Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just received two baby turtles 1 1/4" each and I have some questions about them. First of all I noticed that the back rim of their shells is soft. Is that normal? The rest of the shell is hard it's just the very back. These turtles also have spots on their shell like a leopard (green with black spots). I have two other turtles and their shells are not like that, can they just be a different species of a red eared slider? One more thing, one of the babies has a white thing between his nose and mouth. I don't know what it is, I thought it was food but it seems to be attached to him. Has anyone ever seen or heard of this before?
If anyone has any answers to these questions it is very much appreciated. I would like to know if they are healthy so I can put them in the tank with my other two.
Thanx,
Angela
P.S.
How do I post a pic on this message board?

The white thing is an egg tooth, it means your babies are very young. Very young turtles also have soft shells, they will harden as they grow. I don't know about the spots, you would have to post a picture.
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Mom to:

1 little boy born 7/19/04
2 male RES, born 2001
1 ribbon snake, age unknown
3 FBT, ages unknown
1 female bearded dragon, born 5/2002
1 male lab mix, born 5/24/03
1 female calico cat, born 6/7/04

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edited signature file [phw 10/19/04]

I actually loaded my pics onto a picture photo album (not sure if it was really called this) under this website... and then my pictures appear as a choice to put them in the post at the bottom of the posting page...

I am not sure about the spots on the shells.. but since your one turtle still has the 'tooth' i would say they are VERY young, which means their shells will be awfully soft. in order to help the turtles shell harden, you can feed it calcium either through egg shells, cuttle bone or calcium powder.

also, with brand NEW turtles you always want to quarantine them from the other turtles for about 2 months. just to make sure they are healthy! you wouldnt want to make your other turtles sick by introducing them to these turtles incase they happen to be sick or carriers of some disease... i am pretty sure the quarantine period is about 2 months, but i am sure someone else could answer this better! i just wanted to say not to try and put your turtles with the other ones just yet! hope this helps
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~ Evie

Pets:
RIP 0.1.0 German Shepherd {Dusty}
0.1.0 German Shepherd/Collie mix {Shadoe}
0.0.2 RES turtles {Booger & Snot}
1.0.0 African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
0.0.2 Snail {Gary & Larry}

2 months? It's a good thing you told me because when my second turtle came I only left it in quarantine for a week (this was 1-2moths ago) and now I'm noticing the top of his shell is kind of grayish in some areas and I have no idea what it is. He seems healthy though, eating, swimming, etc. so now I'm worried that I put him in to early with the other one and hope it doesn't effect the other turtle. Does anyone know what it is? (when I can figure out how to post a pic I will).
I recieved the baby turtles 2 days ago and they haven't eaten anything yet. I've tried reptomin, blood worms, shrimp and lettuce. Any suggestions?
(sigh)so many turtles so many problems.
Thanx for the responces keep sending them!
Angela

Spike 2 1/2" healthy
MaryJane 1 3/4" white stuff on shell
2 babies (no names as of yet) 1 1/4" not eating and has black spots on shell which I don't know if normal.

You said that one of your older turtles has white on his shell. This could be Shell Rot, my suggestion is to take him/her to a vet. Same as the 2 babies. It might be pricey but it is the only way to be sure. You might want to look up shellrot, from what I recall the treatments are usually removing the turtle from the water for short times during the day to let the shell dry off (make sure you have placed for them to bask too) also, you clean there shells regularly with betatine (i'm not sure on the spelling of that) it's that brown orangey aniseptic, you can probably find it at your pet store. Thats the only thing I could think of. The vet is a good idea though, I looked up a vet in my phone book myself when I had a baby RES. The vet was very helpful, but sadly the little guy didn't make it, he had soft shell and when he stoped eating and I tried tube feeding for a week or so I felt it was best to but him down.

As for the babies. Young turtles commonly have softer shell material on the end of their shells, just above the tail. If they develop and other soft spots there is usually a problem. They should also be given placed to rest in there tank or shallow water, turtles can still drown if they arn't good enough swimmers. As for the spots, indiviual turtles has different shell designs, like fingerprints, if they are different from your other turtles but similar to each other they may just be related. You said it's like leopard print, that sounds pretty normal. There are only one kind of RES though. There are other sliders, like yellow belly. But if the babies have the red or orange colored "ears" then they are Red Ear Sliders, if not then they might be some other type of slider. (note* if they arn't red ears they should still be okay in the same tank as the reds, as long as they are similar sizes and healthy)

I also forgot to mention. You said they are not eating well. This can be a problem, there are many things that will cause them not to eat.

My first concern is tank setup, but since you have other turtles i'll skip it. I would like to mention though, that with younger turtles you can keep the tank a little warmer, (like in the low 80s) as long as you babies have a place to bask and cool down a little if they get to hot. My 2 babies stay about 80-84 (mostly such a difference my cause my room changes from 60-80 degrees due to house's heater problems)

Turtles are suseptible to stress. You've problem heard this before too, but give them a couple days, they my be stressed out with the move and all the changes and handleings. My two babies didn't eat well the first 2 days but got their appitites back by the end of the week.

They could also be sick, hopefully not, this would be the worst of the other two problems.

A note on feedings* Baby turtles are mainly carnivorous, they become more herbivous as they age. Young turtles need a diet low in protein but high in calcium. To much protien can cause shell deformities. You would be best to go for a hatchling food, but this stuff is hard to find, you usually have to order it online. Next best thing would be crushing up you normal turtle pellets. I find that my babies love the tiny dried shrimp you can find in the fish food section. Something I have recently heard about are these reptile rehab kits. They are usually called something like Reptile First-Aid. Supposedly they are drops of liqid nutrients that keep your pets hydrated and nurished and help get their appitite back. I haven't tried it myself but i have heard good things about these products.

Hope all this helps.

Try small pieces of earthworm or small live crickets - both of those have worked for picky eaters, just to get them eating.

Are you cooking the shrimp? I just microwave it in a little bit of water to cook it.

Ever consider adopting a slider? Sometimes hatchlings come up for adoption, but it sounds like you'll have your hands (and tanks) full already.

Katrina

If you were talking to me about getting some turtles I still have 2 young ones. I one I was talking about that I put down was from a trip to New York. The two babies I have now are also China Town turtles however I got them from someone else that desided they were to much work. They are doing fine and I'm moving them to a bigger tank soon. I'm gonna post pictures of them soon as well. They are probably just about2 inches, I haven't acually measured.

I don't cook that shrimp that I get. It's the tiny freeze-dried in the the shell kind. I don't think you would need to cook it, stuff like that is usually boiled already.

(I also have 2 different kinds of fat-tailed geckos so my tanks are pretty full. I have a 10 gallon sitting around but i'm going to breed crickets in it soon.)
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~Akira
African Fat-tailed Gecko 1.0.0
Leopard Gecko (hypo tang circle?) 0.0.1

If it's the frozen pre-cooked kind, then no, no need to cook it again. You might want to rinse it first, though, as some of those are packaged with saline.

Thanks for taking in those turtles that needed a new home.

Katrina

No it's not frozen it's freeze dried. In other words it has no to almost no water content and is dried. Same with the blood worms. You buy them in the fish food sections.
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~Akira
1.0 African Fat-tailed Gecko
0.0.1 Leopard Gecko (hypo tangrine circle-back?)
0.0.2 Red Ear Slider

brand new babies! thats the egg tooth on his snout. it'll fall off.