Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ABout a year ago i rescued a turtle. She was in very bad condition. Her nails were way too long, her beak was so over grown she couldnt' eat, her skin was see through and her shell was flaky.Most of hte problems have gooten better. Her nails are almost back to normal, her skin is looking much better and has its color back and her beak is starting to look normal. THe only thing is her shell is still looking the same(a bit better but not much).In the groves(between the scutes) looks weird,not like the shells i have seen in pics. Will it get better and what can i do to help it or is it always going to be like that?

Here is a pic of her beak, will it ever look normal?

The vet originally ground down the beak but the rest is jsut from her eating on a rock.

I dont know what you mean bout the shell.. looks pretty good to me.. but I think "she" is a he, red eyes and orange face.. not a common thing in a female three toe.

The scutes on the shell are flaky looking. I will try to get a better pic of it later, maybe you can't tell by the one i posted earlier.

Are you sure it is a male? Her stomach isn't concave like males should be, its falt as can be. The Vet told me she was a girl, as before i got her her name was george and he said i should change it as i have a female.

I dont think I've ever seen a female three toe so brightly colored before, male three toes dont hve much of a concave.. if they do at all, maybe you can get a tail shot next time you post pics?

The problem with the tail is it is just a small bump, the girl i got her from said she was attacked my a dog and it was bitten off. So looking at the tail isn't realy helpful.

If you want i can get some pics of its stomach, or whatever other clues can help sex "her"

Valerie,

It looks like your turtle might have shell rot.
You can treat it with Betadine, which is an ointment available at drug stores. Keeping the shell dry and making sure that the turtle has access to unfiltered sunlight when conditions are suitable will help clear up the problem as well.

Tim

Thanks, It does kind of look rotten in the parts in between the scutes. Not to bad but kind of like a rooten log look(if you know what i mean).Does that also cause flakiness?

I will look for the betadine ointment next time i'm at the store.

She is indoors for the winter(its -20c today) so she doesn't get natural sunlight. I have her with a spot light(regualr bulb) for the day and i put on a infared light at night to keep the temps from falling too low. I also have a UVA/B light (not exactly sure which one). She has a water dish(clay pot bottom) to soak in, its only about 1 1/2" deep so her shell never really gets too wet, and she doesn't really sit in it all too long(like not all day).

Thanks for the help. I will look into the shell rot and get that cream.

ps:whats your thoguhts on whether its a boy or girl?

I can only make a guess from what little you have told us and what I can see, but the shell looks to me like it was attacked by some type of bacterial agent, probably because he was so ill. It made the area between the scutes breakdown. Since the turtle was sick, gases or blood may have built up under the shell due to the illnesses and damaged the scutes even further.

If the shell rot is now eliminated, bony growth will fill in the lines. I think I see some of that now. The flakey part of the shell will slowly come off and probably not regrow. His shell will never look normal but he more then makes up for that with his sweet face

It's all a guess and until a vet does a culture on some of the debris we won't know for sure. Good luck!
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Tess
Kingsnake.com Forum Host

Since its hasnt' gotten any worse then when i first got her,i dont 'think it is anything serious.

Will the betadine help? IS it worth getting and trying?

What else would yo ulike to know about her? any more pics you would like to maybe see? i can try to get better ones.