Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

New member here! Just wondering if you all could help me with this. My baby RES' shell color is looking weird (please see the attached image). The center of the carapace and the edges seem to be turning to white/very pale green. I am not sure if it's shedding or it is shell rot. Its shell is firm, no funny ordor, no fuzzy stuffs, and the white areas cannot be scraped off by fingers. It is very active, eating like a piggy, basking and sleeping well. I have an UVB bulb and basking light, and change the water everyday with declorinator.

Any thought/idea/suggestion would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help!

If the image didn't come up, here is the link:

http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g13/peasandcarrot/?action=view¤t=DSC01907.jpg

Thanks!

That's very interesting! Don't rely on me, you should always take your turtle to a qualified herp vet for accurate diagnosis. Having said that, it doesn't look like a fungus which was my initial instinct upon reading your post. It appears that your turtle's growth pattern is abnormal. When it's forming new shell material, it's coming out almost colorless. I've heard that with some turtles that tend to overeat (Blanding's, NA Wood), they can have a bleached look to their new shell growth. Basically, they're growing too fast. What are you feeding your little guy, and how often? How old is he/she?

Thanks for your note! I am not sure how old my baby turtle is but I have had it for 1 month and a half now and it's grown quite a bit since I got him/her. Its SCL is about 2 inches long. It eats a lot. If I allow it, it could eat up to 20 Reptomin sticks per day. It (as well as my baby Western Painted) just seems hungry and beg for food all the time.

On Saturday evening, my baby RES started breathing with its mouth opened and wheezing. So I took it to the vet for an emergency visit yesterday and it has pneumonia. I asked the vet if its shell is normal and he told me it is fine. When he asked what and how much much I've been feeding the turtle, he agreed that the amount which I've been giving it is in the high end.

I'm so sorry to hear about that. I hope everything works out ok. Keep us updated. I'm so glad that you found a vet to help you out.