need help urgent

[roboticnat]

i have a florida soft shell she;s kept i na well filtered clean water tank with basking area with uv and heat lamp but she doesn't bask atm she's fed on zoo med pellets and a mix of prawns and dried mealworms also has a cuttlefish bone in there at all times. well to the point i just noticed today when feeding her and she fell backwards thats she has a few sore looking brown marks on her belly



they look like heater burns to me as she likes to pull it off the wall all the time and sit on it. any ideas? also whats the large dark areas?

[egyptiandan64]

That's exactly what it looks like to me also (heater burns). They do make guards for heaters and you can make your own guard with PVC pipe (that you've drilled a ton of holes in) to put over the heater. The dark areas of her plastron are where there is no bone and it's perfectly normal for softshells.

Danny

[roboticnat]

thank you =] i'll try make a heater guard for her soon then as she just sitso n it the dumbass :P

[roboticnat]

done the pvc pipe guard now exactly the way u said =] thank you

[ClareandCo]

I think the turtle will need to be seen by a vet because depending upon how long she has had those burns they could be/get infected.

[roboticnat]

i'm not sure how long she had them tbh i only seen them today as she never shows her belly and is a pain in the ass to pick up. most of them are healed now the middle one looks newest and i'll keep an eye on that one as there was a little bit of blood but i think she caught it on the pump

[Geomyda]

what substrate are you using in the enclosure?

[roboticnat]

normal play sand washed and stuff but needs topping up as the filter has sucked most of it out lol

[Geomyda]

Originally Posted by roboticnat

normal play sand washed and stuff but needs topping up as the filter has sucked most of it out lol

I too have experienced this type of injury in Soft shell turtles. I think the problem is due to the substrate. whilst you say, the filtration is good and water conditions are OK I suspect the substrate is holding problematic bacteria and this is infecting the lesions which are evident on the plastron. I also agree with Chris there may be an issue with burns from the heater.
As you know, Florida Soft Shell Turtles grow huge and I suspect, your enclosure and water volume might be pushing the limit of this animal.
Good news, is the injuries will heal quite quickly if you can provide remedy to the problem areas.
Playsand, will also cause very measurable wear issues in the filter and if it gets into the impeller shaft it will greatly shorten the life of the pump.

[roboticnat]

well i've made a heater guard now so at least that will stop it happening if it's from there, she still has plenty of room in her enclosure but she's not fully grown yet lol so looking at possible solutions of where to put a bigger tank already on a 500 litre pond, i got some tonic salt which i could add this might help her heal won't it?