Urgent Care :: Brown spots on bottom of shell

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Post Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 3:18 pm   

I'm glad your turtles don't look like turtle #1, who has a severe bacterial shell infection.

Severe shell infections will soften the shell and are often (but not always) smelly and/or wet. There may be some bleeding. They tend to get their foothold along the seams of the shell, or at the site of an injury, or underneath seriously retained scutes.

Bruises on a shell can look dark. Fungus usually looks bright white. Things like iron in the water or color on a basking platform can stain a shell. Minerals in hard water can coat a shell with a white glaze. When a scute is getting ready to shed its top thin layer, it gets a dull, whitish look.

It's also possible that your turtles' shells are perfectly healthy, and the brown you are seeing is just part of the normal pattern or some sort of minor stain.

If you are concerned about your turtles' health, and I suppose you are since you posted here in the Urgent Care section, you should make an appointment with a good herp vet and take them in for a check-up. Since we can't see the problem, there's not a whole lot we can do to help.

Here's a caution if you see a vet. If the vet offers to give a vitamin A shot, first make sure the vet is positive your turtle really needs vitamin A and then discuss other alternatives to shots with the vet like eye drops with vitamin A, cod liver oil or food supplements. Several turtles have recently had very bad reactions to vitamin A shots and I think it's best that if vitamin A is needed (and often it's not) the safer methods be used instead.

Also, when you clean your turtles' shells, be very gentle. There are nerves in the shells and especially along the seams they are sensitive. If you use a brush, make sure it's soft and brush lightly. You can also clean the shell with a wet paper towel.
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Post Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 8:23 pm   

Well,I've tried cleaning it with a soft toothbrush,but it doesn't come off.I think it might jsut be the color changing,because it's both turtles,but I'm not sure.I don't know when I can post any pics.,if I can at all.
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Post Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 12:16 am   

Sometimes a stain will sort of sink in, then it won't wash off but will gradually wear off over time. An example would be a person that gets permanent ink on his/her skin. It's possible your turtles' shells are stained with something that won't wash off ever with a soft brush. If that's the case, it should come off eventually when they shed.
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Post Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 6:42 pm   

Ok,thanks!
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Post Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:22 am   

Well,I think it's just the shell color changing,but I'm not completely sure.Well,thanks to everyone!
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Post Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 6:16 pm   

Well,it hasn't went away.I think it's probably just the shell getting darker.
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Post Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 6:19 pm   

I found a pic. of a hatchling and on the left and the right side toward the top not all those lines,but those little areas.But isn't also in other areas here's the link to the pic.:

http://www.emberdaze.net/turtles/t4_plastron.jpg
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Post Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 10:14 pm   

Are you saying that your turtle has spots on his plaston that look like the spots in the picture - those two spots at the top, up by his neck?
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Post Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 10:15 pm   

No,not the dots,but like the darker area kinda toward the middle sides.
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Post Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 10:33 pm   

Ahhh! Finally I see what you're talking about! I seen that on lots of pictures of hatchlings - it may be stain from a basking area or blood flow showing through a shell that's not very thick yet or a shell changing color, like you said. I wouldn't worry about it unless the blotches get more pronounced or if the shell over the discolored area gets rough (either swollen or indented) or it gets soft, slimy or smelly.
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Post Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 5:42 pm   

Ok,thanks!That's a relief!! :)
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Post Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 3:56 am   

untsmurf wrote:Can you take a picture of it??

Do they look anything like this:
Image


I also need help with this. My turtle has the same as the photo above, except a bit more darker. is this a problem for my turtle?
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Post Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 9:25 am   

No, that's just the normal shell coloration.
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Post Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 10:56 pm   

I mean like the brown spots in the picture, not the black circles
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Post Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 1:00 am   

Thats normal, on some older RES, the plastron can look all black.
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