DonnaM

Sounds like normal skin shedding. Unless its really thick and fluffy then it will be normal shedding and will continue on and off his whole life :thup: Make sure hes getting plenty of fish, hothouse, pellets, calcium etc, esp if young.

Another earthquake refugee who arrived in March. He wasnt in a good way and didn't make it. Two patches in the area around a back leg had the appearance of being ulcerated underneath. When I started debriding the gunk it was not a pretty sight. The two holes went straight through the shell. One was very small, the other a reasonable size. We may have been able to save him if it was just the two holes, but unfortuantely there were ulcers tracking down sideways and deep into the bone. Was hard to get a decent pic with my 'point and shoot' camera. After the boy owner and his Dad had said their good-byes he went to the vet and it was best to euthanase him :tears: His tank buddy (who had caused the neck injury) was fine, but will now live on his own as he is a typical territorial male who will fight another turtle in his tank. The ulcers appear to have been caused by rocks in his tank which would have set up a tiny scratch and the bacteria filled water has then set up the ulcers. These have slowly eaten through the bone and penetrated deep inside the turtle. In the past we've tried to save these turtles, but even with the wound healing up, generally it doesnt make it. Autopsys show the internal infections are the eventual cause of death.

Hi Stephen! Welcome to FNZAS... I'm glad you finally joined! You will meet some of the Totally Tanked people when you come and help transport the pond etc for the Pet Expo. Gordon is pretty much ready to come and live with you when-ever suits! Hes made a remarkable recovery :happy2:

Working Bee CTT are having their monthly meeting at Turtle Rescue & Rehoming this upcoming weekend. Sat 3rd Sept Spreydon, Chch. 11.30 onwards They are holding a working bee to help get the ponds ready for the earthquake evacuees return from Napier later in the month. - Cleaning ponds - Cleaning filters - Waterchanges on tanks - etc If anyone else would be able to come and help, it would be greatly appreciated. Come early if you'd like to join in for lunch (bring something to share) or later in the afternoon, even an hour or 2 of help would be welcome! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=209242522464912&ref=ts http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=54477 Pet Expo The Pet Expo is on the Sat 1st & Sun 2nd of October. Help is needed for: Thurs evening setup Fri setup Sat/Sun manning the stall! (Hopefully in shifts 2-3 hrs long) Sun evening packup If you are able to help on any of these days please let me know. Other help Monetary donations towards power/vet bills are appreciated. or Household goods that I can auction on Trademe to raise funds. Dropoff any (good quality, sellable) goods you don't need. or Adopt a turtle? :bounce: PM/email DonnaM or bdspider for more info/exact addresses (posted by bdspider as Donna is too shy to ask for help )

Yep, certainly solve the guppy problem! :happy2:

Awwww thankyou Been a bit overwhelmed with turtles, work, mum having lung cancer, snow, yet more turtles, more snow and then some more turtles..... have lost a couple and have one very poorly wee fella here at the moment.....and the pet expo is happening in a month....and most of the turtles have to come home from Napier next month...and theres just no space in tanks to put them! Anyone want a lovely turtle?

Good job! Looks fantastic! :thup:

Once the outer, unshed scutes had been gently removed...well they sort of fell off under my fingers..... you could get an idea of the full extent of the rot. When she had been in the water and this part of her plastron was wet, you could see her internal organs moving. :tears: She spent the weekend here. I ensured she had plenty of food...she was STARVING....lots of time in the sun, clean water for short swims to keep her hydrated and on Monday afternoon she went to the vet. In order to have a chance, all the soft rotten areas would need to be scraped out and cleaned to allow healing. It was decided that trying to remove the 'soft rot' would basically remove most of her shell, so she was euthanased. Its probably one of the worst I've seen...and totally preventable :an!gry

She had been in a commonly sold turtle tank which has a dreadful design flaw. Theres still heaps around. Its 1200long, so not too bad, but the basking platform has a small raised 'lip'. The ramp leading up to the platform is attached to the top of the lip and the ramp itself is very short. So unless you cover the whole basking area with water....which is stupid and defeats the whole purpose of a dry basking dock :facepalm: ....the ramp is only partially in the water. So the hatchling can get up the ramp...but any turtle a little bigger is physically unable to pull itself out of the water. It can only get its front feet on the ramp and has nothing to rest its back feet on to haul itself out of the water...so basically it can just rot away in the warm water...unable to get out and dry off its shell. Thats what happened to this girl.

It's hard to believe these have all arrived within the past 18mths! Putting them altogether like this is a bit of an eye opener on the appalling condition so many turtles have been in ....mostly caused by their owners inadequate care. This next girl 'came with a tank' that was sold on TM. The people who bought the tank (and her) were new turtle owners, but they had done their research and realised they needed two tanks for the 2 adult males they had recently acquired....hence buying a tank on TM. The turtle smelt strange and felt soft, so they contacted me and brought her around. What struck me first was the SMELL! :sick: It was like a combination of rot, mould and stagnant water. It was a little difficult to hold her as nothing felt strong or fixed. A bit like a gingernut biscuit that has been dunked in a hot drink...when you try to hold it, bits start to fall off...and thats what was happening with this turtle. Unfortunately she started to bleed, so I had to apply pottasium permanganate powder to stop the bleeding. Her whole shell was a mass of infection. Surprisingly her skin was in good condition, although her eyes were swollen from vitamin deficiency.

Thanks Squirt. It was an educational display on turtles and their care, as part of an aqua-fun week-end. Its been a great way to promote turtle rescue and help people who have questions about their turtles. Mozzie and ET checking out the customers.

This was his tank mate. 6 yrs old....very small. Apparently they had both been rehomed to someone with a pond last December and gone missing at the end of Jan. Then we had an earthquake etc etc and now no pond or tank left so they came here when found. The deformed boy was found a month ago. This one turned up last Friday...but he died at 1am on Sat morning :tears: He was really too far gone after all that snow and ice earlier in the week.

Gaining confidence in his tank. Its shallow and has a sloped ramp the full width of the tank. The wood (thanks bdspider) is another resting spot for him. I found he struggled to navigate anything else in his tank. Managing to turn around and try to hide from the camera It took awhile to get used to how he looks and moves around. Now I hardly notice it, but hes a pretty shocking example of a small tank, inadequate lighting and food in those first years. This became obvious after two years of age.

After a tube feed at the vet, it was a couple of weeks before he tried to eat any food. I'd put him in his antibiotic bath and add some vitamins and calcium. Eventually he had enough strength to try eating on his own. Here he is last week-end at an educational display at animates Tower junction. He was in a large, heated enclosure and walked around everywhere! It was the first time he had shown so much energy. After a busy day he went home and had his first decent meal. (Above)

Sores and swollen areas. He was shedding heaps at first.... a sign of unwellness.

This boy is 8yrs old. He went missing from a pond at the end of January and turned up a month ago. He'd no doubt been buried in the garden somewhere. He is grossly deformed. He was very weak and lethargic. I honestly thought he wouldnt make it! He was dropped off at our last TT mtg at Jens house. Here he is after 3 washes in her laundry tub. Hes very clumsy when swimming. He's totally tipped over to one side. An x.ray showed he only has one lung....where the 'lump' is on his carapace and it has an air pocket around the lung. Hence the lopsided swimming. Sometimes he almost tips over backwards, his legs go in all directions and I wonder if he can surface to breathe! Check out the vein in the eye. Its now less obvious.

Thanks Squirt! Its great to have a fast turnaround. Now I just need to find him a new home......

A week later.... Facial wounds have healed Back foot is healing. Skin wounds have healed and skin is not as fragile as it was. Amazing what some dry docking, antibiotics and good food will do.

Making progress. He's eating well....too well! Had a good chomp at the poor plecostomos....so they are now in seperate tanks! Carapace wound improving with dry-docking and correct lighting Wounds in skin pockets have healed

Update on the SPCA turtle. He is being treated for pneumonia with oral antibiotics for a month. He had some antibiotic baths due to the skin wounds and infection and he has developed a LARGE appetite! :happy1: Missing toe. Infected skin wounds The cut toe-nails dig into the sores.

You could join the 'Totally Tanked' mtg next Sat and meet some of the 'locals'

Thanks guys, still a bit to go, but happy he's on the mend :thup:

Wow, great photos :thup: Looks like it was an amazing show! Love the slippers too! I think my dog would eat them.....

Curly coat retriever crossed with a labrador. I think shes gorgeous too :love:

Milo (female )