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I recently took two turtles off a relative's hands after witnessing noticeable neglect and the general poor disposition of both of them. This forum has been an invaluable resource to me, and as I am completely new to turtle care, I would appreciate any advice at all. As a background, both turtles are male, around 12 years old. They have been raised on a diet of commercial turtle food their whole lives, with no access to a basking light or dry area. It was shocking to me that they managed to survive until now after learning about their recommended care.

One turtle, aside from a shell fungal infection, was deemed otherwise healthy. The other unfortunately fared worse. This is Fred:

(Pictures were taken last month).





You can see the peeling shell, pits, and indents. Especially concerning was a red flush/spots on the skin of his tail and rear legs. Also, he was very, very skinny and weak.

According to the advice on these forums, I took to daily cleaning of his shell with Nolvasan solution and application of antibiotic cream. His shell seemed to peel very badly for about a week or two after I got him (I think to get rid of the dead scutes) to the point of areas of exposed bone. Now, after two months of proper care and copious amounts of basking, his shell shows improvement as some areas have scabbed over and new growth is showing. There are also no new areas of exposed bone.

(Pictures taken tonight).


(A little hard to tell, but the light areas are scabs. Some are peeling with new growth underneath).


(New growth filling in previously white areas)

I'm unemployed right now, so I have taken him to the Humane Society of NY's clinic in hopes of cheaper vet bills. The exotic animal specialist there took multiple blood, urine, and stool samples. The samples came back negative for internal infection or parasites. This is puzzling to me, as what else could be the cause of the redness? The vet did not seem concerned about it, but offered me no explanation.

Also, the blood samples showed elevated BUN levels, indicating kidney damage. Anyone have experience with this? There seems not to be much info about turtle kidney damage online. During Fred's last vet visit a few days ago, the vet suggested a biopsy. I did not have a chance to discuss this with the vet in detail yet, but aside from my obvious financial constraints, I feel such a procedure would be too invasive for too little benefit? I would like to hear others' opinions on this as well.

Fred is steadily gaining weight, seems more active and stronger, but I'm still very concerned about him. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

That's an incredible amount of damage AND healing. Fred is a real trooper.

A bit of redness is not unusual, especially at areas where the shell meets the skin or the webbing on their limbs. Poor water quality might also allow some redness to appear. I cannot recall any members dealing with kidney damage, though my first instinct would be to check with turtle rescues and specialized forums like turtleforum.com

Have you noticed any puffiness? Any suggested course of treatment?

Man that is one tough turtle, I'm surprise he is still around after that neglect! I know it can be and is frustrating for you. But be assured you are doing a great deed for Fred. If he could talk I'm sure he would say so. Awesome to see some improvements. I wish Fred some luck and a speedy recovery!

steve wrote:
Have you noticed any puffiness? Any suggested course of treatment?

Hmm. Didn't notice it until tonight, but there does seem to be a bit of puffiness around the rear legs. Now, I'm concerned this may be water retention due to his kidney issues.. Could this also be caused by constipation though? I'm a bit confused, because I see him go every night. He passes good size stools, but I still see him kicking his tail. I have emailed my vet about this and we'll see what he says.

Regarding suggested treatment, the vet only said continue proper husbandry. No need for dry-docking or anything else so long as he eats and basks normally. I do still take him out and clean him gently with nolvasan as extra precaution. I'm not sure if I trust the vet on this, as most of the forums I have read have with turtles that have as bad shells have suggested some amount of dry-docking and SSD cream. However, there are no soft spots on his shell and it seems to be making progress, so I guess its fine.

Small amounts of puffiness could sometimes be loose skin or a little flab. Different shell injuries require different treatments. Wounds and breached shells usually benefit from dry docking. How often does he bask? What's his lighting setup like?

My mom gave my cousin a painted turtle 23 years ago. It died at the age of 22. Apparently, she (it was a female) had no heat lamps, filtration, basking stone, and mostly ate commercial turtle food and dead flies my uncle killed in my grandpas restaurant. No veggies. How did it survive that long?

One Year Update

Fred is going to a new home tomorrow, and I thought I would share a final update on his progress before he goes. He will be sorely missed! If only my other turtle was more tolerant of a tank mate! And if only I had $$$ for a huge tank... Well on to it then...











Fred's been doing extremely well! The concerning bloating I noticed last year was definitely water retention. I could see the fluid move from his back to front if I picked him up at an angle. It would clear up by itself for a few days and then come back. Thankfully, it disappeared for good after a few weeks without any medical intervention.

The pictures are a bit more saturated than in real life, but his colors have deepened quite a bit. Parts of his shell that had exposed bone have completely filled in, though some areas are still a bit rough. I'm not sure if those areas will ever smooth out. Shininess is returning, though since his shell rot was so deep, I suspect another year or two and a few sheds to really return to normal shininess. What's important is that it is recovering. The biggest improvements in his shell condition have been in the most recent months. I was becoming afraid his shell was far too damaged to ever recover.

Unfortunately, I did overfeed him initially which resulted in the growth lines you can see. (Also he hated veggies at first which can't have helped). But I have since cut back his protein by a lot. He is now eating a very healthy diet with lots of greens!

Though I'm sad to see him go, I'm relieved I could help him up to this point. The past year has been super rewarding. So, good luck and best wishes to my turtle-for-the-year, Fred. Hope he lives a long and happy life

Wow that is amazing.

Good luck Fred and good job shi000!

I haven't read this entire thread yet but the first sentence resonates deeply with me!!! I am in a similar situation and those pictures look very similar to my turtle.

Wow. Your story is so close to mine. I also rescued a neglected turtle from a relative and her shell is just like Fred's. I have been scratching my head about this for the last week, suspecting a possible fungus. Like you, I am experiencing financial barriers but am bound and determined to make the most responsible choices for my turtle. I'm trying to locate a herp vet in my area in case I cannot harness control over my situation. What a racket!!!! Very hard to access an affordable and reputable herp doc. Anyway, thank you so much for sharing your experience. I've been hearing about the benefits of SSD cream to treat shell issues. I really want to acquire some but for now I have opted to try two percent Clotrimazole (garden variety anti-fungal) in combination with a baking soda scrub. I don't want to speak too soon but after I wiped my turtle down after the first application, I noticed improvement. I really hope this works. Your post has confirmed my suspicions of fungus - though I really need a diagnostic confirmation before I can be sure. Steve has helped a great deal too!!!! I am so grateful for the information I am finding here. I don't know where I would be without it.