Reptile & Amphibian Forums

recently, my turtles'(2 and a half years old) shells are starting to become 'weird'. the lines in between the plates are turning red on the upper shell. on the lower shell, the main line on the shell(in the direction : from the head to the tail) has also turned red/pink while becoming much wider. there is also a pronounced depression on the upper shell, on the lower half(the half closer to the tail), the shell does not seem to be as curved as it should be. is anything wrong with them? this only happened recently when i started using the flourescent tube more frequently, could that be causing the problem. the shells do not feel soft. pls advice me cos there isn't a vet anywhere i live as i understand that treats terrapins.

Can you post a pic? When baby turtles grow they get brown lines around the green scutes, but it shouldn't be red. The flourescent tube shouldn't cause any problems. Is the water clean?
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erm.... i'm sorry but i'm unable to put a picture on the net. yup, the water is clean, i only realised their weird shells when i was changing the water. erm... can someone pls post a pic showing the lower shell of any 'old' terrapin. i just want to see how many plates there should be on the lower shell to compare. i really appreciate anyone's help.

or else, can someone pls tell me where i can upload the pic. ? i have taken the pic already, only need some place to upload it.

yup, finally got the pic uploaded. so... what's wrong?

http://www.imageshack.us/img1/795/terra-7.jpg

another pic

and 1 last pic

so... as you can see from the pictures, the shell has a depression at the rear end. also, on the underside, it is visibly purple color and with some other stuff. does anyone know what's the problem??

Thats no RES. What kind of turtle is that? Ive never seen one like that.
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Can you post a pic of the whole turtle?

That is what happens to their shell when you overfeed them on too high a protein diet. Warps and gets bumpy. This poor bugger is morbidly obese too.
As for the purple to be quite honest It is does not rub off with a gentle scrub of a soft bristled tooth brush (which would rule out reddish algae or deposits of some sort) You really need to get it to a vet. Is the skin pinkish on the legs neck or anywhere else. It could be a sign of a systemic infection of some sort. Not a vet so I want try pop diagnosis but I think you need to take your chances and get to ANY vet you can to see what can be done. It has an infection of some sort to the degree that that is what is causing that redness it will need antibiotics.

oh... so its obese... that explains that bump in the shell. but for the underside, i'm more worried about the 'new stuff' popping out, the new 'plates', what exactly are those? is it new portions of the shell?

What size of tank is this turtle in??????? It looks to me, that not only is it over weight, but it does not have the right amount of space to grow in. Turtles only grow to there enviroment, and if it is to small, the shell gets deformed. I know this, because I was given a RES that had been kept in a ten gallon for three years, and it was very deformed, much like this one. It started looking normal after about a year, when I put it in a bigger enviroment. I don't know how it is now, because I no longer have it, but it did get much better. Not to get you to worried, I have read that it can kill the turtle. I am not an expert by all means, but I thought I would commet on this. I have no idea what the pink is. I have never seen that before. But, I would say that your poor little turtle is in really really bad shape. Poor thing. I hope that you can get him/her well soon. Good Luck!!!

The puffy pink is cause for concern. It could be just the fact that the animal is literally getting constricted inside it's shell from obesity or even possibly that it has a system infection. Or it may be not be a serious problem Either way it does warrant a trip to vet to look into the matter. How large an enclosure do you keep this turtle in. Apart from this pink condition you need to get it on a diet and in an enclosure where it has lots of room to swim and burn off some of that weight. Again I caution you against ignoring this condition and hoping it will go away. A vet (even one who may not necessarily treat reptiles if they are the only one available at all) must have a look at it.

Goold Luck

Steve

thanks for all your help! i keep it in a 10 gallon tank. yup, i realised that it is obese and i have changed their diet by feeding them less prawns. how old are your terrapins?? do you all mind posting pictures of the undersides of their shells so that i can compare how may rows/columns of plates there should be?

You must get them into larger accomodations. 10 gallons is just too small for any animal that is bigger than 2 inches or so. (and I am being rather liberal in saying that a 2 inch animal is fine in 10 gallons.) You can get them in a large plastic storage tub. This would be a suitable and relatively inexpensive alternative.

Regarding pictures of my Red eared sliders I literally have dozens at any given time as I work with rescues and get in many animals that we are constantly rehoming. I have 4 permanent residents and I can take a few pictures of them when I get a chance. If you sliders are 2 years old they should only be around 2-3 inches in shell length by now perhaps 3.5 on the larger side of things.

This accounts for the deformed shells and bloated leg areas that you see with your turtle.

I will get those pictures posted when time permits but in the meantime -- please consider larger accomodations and that Vet visit I mentioned early really is essential. If that pink tissue is a result of sepsis your turtle WILL die if it is does not recieve proper medical treatment.