Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So my friend who owns a pet store called me about a week ago and told me some customer tried giving him a spiny softshell that was living with this guys alligator at the time but he said they where both getting to big and he wanted to sell them. My friend at the petstore told him to leave the turtle and exit the store because of how bad the shell looked (might have been an exaggeration but it does look bad) so my friend called me up and asked me if I could take this turtle and I did. He is in a 55 gallon with maybe 7 or 8 inches of water. There is a heater, filter, pump, and basking light and basking spot in the tank. He is eating fine on reptimin pellets but his shell looks like hell. I have many other turtles ( african sideneck 3 red ears 1 alligator snapper 2 maps 1 common snapper and 1 florida softshell) but in all honesty I've never had like any illnesses or anything like that my guys have all been fine untill him so I am pretty much clueless as to what to do. My friend at the fish store gave me vitashell and said that might help so I gave him that. I'm just gonna attach the pictures and if anyone has any ideas let me know I really wanna get this guy better. any help at all is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Travis

Here is the link
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v214/jimmyjohnjohny/Animals/

I don't know if you'll get this, but that alligator did a job on the turtle. I don't know if those are teeth marks or claw marks, but I'd worry about a infection. Are any of the scratches deep or open? Or are they old wounds? Soft shells are very vaulnerable to bacterial infections. I recommend *if they're fresh* to keep him out of water for a few days. Keep him nice and warm with a heat lamp. And add some triple antibiotic ointment to his shell. The vitashell should heal the wounds more quickly, keeping skin moisturized always helps it heal. I would just look at the ingredients to make sure they're would be nothing that would burn in the wounds. After a few days, you can put him back in the tank. Keep his water slightly warmer around 78 degrees, and make sure it's really really clean. You don't want to help the bacteria Good Luck!

Do not keep the other turtles in with him. Provide about 4+ inches of clean sand on the bottom of the 55 for him to bury in and continue to feed as scheduled. The shell should clear up in a few weeks.