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Turvy Turtle · 22-06-2014, 08:46 PM

Hi, first of all I would like to apologise for what is probably going to be a very long thread, but I want to give as much info as possible. I am really hoping someone can give me some advice on what is wrong with my Map turtle, Turvy. I had previously thought he was a Mississippi Map, now think he may be a False Map or Ouachita Map. Turvy is about 4 years old and is approx 3 1/2 ".

Turvy's problem started a few weeks ago, when cleaning out his tank I noticed something not right with his shell. When I ran my finger over his first right-side marginal scute I noticed something white and stringy. It was just
a tiny amount and there was no smell but I noticed there was a small missing portion of the scute that was blackish in colour underneath. I googled madly to find the nearest reptile vet in this area and made an appoinment for him.
The vet seemed to have reasonable knowledge of turtles so I was quite happy to go to him. I told the vet that I thought he may have injured himself when diving off the above-tank basking area, by diving straight into a piece of fake resin driftwood we have in the tank. I had heard a bit of a clatter when I had suprised him up there a few weeks previously. The vet agreed this could be due to trauma and gave me Povidone to clean the area with twice a day and oral Baytril to give on his food, 3 drops daily. The second scute felt a little loose also, he said, if this should come off I was told I should bring him in, but if it didn't, bring him back in 2 weeks.

Everything seemed to go well and I took him back after 2 weeks, which was last Thursday. While the vet was examining him the loose layer on the second scute came of, it was an off-white colour underneath and porous looking. The vet said to keep treating with Povidone once per day and that it
was possible another layer might fall off. Turvy doesn't like me very much atm for taking him out of his tank constantly and tries to hide under the filter intake pipe when he sees me coming, but he has always liked to try to force himself into areas he shouldn't, like between the Zoo Med Floating Dock, when we had one, and the side of the tank. When I went to feed him today, I noticed he has actually lost some of his marginal scutes. They don't look broken, more like they have crumbled off, probably from him trying to push under the intake pipe. The area is black/silvery, has no white discharge of any kind and doesn't smell, but it does feel soft.

I am really scared for my turtle and would like to know if someone has any idea what is wrong with him. I will be calling a vet
tomorrow, but I am not sure if I should go back to the previous vet as something he said at the last appontment has me unsure if he knows as much
about turtles as he seems to. When I asked him ⁭if the black area under the missing scute was bone, and why it was black,
he said it wasn't bone, that there is no bone in that area, the bone starts further back. I have spent hours googling today
to find info on what may be wrong with Turvy and have find numerous people that have turtles that have lost marginal scutes
down to the bone, which suggest the marginal scutes do indeed cover bone. If someone could answer that question for me
definitively, it would at least give me an idea of whether I can take Turvy to the same vet, or if I need to find another one
with more experience with turtles.

I really don't understand how things can have gotten so bad so quickly. I check his shell religiously for anything suspicious and know some of the signs to look for, like white discharge, bad smell, soft areas of shell etc and have seen nothing until this started 2 weeks ago, and his scute had already started to come off, leaving something black underneath. Is it possible
that this is down to trauma and that area of scute/bone was damaged badly and died or does he have some horrible infection that has been quietly speading through him with no visible signs?

I have found only one other post where someone mentions something that sounds similar to Turvy's shell problems
http://www.turtleforum.com/forum/upl...owtopic=108337

I will try to add photos below of Turvy's shell and the pieces I found in the aquarium, hope that is ok, if I can figure out how to do it! Many thanks!

22-06-2014, 08:46 PM	#1
Turvy Turtle Junior Member Egg Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 9	Desperate for help with sick turtle... Hi, first of all I would like to apologise for what is probably going to be a very long thread, but I want to give as much info as possible. I am really hoping someone can give me some advice on what is wrong with my Map turtle, Turvy. I had previously thought he was a Mississippi Map, now think he may be a False Map or Ouachita Map. Turvy is about 4 years old and is approx 3 1/2 ". Turvy's problem started a few weeks ago, when cleaning out his tank I noticed something not right with his shell. When I ran my finger over his first right-side marginal scute I noticed something white and stringy. It was just a tiny amount and there was no smell but I noticed there was a small missing portion of the scute that was blackish in colour underneath. I googled madly to find the nearest reptile vet in this area and made an appoinment for him. The vet seemed to have reasonable knowledge of turtles so I was quite happy to go to him. I told the vet that I thought he may have injured himself when diving off the above-tank basking area, by diving straight into a piece of fake resin driftwood we have in the tank. I had heard a bit of a clatter when I had suprised him up there a few weeks previously. The vet agreed this could be due to trauma and gave me Povidone to clean the area with twice a day and oral Baytril to give on his food, 3 drops daily. The second scute felt a little loose also, he said, if this should come off I was told I should bring him in, but if it didn't, bring him back in 2 weeks. Everything seemed to go well and I took him back after 2 weeks, which was last Thursday. While the vet was examining him the loose layer on the second scute came of, it was an off-white colour underneath and porous looking. The vet said to keep treating with Povidone once per day and that it was possible another layer might fall off. Turvy doesn't like me very much atm for taking him out of his tank constantly and tries to hide under the filter intake pipe when he sees me coming, but he has always liked to try to force himself into areas he shouldn't, like between the Zoo Med Floating Dock, when we had one, and the side of the tank. When I went to feed him today, I noticed he has actually lost some of his marginal scutes. They don't look broken, more like they have crumbled off, probably from him trying to push under the intake pipe. The area is black/silvery, has no white discharge of any kind and doesn't smell, but it does feel soft. I am really scared for my turtle and would like to know if someone has any idea what is wrong with him. I will be calling a vet tomorrow, but I am not sure if I should go back to the previous vet as something he said at the last appontment has me unsure if he knows as much about turtles as he seems to. When I asked him ⁭if the black area under the missing scute was bone, and why it was black, he said it wasn't bone, that there is no bone in that area, the bone starts further back. I have spent hours googling today to find info on what may be wrong with Turvy and have find numerous people that have turtles that have lost marginal scutes down to the bone, which suggest the marginal scutes do indeed cover bone. If someone could answer that question for me definitively, it would at least give me an idea of whether I can take Turvy to the same vet, or if I need to find another one with more experience with turtles. I really don't understand how things can have gotten so bad so quickly. I check his shell religiously for anything suspicious and know some of the signs to look for, like white discharge, bad smell, soft areas of shell etc and have seen nothing until this started 2 weeks ago, and his scute had already started to come off, leaving something black underneath. Is it possible that this is down to trauma and that area of scute/bone was damaged badly and died or does he have some horrible infection that has been quietly speading through him with no visible signs? I have found only one other post where someone mentions something that sounds similar to Turvy's shell problems http://www.turtleforum.com/forum/upl...owtopic=108337 I will try to add photos below of Turvy's shell and the pieces I found in the aquarium, hope that is ok, if I can figure out how to do it! Many thanks! Last edited by egyptiandan64; 22-06-2014 at 09:00 PM.