Urgent Care :: Shell Issues

[squirt!]

It is green between my turtle's scutes, and on the center scutes there are specks that either resemble fungi or shiny plastic wrap.... o_O i will post pictures asap but in the meantime 1) what is the shell diagnosis (fungi? algae? something even more serious?) and 2) what can i do to take care of it? thanks so much.

[tammi]

I would say the green between scuts is most likely algae and the specks is most like the scutes beginning to shed. The algae can be scrubed off with a soft toothbrush but dont get agressive with it. Light scrubbing should do. As for the shedding scutes just leave them be they will shed on their own.

[squirt!]

update: the 'specks' now look like aluminum foil... is it a mineral deposit or something? and thank you for the response tammi, i will definitely look into the toothbrush.

[tammi]

Can you post pictures it would help to decide what's going on if we could see it.

[steve]

A pic would be very helpful. If it has a golden appearance, it sounds like normal shedding.

[Tokapeli]

are the aluminum foil specks still visible when the turtle is completely dry or just when its underwater? When my turtle starts to shed you can see shiny spots when shes underwater, i think its just the water getting under the loose scutes

[squirt!]

yeah it looks more translucent when dry and out of water; when it's IN the water that's when it looks like an offwhite/mineral-y color. working on getting the pictures, im still looking for the camera o_O
thanks!