Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This weekend I got a call about a snake that got abandoned, I went to get the snake and there were also a adult pair of boxies. The male is missing a tail but overall is not in to bad of shape. The female also id not to bad, but has these marks on her shell where it all white, what is it and will the color ever come back? I am waiting for poop to get a fecal done on both. Here are the pics


Any help would be helpful.

I will try the pics again.

The white marks appear to be on the surface, over top of the scutes, almost like paint or cement. At first glance, I started to say it looked like old lawn mower damage, but I don't think so, because you can actually see the growth rings through the white so the scute surfaces seem to be intact. From the way the marks are around the perimeter of the back of the shell, it's possible a radio transmitter was attached with temporary cement as part of a telemetry tracking study and the cement hasn't worn off all the way. It's hard to tell without having the turtle in front of me.

What you are probably seeing is the bone beneath the scutes. I would guess that these exposed areas are the result of an old injury of some sort; it is not unusual to see turtles that are missing patches of scutes (keratin).

There is one area that kinda lifts up, and she has maybe a old injury it looks like a hole. I will see what the vet says and let you know.

The white looks like scars probably from some sort of old injury.
The color likely won't come back but as time goes by it may darken.
Fungal infections can cause whitening so since you're going to be getting fecals done you might see what the vet thinks.
I may be wrong but frankly I don't think it's a real problem.
Let us know what you find out & congrats on the new turtles in your life!
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PHRatz