My turtle has shell rot. How long until I see results from treatment?

Question

I've had my turtle for about 12 years he recently developed some spots on his shell I believe to be shell rot, I tried some changing the water and cleaning his filter and adding API turtle treatment with little success so I switched to a betadine treatment it's only been 3 days but I'm worried about how little he is reacting. The bacteria hasn't made his shell soft yet just discolored it. When should I see results to treatment?

Miranda Sadar, DVM, DACZM · Accepted Answer

I am very sorry that this is happening to Donatello! I think that the husbandry changes that you have made are a great idea, as often with cases of shell infections, it is due to poor water quality or other husbandry parameters not being completely perfect. With the other treatments that you are doing now, I don't think that you will be causing any harm, but they may not be strong enough to address what is going on with Donatello. Often when we see cases of shell rot, bacteria and other organisms can go deep into the shell, even down into the bone, and they can get a systemic (whole body) infection. Due to this, I would recommend that you take him to a veterinarian for evaluation. They can take a look at the shell, and may take a sample to look at under the microscope. Depending on what they see, they may recommend antibiotics or other medications to address any infection. To answer your question about how long it may take before seeing improvement - reptiles take a long time to show they are sick, and also take a long time to get better. The wonderful part about them, though, is that they are also very resilient and very good healers. They just take a while to do it, which can be hard! I hope that gives you a place to start, and I hope Donatello feels better soon!

My turtle has shell rot. How long until I see results from treatment?

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