Urgent Care :: Black mark on nose??

[Hegel]

My three year old female (I think) red eared slider has a black mark on her nose. I just noticed it the other day, and the other one (also female- I think) who lives with her in the tank doesn't seem to have any signs of a similar problem. She seems to be a little sluggish, but they go through a few days at a time when they are inactive, sometimes. I wouldn't have noticed anything different in her behaivoir had I not noticed the black mark. I'm worried. Could her tank mate have bit her? Or is it some kind of fungus? It isn't raised, and when I touch it, she doesn't seem more sensitive there (not that any turtle like its' beak touched). I'm baffled. Any ideas?

[sonyj]

Having a few more details on their set up helps us tremendously. We need an overall picture of their environment to rule out or help figure out what might or might not be wrong.

There's an announcement at the top of the Urgent Care section that says to please read before posting. In that announcement there are several questions that you need to answer when posting under this section just to save time and help us be able to help you. You can find that announcement here.

Thanks.

[marisa]

Can you post a picture of the problem area?

[Mamoy&Miik]

I also saw the same thing on my turtle's nose, just one nostril has a black spot. I tried touching it but it won't get out. Anyway, I've separated my turtles because the first thing that entered my mind was maybe they scratched each other...I see one on top of the other once too often and maybe they get rough. In any case, if it's a fungi or something...I thought it best to separate them so that they don't infect each other.

My turtles are still very young. I have two, one male (Miik) and one female (Mamoy). Both are just two inches in length. Had them for a month now. My set up is just a big fish bowl (12 inches in diameter) with small pebbles and about an inch and a half height of clear water from the pebbles. The pebbles are arranged in such a way that it forms an incline so that the turtles can climb to dry space when they don't want to be in water. Before the black spot appeared, my female turtle's left eyelids turned reddish and she couldn't open them unless I run her face under clear running tap water. So now she both has a black spot on her nostril and sore eyelids.

The male turtle has a funny-looking growth on his neck. It's like some sort of strange lump that's stuck in his neck's skin. Sometime's though it's not there. Last week, I pulled it out and it seemed like some hardened dirt. But this week, it's back. I tell you, it's ridiculous! I don't think it's food stuck since they have a separate feeding bowl and they always finish their food.

I change the water in their fishbowl everyday. And ever since I saw the spot and the sore eyelids, I've moved the other turtle in another bowl. At night though, they sleep in a dry large box with lots of fresh tissue. I change the tissue whenever it gets soiled.

Still trying to figure out how to post photos here though I'm kinda hoping there's an update on Hegel's post...We might be experiencing the same thing with the spots.

Hope you guys have some good advice.
Help...I'm laughing here just reading how silly these things I've been observing from my turtles but at the same time, it's a bit worry-some.

Thank you!

Crissy

[sonyj]

...My set up is just a big fish bowl (12 inches in diameter) with small pebbles and about an inch and a half height of clear water from the pebbles...

Have you read the stickies located at the top of each section of the forum or the main site? If you have then what I'm about to say will come as no shock. Your setup is dreadfully inadequate! I believe this is your turtles main problem with health issues. You should have nothing smaller than a 40 gallon tank filled as high as possible with water for both of your turtles to be living in with the proper lighting (UVB light & heat light), filter, basking area above/floating on water, no gravel, heater to keep correct stable temps. Without these things you can not hope that your turtles will be healthy. And why are you removing them at night? They need to be in their environment 24/7 -- that is if it's correctly set-up. Please take some time to upgrade their habitat.

If you are rinsing the turtles eyes with water from the tap this could be irritating it due to the chlorine. Most keepers use a dechlorinator when filling their tanks with tap water so that it will not hurt the turtles. Also with so little water and no filtration in their environment this could be the cause of the turtles problems.

Having pics of the turtles will help determine what is wrong with each of them, but without the proper setup and habitat you will not be able to maintain the quality of life that these turtles need.

[Mamoy&Miik]

Brought them to the vet. They've got ear abscess.
Anyway, am shopping for a set-up now.
Thanks for all the advice.

[missibsu]

Think ahead when buying...they are only going to get bigger! Glad you are getting a new set-up and glad you did the vet trip!