Urgent Care :: edges of the shell turning up

[KrisyD21]

We have an red ear slider that was givin to us we have only had turtles for about 8 months and i was worried about his shell. the edges on just one of the turtles is turning up and i was wondering if this is normal or if there is a problem?

[TNTurtles]

i have just noticed this on my turtle too, just barely in the back are they turning up and they are a little more flexible then the other parts..is this a part of their growing??

[steve]

How much water is in his tank, and what are you feeding him/how often?

[fishandcandy]

That's not normal.

[TNTurtles]

well the vet told me to lower the amnt of water in the tank to about 2x the length of his shell and im feeding him hatchling pellets every day along with w/e lettuce he will eat

but, when i cleaned the tank this week i raised the water more so he could have more room to swim

you can see the back left and right edges just barely turning up


here it is from the side, its right there above his leg


i also noticed this kind of softer white/clear strip down the middle of his plastron


this is the amnt of water in the tank (as recommended by the vet)

[Turtleboy]

yeah i never really get that, veteran turtle owners say to put as much as possible (seems right to me, the more room to swim the happier they'll be) but the people who treat pets for a living say a different amount?

[marisa]

How much do you feed at a time and how often do you feed? Overfeeding and/or too much protein can cause too fast a growth, which in turn can cause the shells to turn upward. Hatchlings can have growth spurts and as part of that, the shells can start to turn upward as well. This happened to two of my eastern painteds when they were hatchlings, and by cutting the amount of food they ate as well as the amount of protein in the diet, the upturn of the shell was corrected.

The scutes above the tail often have a bit of "give" to them, especially in hatchlings (the shell hardens at around a year).

Is the tank pic with the water level as it is now or after you raised it?

You could give your turtle more swimming room if you got rid of that pile of rocks on the left and just had some on the bottom for him to forage in.

[TNTurtles]

i feed once a day and try to give as much as would fit in his head but somtimes maybe just a tiny bit more =) lol. Where do you think he could be getting too much protein from, the pellets?

The tank water was after i raised it a bit, Davinci loves that pile of rocks to climb on to kind of get out of the light but relax in the water. I thought it would make something good for them to rest on. But, if i have it, i do have to leave the water lower. Maybe i could try raising the water up more and putting the fake plant back in for him to rest on.

What about the clear stripe on his plastron? do you think that is part of growing too? Its a lot softer than the sides.

[fishandcandy]

You may be overfeeding a little. Do you give any type of calcium supplement? I think the stripe is part of growing, but I'm not sure.

[missibsu]

Mine had that whitish stripe, and as they near a year old it is fading. I would venture to say it is from growing. Since mine are starting to slow down in growth it is becoming harder. Although, they have a long way to go before they are full grown.

[TNTurtles]

I try to feed them cuttlebone but no luck yet in getting them to eat it. One of them ate some lettuce but neither has shown interest in cuttlebone. Where do you think they could be getting too much protien from? the pellets im feeding them?

[cam722]

If you look at the ingredients of the pellets, you'll see that most of them are made mainly of protein. What else are you feeding them? Any other meats or treats? How many pellets are you feeding them a day?

[TNTurtles]

well my healthy turtle(Davie) is eating hatchling zoomed pellets so they are tiny...i put a small bit in my hand (about the size of her head) and put it in her little feeding tank. The other one(Leo) is being treated for a vit. A deficiency so his eyes are partly closed/swollen and he has to be hand fed. I feed him some reptomin sticks and he usually nibbles on each one. So Id say he gets maybe 3-4 whole ones. I leave lettuce and cuttlebone in the tank for Davie and she nibbles on both. I do try to offer Leo some lettuce and stuff in the feeding tank while I'm feeding him but no real luck yet. I wish he would eat it b/c lettuce is supposed to help with his vit. A deficiency.

I used to do feeder fish, but haven't tried it in about a month or so b/c davie at all 10 fish within 15 minutes. I guess I could try it again but maybe not get so many fish this time. Treats...there are some dried shrimp and krill as part of the reptomin 3 in 1 bottle and I rarely feed that to either of them. I tried fruit a while ago but they were just brought home and didn't want to even try them. I'm kind of scared to feed them fruit from my college cafeteria b/c of how it sits out for a bit and other ppl stick there hands in there. I would try one or two types of fruit from the grocery store but I dont know which one to try first. Anyone have any recommendations on what worked really well with their turts?

[marisa]

How is your turtle being treated for the Vit A deficiency? Lettuce won't help a Vit A deficiency in any appreciable way. Try some plain cod liver oil applied on the eyelids once or twice a day with a q-tip. If you do this for several days and it is a Vit A deficiency, you should see some improvement. Giving foods high in beta carotene (squash, pumpkin, carrots, red peppers, etc.) are a safe way for your turtle to get Vit A.

[TNTurtles]

he is being treated with this gooie eye ointment, but the vet said lettuce would help to prevent any future reoccurances. I kinda just squirt a little on there and use the edge of the ointment tip to spread it around, i used to use my finger but i thought using the tube would be easier. You think i should use a qtip instead?
I apply it twice a day and its been about 2 weeks. Finally one swollen eye is starting to open. The eyelids are still swollen so he cant open all the way, but hes getting there. Should it be taking this long?