Why isn't my aquatic turtle eating and has soft spots on its shell?

Inappetance in a turtle is a vague sign and can indicate several different things going on. Your turtle may be suffering from some sort of infection or a metabolic disease affecting her internal organs. I would recommend taking your turtle in to see a veterinarian that specializes in reptiles. They will be able to better diagnosis and treat whatever is going on with Shanya. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

Sounds like he may have hypovitaminosis A. I suggest you read this article for suggestions on care and treatment. This is a diet and housing/lighting/temperature issue so be sure you are caring for him correctly. ( https://www.petplace.com/article/reptiles/general/vitamin-a-deficiency-hypovitaminosis-a-in-turtles/ ) ( http://www.avianandexotic.com/care-sheets/reptiles/aquatic-turtle/ ) As for the shell rot, you cannot keep an aquatic turtle on dry land 24/7. You should put him in water four one hour a day to eat and toilet then dry dock him again on land in a soft towel with a small, shallow water bowl for the remainder of the day. It is also important to get these turtles some UV light. At least twenty minutes a day in the sunshine or a set up with a UV lamp works well. It is also important the species are kept at their preferred body temperature to encourage the body to heal, a cold turtle can not mount an immune response. As a general rule around 25C suits most turtles.

From these pictures I'm concerned that Emelia may have an abscess or infection. I strongly recommend a visit to a reptile veterinarian ASAP. Correct husbandry and environment and feeding may prevent this from happening in the future but if she is already acting sick she likely needs antibiotic therapy and potential he injectable vitamins in order to recover. Try to get their lighting correct ASAP, and here are some links on Karen husbandry as well as the reptile veterinary Association if you need help finding a vet. Good luck with them. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/turtles-aquatic-diseases http://www.anapsid.org/mainchelonians.html http://arav.org/

Thanks for reaching out about Silica. By the description, this could be a calcium deficiency or metabolic bone disease. Check and correct husbandry parameters such as environmental temperature (day/night, highs/lows, basking site/cool side), UVB exposure and diet. A veterinary visit is highly recommended, ASAP, even if you don't elect to perform any diagnostic testing. Medications can be suggested and/or provided to improve recovery. Good luck.

Although a picture of it would help to determine the underlying cause more specifically, this problem could be to shell rot. The loss of appetite could be due to the infection. Swab the infected area with a diluted povidone-iodine solution twice daily. Scrape away the infected area gently with a blunt tool or a cotton pad. If this time of first line treatment does not help and you do not see any improvement in 48hours a check up at your local veterinarian would be required as antibiotic ointment and more aggressive treatment may be needed. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. Please find the time to give us a feedback about the consultation as that will be used to improve our service.

Unfortunately it looks like Alex has a bad case of wet shell rot also known as SCUD. As this is quite severe I would take him to a vet with experience of chelonians asap as untreated it can progress into blood poisoning. If possible it woukd be best to isolate Alex as it is usually due to an infection of bacteria or fungi.

Depending on the exact species of turtle, this may be normal or not. There are soft shelled turtle species that are kept as pets. If Fred is not a soft shelled species, then he may be in some serious trouble. A soft shell may be indicative of calcium deficiency, nutritional deficiency, metabolic bone disease (MBD) or a combination of the three. Ideally, he should be examined by your veterinarian or a vet experienced in treating turtles. This should be done to positively identify species and to diagnose and treat the underlying cause of the soft shell if necessary. A turtle requires clean water, a heat source, UVB lighting, vitamin and mineral supplementation and a biologically appropriate diet. Missing one or more of these will negatively impact his overall health.