Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a yellow bellied slider that has two small white spots on his shell (top side). Now I don't know if I should be worried about it or not. I tried to see if they are sensitive, but it is hard to tell when he keeps trying to bite and scratch. His appetite is well and everything else seems normal (including his basking habits).

Thanks for reading and thanks for your help!
Meghan Wire

Is the area soft or hard. Perhaps the scutes are starting to peel. If it is soft it could be shell rot. I just cleaned off a cooter that I had in my outside pond with white areas on some of his scutes. These patches where soft though and turned out to be scutes that did not fully come off and rot developed under them.

Well nothing really scratches off. It's white streaky looking (for lack of a better description). I just wonder if I should put him in a dry box and but some anti fungal on it, or try to find a herp vet here in my town.

It may just be a scute getting ready to shed. Keep an eye on it. If get soft and does not peel gets any worse looking or gets a bad odor I would be concerned. He does have an area to climb out and bask right? Does he use it at all?

Mine spend most of the late morning through the day basking and pop back in the water toward evening.

He should basically be dry docking himself if he basks.

He definately basks. When I walk out of my room I can hear him *plop* back in the water.

I tried again to get a closer look at the spots, but he's got anger issues so it's difficult to do. That and I have mono right now and don't want to do anything to hurt him since I'm not in my best senses.

I'm probably going to try calling around vets here in my town to see if they do herps, maybe to just get a look. I'm a "worried-mother" like that

I'd do that now, it's better than stressing out over who to go to if there's a problem. Of course, it's hard to tell the difference between vets who know what they're doing and those who don't on the phone.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

Some of the things that will affect the health of the shell are basking temperatures and water quality. Do not be afraid to use a warm basking spot as this will facilitate shedding. I am currently using basking temperatures of 100 degrees. Make sure his water is very clean, as you can imagine this cannot be emphasized enough. What kind of filtration are you using, do you have gravel in the tank (get rid of it!), and do you do any water chemistry testing?

My personal feeling is to do some basic treatments at home before taking it to a vet. You could give him a mandatory dry out time, simply put him in a plastic container with the basking spot to keep them warm and dry. During this time you can apply some triple antibiotic (just generic stuff with no additives). During this time perhaps you could work on getting your turtle a little bit more used to handling?

By the way, I am the one who referred you here from the list serve.
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes

I'm curious, why do you say to get rid of gravel? I thought it gave the turtles better footing on the bottom.

Alison

Unless it is religiously cleaned, gravel holds waste. It is also a huge risk for impaction. It is too easy for a turtle to swallow the individual rocks. Why would footing be important when they have webbed feet? Everybody I have talked to that complained about how hard it is to keep their turtle tank clean, all had gravel. I have never had anyone complain with no gravel in the tank.
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes

What are the white areas if they are hard? Just curious. Jackie
Turtle_Talk

The fact that it is "streaky" suggests it is calcium deposition (from the water) under a scute that has not been properly shed. I would alternate drying out with rehydration and see if the scute does not peel easily. Do not continue peeling (with your fingernail only) if you meet reistance. I would discourage you from going to a random vet unless they are known for or advertise expertise in reptiles. Be prepared to pay at least $45 just to walk in the door - remember, it takes just as much diagnostic skill to treat a $15 turtle as it does to treat a $2,000 show dog, so don't be resentful at the price.