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I have 3 turtles all together...2 RES 1male 1 female and 1 YBS female i think...but my YBS has patch on the neck behind its head i know for SURE its not a fungus its like the black skin simply peeled off to white skin it also has faint blood spots in the white patch like 2 or 3. my tank set up is decent not the best but decent i have 55 gallon tank or bigger (not sure) i have 30-60 gallon heater and 10-20 gallon heater 30-60 gallon filter and 10-20 gallon filter. i recently changed basking area cause they really couldnt get completely out of water so i made my own above tank basking area and they DO NOT use it i dont get it its frustrating any tips on how to get them to use it would be helpful and appreciated. also the above tank basking area has been in tank for about a month. my lights are exo terra uvb 100 its compact fluorescent bulb 23 watt (pretty sure its older than 6 months though) and i alternate exo terra daylight basking spot bulb 50 watt during the day and at night i use exo terra night glo 75watt. but my main concern is frankie (YBS) need to know if its harmless or harmful normal or ab-normal pleas and thank you ill work on pictures if necessary.

Do you have any pictures? One of your RES could be attacking your YBS. You will most likely have to separate them. If you also have pictures of your set up we can help you with getting them to bask.

ok i also use vita-shell stuff on all turtles...i hope these pictures work

pictures of husbandry...

the ramp

Hmm... I hope somebody else can chime in here. I'm wondering if they're fighting or... is her shell rubbing against her neck/head? I've never seen it that bad, but Tomi's shell used to rub on his skin and he was getting a bit of a raw patch. It went away though. Either way, the tank is still pretty small for 3 sliders, you should really keep an eye out for any aggression in which case you need to separate them. A quick solution would be to get one of those rubbermaid stock tanks, it's cheaper than another glass tank.

I don't know a lot about treating wounds so somebody else needs to answer this. Do make sure your water is clean to prevent any infection.

About your basking area, it looks very good, it might take them a while to get used to it so don't worry too much. You should leave pieces of their favorite food up there... start on the ramp so they see/smell it then put some pieces all the way on top. That will entice them to go up. You will know whether or not they used it when the food is gone. Also make sure it's warm enough up there so they'll want to bask. I have a question about your lamps... what are they sitting on? It almost looks like plexi. UVB won't penetrate plastic/glass so they won't get the benefits of UVB that way. You can replace the plexi with eggcrate/light diffuser or remove the plexi and suspend the bulbs.... or you can make an opening in the plexi so the light is unobstructed.

Also, is that gravel in your tank? If so, you should remove it. See this thread: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12532

Lastly, you don't need to use VitaShell, they just want your money

I also think it's from fighting or aggressive mating tactics. You will most likely have to separate them.

my lights are sitting on a metal screen like for a window and that is gravel lol ive taken it out before but tank had layer of gross stuff on bottom so i added rocks back and it helps hide the gross stuff...im guna get sand is that a good choice and do i need a specific type of sand? but as far as agression goes i havent seen any forms of agression my 2 RES are always by each other doing this weird thing with there claws fluttering face to face and my male RES is always sniffing female RES butt lol not sure whats goin on there but the reason i bring this up is they dont really even notice or pay attention to YBS...but the shell doing that to her neck may be the cause about a week ago i put all turtles in basking area then blocked exit so they couldnt get out and they were climbing on each other on the walls then they would just fall sliding there head down the wall and there shell pushing into the back of the head...idk but i appreciate everything though.

You might not just be witnessing the attacks. Separating is expensive, but potential vet bills would be more.

steve wrote:You might not just be witnessing the attacks. Separating is expensive, but potential vet bills would be more.

Agreed!

Here's the sand thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=17268