Roughly two weeks ago I captured a hatchling spiny softshell in apparent good health. I initially housed he/she in a 10 gallon aquarium (6 to 7 gallons of water) with proper filtration, a basking spot, 5.0 UVB lighting along with a 60 W basking bulb, and small smooth rocks for substrate. The water temp. fluctuates from 77 F at night to 84 or 86 F during the day. I offered reptile sticks, guppies, and crickets with no success for the first week. So I decided to change the substrate to sand, and now I've witnessed he/she eating guppies and snails on several occasions and I'm also offering river shrimp.Now, my main concern is something I first realized today. While eating a guppy I noticed a white, flaky, skin-like film on the front edge of the shell and partially covering the neck. I assume that this is some kind of fungus and not shedding skin due to it's location on the shell. Is that a valid assumption? If so, what is the best course of action? I've read that the "dry-tank method" with a betadine solution rinse every day for a week or so, along with neosporin on the shell afterwards will do the trick. But I'm concerned that this regiment could be too stressful and/or harmful for a very young spiny. Are there any other reliable cures/treatments? The turtle is fairly active and doesn't seem to be ailing in any way, yet. I've read a lot online and I'm pretty worried considering all the fungal infection caused deaths I've come across.



Sorry for the novel, but I wanted to provide as much info as possible to help you experts, help me. Thanks in advance!

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