Terrapin shell problems
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Attachments :Hello everyone, long time no talk. Unfortunately this is the kind of email I don’t like to have to send out. Some time ago I addressed you regarding tiny old scutes on my 1 1/2 yr old female northern diamondback and it pretty much was left at just me keeping an eye on it and getting her to bask more to loosen up the scutes that I suspected she was slowly starting to shed. Months have gone by and they remained the same, but didn’t appear to be coming off. She looked healthy and I saw many other terrapins that looked similar so I figured no worries. It appears that her scutes are starting to loosen more now that she basks very frequently (which was I was relieved because for a while she never would). Just as of this week as the area where her first lost scutes were located opened more and started turning white with several odd spots of discoloration. I am pretty sure it’s shell rot but I attached photos for you all to review so I can be sure (the white in between her scutes is just mineral she gets on her from digging around in the coral substrate). It appears that just below the semi-transparent scute layer is another brightly colored scute. Is this discolorated scute just the old one with perhaps some water/fungus trapped underneath it? What should I do? I change the water very frequently, have adequate filtration, etc. I am using fresh water which I know if there is in fact shell rot it may be recommended to change over to brackish. Thanks in advance! -Scott Get easy, one-click access to your favorites. Make Yahoo! your homepage.
You know it looks to me like just an old scute with some wear and tear …I’m guessing if you took a soft toothbrush and a little liquid soap and gently scrubbed under the loose portion of the scute, that all or most of the scute will just lift off. Don’t force it too much though. Ideally, the scute should shed normally but once in a while there will be a tough one and you run into the problem of getting moisture and bacteria under the half loose scute which isn’t good either. John
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