Urgent Care :: Concerned about baby RES shell. Infection? Shell rot? HELP!

[mkosko]

I have had my baby RES, Sheldon, for a few months now. I rescued him from someone who refused to properly care for him, he thought carting him around in a small Ziploc container with a few rocks was an acceptable habitat. I have since put my turtle in a 55 gallon tank filled 3/4 way full with a 100 watt heater, live plants, feeder fish, and a filter system as well as a basking dock with a heat lamp and UVB light. My turtle is only about 1 to 1 1/2 inches long and is very shy. He eats normally, and i think he basks normally (he's too shy to bask when anyone is looking). He swims normally and gets plenty of stimulation and exercise chasing around the guppies. Recently I have become very concerned with him shell condition and am worried that he may be sick. There are three yellowish spots on his shell. The slimy looking coating on his shell is ViatShell, I put it on right before I took the picture, I've been putting it on every few days hoping it would help. I may just be over reacting but I love this little guy a lot more than I'd like to admit and I'd be devastated if anything happened to him!

[steve]

I wouldn't use VitaShell anymore as it's speculated to actually cause shell problems. Were those spots present when you got him? What is he eating? Does he bask?

[mkosko]

No the spots showed up about a month ago and haven't gotten any bigger. He eats ReptoMin baby turtle food every morning and occasionally I feed him ReptoTreat Gammarus (shrimp). There is also an Amazon Sword Plant in his water that I've watched him eat on almost a daily basis and there are about 5 guppies in his tank. He eats one every week or so. He does bask but is very shy about it. If anyone walks in the room he jumps back in the water. I leave his lights on all day so I assume he basks when no one is home. I pulled him out of the water today and dried him off and his spots are hard to the touch. I rubbed my finger nail on one of them and no color came off nor was it fuzzy.

[steve]

I'm not certain what it is. I would skip the shrimp, give the shell some basic cleaning and dry dock him a few days.