Reptile & Amphibian Forums

One of my N.A. woods has developed some small white patches on its plastron. Any advice on treatment?

along the edges...

This looks like abrasion from a rough substrate or, more likely, calcium deposition under the plastral scutes from the water supply. The areas are not consistent with bacterial sheel rot, which begins as pinkinsh areas under the scutes and become browninsh depressions as it progresses.

Don't listen to this guy. That is most definitely shell rot. Its more than likely a pseudamonus bacteria and this is very hard to cure. The only thing I have found that works is silverdyne. Its a burn cream that many herpers use to treat shell rot. You'll have to go to your vet to get a perscription for it. I usually dry dock during the nights and treat with silverdyne. My cousin had the same condition with one of his RES and the silverdyne worked wonders.

Good luck,

Matthew

Sorry, wrong again. Not all shell infections start off as pink.

I think I'll give the vet a call tomorrow. It's really small right now so whatever it is I'm going to try to nip it in the bud. Thanks,

Andrew Myers

Don't ever like to "pull rank" in a dagnostic situation, but have been a turtle keeper for nearly 60 years, have encountered and treated many cases of "shell rot", had a career in lab animal medical research in which I developed expertise in antibiotics. Although topical antibiotics (such as silvadine and betadine) are helpful in resolving the lesions of true "shell rot", injectable anitbiotics are a necessary component of treatment, in most cases. Still not convinced this is "shell rot", however, although I am reluctant to make a definitive diagnosis over ther internet.

What antibiotic do you recommend for internal use? In all your years have you never seen a turtle in captivity with the "dry" scud shell rot? I have a friend who is a herpetologist and he agrees that after seeing pics of this nature that it is a pseudomonas bacteria. It doesn’t have to be pitted and pink to be a form of bacteria. All the people that disagree with me on this give me a long list of accomplishments such as number of years working with turtles, places they have worked, and experiences but none of them have given me hard evidence that its not bacteria. They just say it doesn’t "look" like bacteria. Take the acid test, treat it and we will see who's right

P.S. the reason I ask about the internal antibiotics is because my vet gave me a prescription of the silverdyne but was hesitant about internal use as he didn't want to sterilize any guts. What do you recommend?

There are indeed cases of dry pitting and minor shell infection, but this does not appear to be the situatin in my opinion, although, as I said before, I am reluctant to make a definitive diagnosis based on the pictures alone. Minor "dry" lesions often do not involve a pinkish area under the scute and pinkish areas are usually visible primarily on plastral lesions. The principal bacterail agent in classic "shell rot " is often Benekia chitovora, rather than Pseudomonas, although this is a common pathogen of reptiles. A number of different organisms may be involved, however, and definitive micro biological studies are not that common. I would definitely descriminate "shell rot" from SCUD, however, a much more serious soft-tissue infection. I have treated dozens, if not hundreds of turtles with injectable antibiotics without significant side effects, if used in the proper dosage. My usual treatment is amikacin at 10 mg/ kg (six doses, two days on, one day off). Although this has a definite risk of kidney damage if overdosed or the animal is underhydrated, I have had no problems, even with 15 mg/kg for severe infections. Baytril (enrofloxacin) (10 mg/kg - about 10 daily doses) is very popular these days because of the lessend risk of kidney problems, but I have seen a number of reports of digestive problems and regurgitation with this drug. I have only used it a few times and cannot speak with great authority on its use. I usually debride the infected area of shell and apply topical anitbiotics daily after starting the first dose of injectable antibiotics and continue topicals until the lesion resolves and new tissue is evident.