Why does my terrapin have white spots

What happens is usually: The turtle feeds inside its tank. Bits of food and defecate fall to the bottom, which eventually combines to form the perfect slimy, disgusting breeding ground for bacteria and the development of fungus. The warm water temperature of the tank combined with the lack of adequate cleaning keeps the bacteria and fungus alive and thriving. Do a thorough cleaning of the tank. Place some water in a large bowl or bucket and warm it up to around 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Add 2 tablespoons of salt to the water. Let your turtle soak in the saltwater for around 15 minutes, 1x or 2x daily for 4 or 5 days straight. Let your turtle dry out for around an hour before placing it back inside the tank. Apply silver sulfadiazine cream, or betadine or iodine solution to the fungal spots using a q-tip. Keep the turtle out of the water for the rest of the day, allowing the solutions to do their work. Place the turtle in a warm area, around 80 degrees Fahrenheit if possible.

Continue applying every day and notice if the shell starts to improve. Shell rot looks really bad: You might see bright white spots appearing over the shell. Bits and pieces of shell will have fallen off. You may see bits of flesh where the scute has fallen off. It will probably smell terrible. There may be fluid leaking over the shell from the infected area. Turtles get shell rot from a variety of reasons: Too much or too little moisture in the tank.

Poor sanitary conditions. No heating or improper heating. If left untreated, the turtle sometimes dies. Shell rot is contagious, so you will need to immediately separate your turtles.

It may be due to a fungal infection as well. This can be treated through OTC topical medication. At this point, it means that the infection has become a little too serious to be treated at home. This may sound unusual, but hard water could be one of the most common reasons behind white spots on a turtle shell. Here, the shell is usually evenly coated in white. Otherwise, a portion of the shell—the bottom half—could be covered in white patches as well.

These spots are common in the raised ridges or ends of the turtle shell. These bright white spots are easy to clean off with the help of gentle scrubbing or rubbing.

The best way to know if the spots are caused by hard water is to apply a bit of vinegar on the spot and see if it fizzes. If it does, you can be pretty sure the white spots are formed by calcium carbonate present in hard water. If the white spots are caused by hard water, your turtle will also experience a fair amount of shedding.

Sometimes, you can even see the see-through parts of the scutes as they become more transparent with peeling. In simple terms, hard water refers to water with a high concentration of minerals in it, such as calcium and magnesium. With hard water, then the water dissipates, it leaves behind traces of minerals.

You can usually notice such mineral traces on shower faucets, sinks, bathtubs, and even glasses and cups. Most of the water running through taps in the United States is hard water because of ancient seabeds with a high concentration of limestone covered region in the past. This one is relatively easy and can be completed in a few simple steps.

To get rid of the spots, you will need distilled water or water treated with a water conditioner or softener. If you want to speed up the process, you can use apple cider vinegar solution on the shell to get rid of the spots. For this, add a few drops of apple cider vinegar in water and give it a good stir. Next, using a soft toothbrush, clean the shell, and you should be able to get rid of the spots easily.

A fungal infection in turtles looks like green raised spots accompanied by gray and white fuzzy patches on the shell. Usually, it is caused by poorly maintained tank parameters. When spotted and treated on time, a fungal infection can be treated effectively to prevent further outbreaks.

Usually, the white patches are due to skin shedding, but if the shell is coated equally, this is most likely a case of fungal infection. But there are few other ways of spotting it as well. For instance, you can usually tell by looking at the rate of infection. If the spots seem to get bigger by the day, it is due to an infection. Light and heat inhibit fungus. Clean his tank once a week to prevent fungal growth. Remove half of the dirty water and replace it with clean water, which will allow "good" bacteria to flourish while preventing fungus from growing.

Susan Reynolds has been a writer since She holds a B. By using the site, you agree to the uses of cookies and other technology as outlined in our Policy, and to our Terms of Use. Simply put some distilled water into a bowl, add some apple cider vinegar, a few drops is enough, and mix with an old toothbrush. These are much less common but more difficult to deal with and more unpleasant. These possibilities are either a fungal infection or shell rot.

Both are very unpleasant but should be easier defined in their features and how they act. Let us have a look at fungal infections first. Anything can get a fungal infection, we get them often as humans, things such as ringworm and athletes foot are both common fungal infections in humans. A fungal infection will often make itself known by the speed of its growth, if it is recent and is getting more substantial quickly this is the sign of a fungal infection.

This is more easily distinguished from hard water as if it was to be from fungal infections or even shell rot you would notice; small holes or pits in the smell where white spots or discoloration has set in, off white or cream color, often comes in tandem with a rotten meat stench.

Much like with fungal infections on many other creatures, the main cause is a lack of cleanliness. With turtles, the biggest perpetrators of fungal infections are poor water quality or bad basking spots. Then the warm water of the tank will keep these thriving. It is much like if we lived in houses full of our defecation and old food in a humid climate. Not pleasant. And you might be worried that this is difficult to cure and that it could cause horrific problems. However, do not worry, this problem has a simple and easy cure.

It is best to tackle when caught early on. If you catch it in the early stages of development, you can fight it better. To do so simply; remove your turtle from their tank, and do a thorough and hardy clean of the tank.

You will also want to help your turtles shell, so get a large bowl or bucket or any other suitable container and warm it up to about 80 degrees Fahrenheit, add in some water, two tablespoons should be enough. Then you can soak your turtle in there for around a quarter of an hour twice daily for around four to five days straight. Each time you do this, let your turtle dry properly before placing them back in their tank. If you need to do something a bit more hardcore, you will want to allow your turtle to dry completed, apply a silver sulfadiazine cream to the spots- best using a q-tip or cotton bud.

Keep your turtle out of the water for the remainder of the day and then put your turtle in a warm area that is around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. And continue to do his until you see improvement. Remember that your turtle needs to be in the water for at least some of the day too, and to give the tank a tough clean.

Use distilled water when adding your turtle back to its tank, even add a bit of chlorine if you wish, as this can help. Remember: Heat will help your turtle, infections can come on if they are not basking in hot enough areas, and heat and being dry will help them get better if they do have an infection.