Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have tried everything in the world,and these turtles still get shellrot.I don't know what to do.I have lowered the ph of the water,i have u.v. steralizer,and wetdry filter on the aquarium.I even tried more frequent water changes,and I still have problems.I live in San Antonio TX ,and the water here is extremely hard.

I bought my matas from a guy near San Antonio, and they came with some shell rot. I have very hard water here in NJ too. A couple things I do: I only put purified water in their tank. Doubt this helps the shell rot but it keeps them from getting mineral deposits in their shells.

When their rot was bad I did the following once a week- now I do it once a month:

Take the turtles out of the water. Let their shells dry out. Take a clean soft cloth (I use a bandage) and work some Nolvasan skin and wound cleanser into the rotted areas. Let this sit and flush it out. When they are dry again- I put it some silver sulfadiazine cream 1% into the rotted areas. This is used for burn victims I think. Got a script from my vet but you could probably buy it online. Let them sit a couple hours like this and then I just put them back in the water with the cream on (used sparingly). I also add a Sulfa block to their water- the ones at my pet store are made by ZooMed and are called Doctor Turtle. Don't expect to see quick results. I have had my turtles for 5 years and some evidence of their old shell rot can still be seen. It takes a good number of sheddings to have the old pitting completely disappear. Hope this helps-

Chris

Hi Mike, Chris is correct, his method does work.

I raise matas in a bare tank with pieces of driftwood for decoration & acidity.

You need a lot of biological filtration to keep nitrate levels low. You can use a combo of a sponge filter with a Whisper power filter stuffed with a lot of foam bio media.

Change 25% of the water twice a week or whenever you see poop.

A small amount of plain, non-iodized salt helps prevent fungal growth in soft-shell turtles, but it may help matas too.

To treat, I use Betadine on the wounds, and gently debride off infected cheesy parts of the shell with a cotton swab. Let iodine air dry for 1-2 hours, therefore turtle needs to be dry-docked in warm room. I use peroxide as well to disinfect too.

Water pH is around 6.0 (SeaChem DiscusBuffer or AcidBuffer)

Good luck,

Minh
16 matamatas owned over 11 yrs (6 died of parasites/bacterial inftns of skin/shell)
714-750-4201
Calif.

Thanks for all the info on the shellrot.Sorry for not looking at the forum lately,for awhile there were no responses.The sad thing is this Mata-Mata is still eating good but the shellrot has worsen,to the point that the bone is exposed.I don't know what to do.I 'am debateing if I should put the turtle to sleep.All the vets in my town don't know anything.I know more than they do.It is very upsetting.I have raised several kind of crocodilians,turtles,snakes,exotic saltwater fish,and even a giraffe,and I never had such a problem.I can understand if I neglected the animal,but I didn't.
Thanks again Mike