Urgent Care :: dark spots on RES! please help

[lois]

(sorry, I am Korean, so my english is not perfect. T_T but please help me)

Hi. I have a red-eared slider about 5 inches long(scute only). (male)
My RES has two problems. First, As you see in the picture, in Nov 2007, I began to notice a few black spots on my RES's ear. and the spots have spred all over the skin for one year. And the "red ears" have almost lost it's own color.

Another Problem is bottom of shell.

What's wrong with my RES!? :
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How big is your turtle? 5 inches long
How long have you had it? 15years

What is the water temperature? 75
Did you use a thermometer? No
Are you using a water heater? Yes
How much water is in there? 5 gallons
Are you using a water conditioner? No
Are you using any filtration? Yes

What is the basking temperature?
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? rock
Is there a UVB light? yes

What have you been trying to feed it? Sera raffy mineral

When was the last time your turtle ate? today

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 22 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

[TheComputerGremlin]

Hi, your pictures are broken, so if you could try posting them again. You need to use a picture server, like Flickr, to get them on here. You copy the image location and post it using the image html.

As for your information, a few things I see can be improved. First, your water temp is a bit too high. You want the water temp to be about 76 degrees F, not 80. The higher the water temp, the higher the turtle's metabolism.

5 inches long for a full grown male is a bit on the small side. I doubt you'll be able to fix the growth now, so you'll just end up having a smaller male for his life, but if you get a chance, you may want to have a stool sample checked for parasites just to be on the safe side.

Lastly, 22 gallons is much too small for a 5 inch turtle, esp with only 5 gallons of water inside. You want at least a 50 gallon tank for that size turtle filled within 2 inches of the top. The less water, the more likely your turtle will become ill from yucky water.

I apologize for not being able to diagnose your turtle, but without good pictures, there isn't much I can help with. But it's likely to be a fungus of some type?

[lois]

I've posted pictures. Thank you for advices.

[imderanged]

The coloration of your turtle is normal as far as I can tell. It's normal for some turtles turn melanistic (darker coloration) as they age (especially males I have read). As far as the bottom of the shell though, I'm not sure what to tell you. It looks like he is shedding in pieces instead of the scutes coming off in whole pieces. maybe the rock he basks on is too abrasive? Or maybe a change in diet will help him shed more fully.E Vitamin rich foods like blueberries and apple peel are supposed to help promote shedding.

maybe someone else has another opinion about what to do about the plastron.

[moldygrape]

are you taking the scouts off by hand? if not he might be rippin em off it looks like hes just shedding all his plastron at once like a mad man!!!! i really dont see anything wrong just check were hes ripping off the scouts k good luck oh and the .E Vitamin rich foods like blueberries and apple peel are supposed to help promote shedding so try feeding em those good luck oh and shedding is a l o n g process trust me so just know that he will be well eventuly and dont rip the scouts its fun but very bad!!!!!!! also look at the atba's to get some ideas on expanding your tank space i have a 20 g and i made an atba heres a post of someone elses atba its cheep maybe 15 total for egg creat and zip ties and a red bull!

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... c&start=60

[SpotsMama]

The black spots on his ears and skin are a normal change that happens especially in male RES called melanism. At 5", yours is pretty small to be turning melanistic but maybe he's older and just small for his age. My turtle is nearly 8" and 7 years old and he's starting to look melanistic sort of like yours. Eventually this condition can progress to a solid black turtle or sometimes they turn yellow. He's an example of one that's turned yellow. If you look closely you can see the spots on his skin.

(sorry - image seems to be damaged. I'll try later to post it again.)


On the plastron, it does look like very pronounced shedding. He does not look infected to me. How long has he been like this? Do those loose pieces eventually fall off? How does his shell look underneath the loose pieces?

[lois]

thank you for your help.

the plastron had came off in whole pieces.
but it has shed like that for about 6 months.

the loose pieces eventually fall off. It gets worse when he basks.

I bought reptile vitamin nutrition yesterday. I hope my RES get better!