better.

Yes, its the size of the zero. ill try the nolvasan, but where could i get it at?

i mostly keep the lights on for 10 hours, should i keep it on longer?

About keeping the tank clean could i do 50% water changes every day and one full water change once a week?

Nolvasan, you'd get from a vet (you could probably buy some online, but you'd probably have to buy a larger quantity and dilute it). Chlorohexidine is the active ingredient in Nolvasan. It's also found in a product you can get at a pharmacy called Hibiclens, which is a cleanser. If you do get Hibiclens, dilute it 50% with water to clean the area. It will create suds, so rinse it well. Let the area dry before you put anything like Neosporin on it. Actually, I don't know if I'd keep an ointment on it all the time. I'd want to let some air get at the area, especially while he's basking. Since you're in Guam, can he get some direct sun?

What kind of filtration are you using on that 180-gallon tank? Do you test the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate (that would tell you something about the water quality). I would think the water-changing schedule you plan would be OK with just one turtle, a good filter(?) and no other creatures(?) in the tank.

Yes, he can get direct sun.

The filtration i have is two emperor 400 and one aquaclear 110.

Right now i dont test the water.

I have two turtles in the tank, but i removed the other one so the injured turtle would not get more injured.

Well,I guess it would depend.I think it would be best if you could post a pic. if you can that would help us alot,but for right now you want to keep a close eye on him.You might want to take them to a vet.