How do you tell if your turtles are sick?

[Miss_Jaydee]

Heya,

I look after my turtles like they are my babies, but last night when I went to say good night (don't laugh I say good night to my staffies too), I noticed some white looking marks on there shells..... I do everything by the book so to speak, I read all the information I could find on Turtles before I got them.....

Now I know I read something about turtles getting spots on there shells is something to do with a lack of sunlight..... (I think), but I do take them out in the sun, am I not taking them out in the sun enough, and I'm not leaving them in the sun for very long because I know they can't cool them selves down like other animals, so I don't want to cook them...... I have feed them separatley...

I clean the tank every 12 days at the latest and change the eloda I have in there, I scrub the algae off everything and then replace 1/3 of the water, and make sure they have a health block in the tank all the time, there are some little fishies for them to chase in there (less every day) and I clean the filter once a week really well.......

Can anyone suggest what I am doing wrong?

Miss Jaydee......:cry:

 

[sasquatch001]

it could just be some retained shed, try to gently rub it off.

 

[Miss_Jaydee]

it could just be some retained shed, try to gently rub it off.

I know this is going to sound silly. But Turtles shed?

 

[Gavin]

yes you don;t really notice it, but when they have bits of skin coming off, that's a shed

 

[sasquatch001]

their feet look a bit furry and you notice the shell peeling. how old are they?

 

[mckellar007]

when you clean the filter, do you clean the whole thing at once? or in sections?

 

[-Peter]

give this site a try
http://www.australianfreshwaterturtles.com.au/index.php

 

[Miss_Jaydee]

when you clean the filter, do you clean the whole thing at once? or in sections?

I take the filter out and clean it then put it back in.... And when I clean the lot I put the turtles in to another container in water and clean the tank, rocks, dock, even the light and the filter then put it all back in with some old water and the water chemicals i got from the reptile man and the heath block?

 

[Miss_Jaydee]

:?
It didn't rub off, (but my bigger turtle tried to bite me) they actually look more like chips out of the shell like they have been fighting... but they don't feel like chips... I am currently looking at the website peter cave me

 

[Miss_Jaydee]

their feet look a bit furry and you notice the shell peeling. how old are they?

NO furry feet..... um I got them in July I think or around there, I have it in my license book.... So they would have to be at least 6 months or so.... Is there an age limit when they can be sold (you know like a puppy has to be 8 weeks)?

 

[coz666]

the individual scutes of shell all shed at different intervals usually in spring. if there is something your tortoise can lodge itself under or rub against can also damage the shell at this point of time. try using a toothbrush to gently massage away at any sign of growth and see what happens. also when giving sun exposure it is a good practice to let them dry out to kill any bacterial attack that maybe infesting.
filtration .. if you are cleaning your filters out under the tap and then replacing them back into the water , you are effectively killing all living/good bacteria from your water try using the water syphoned from the tank instead. the bacteria will stay alive and will only deminish in amounts instead of dying from chlorine exposure.

 

[coz666]

it sounds as though it is just the scute slowly removing from the shell..
your tortoise is growing thats all.

 

[Miss_Jaydee]

Thankyou so much - but what is scute?

 

[coz666]

its the little sections ontop of your carapice
little shapes on top of the shell

 

[Miss_Jaydee]

its the little sections ontop of your carapice
little shapes on top of the shell

I am going down stairs to see if i can get pictures, and find exactley how old they are cause i don't think the marks were on the carapice's they were around them .....

Thankyou for your help thus far thou

 

[mckellar007]

I take the filter out and clean it then put it back in.... And when I clean the lot I put the turtles in to another container in water and clean the tank, rocks, dock, even the light and the filter then put it all back in with some old water and the water chemicals i got from the reptile man and the heath block?

with the filter, clean it out sections at a time eg week one clean the top section, week 2 the second etc. if you clean out all the filter at once you are killing all the good bacteria that has built up. if you are really worried about the spots, dry the turtle off and then put some betadine on the spots, then leave them to dry for a bit, then put them back in, repeat it a couple of times (over say the course of the week) and see if it improves at all. even if it is just shedding, the betadine wont harm it.

 

[zinger]

ok it could be a fungus thing, cant remember what its really called but if it starts to get bigger but iodine on it. and keep them dry for but 2 hours a day

 

[Miss_Jaydee]

Here is a pic of the spots...