White Blotches on Turtle's Shell... Help???

[TroyMIfishkeeper]

Just noticed this. He's a southern painted turtle and his tank has UVA & UVB lighting, I give him plenty of calcium, and the water is very clean and at a good temperature. I haven't noticed any strange behavior other than A LOT of basking... Like, most of the day. Can anyone please help?
You can sort of see it in the lower right corner of the shell (the rest is just him shedding). Is this just shedding as well? I'd try to get a better picture but my phone camera can't focus properly when it's too close. Can anyone help?

 

[Frank Castle]

Looks like it's just calcium-buildup/hard-water stains to me. On 2nd thought, are you sure it's a S. Painted?

 

[TroyMIfishkeeper]

Looks like it's just calcium-buildup/hard-water stains to me. On 2nd thought, are you sure it's a S. Painted?

Ok, that puts me at ease a bit haha. As to what kind of turtle he is, to be honest I'm not entirely sure. I got it from a friend, who got it from his sister, who got it from her roommate, and her roommate claimed it was a southern painted (I wasn't sure if it actually was but I couldn't identify the species so I just went with it). To this day I'm still not actually sure though.
Also... Should I be concerned about the hardness of my water?

 

[Frank Castle]

Probably not a big deal, tbh. Water hardness never affected any of my reptiles or amphibians.

Can you show me a picture of the UNDERSIDE?

 

[fishfreak2009]

Just noticed this. He's a southern painted turtle and his tank has UVA & UVB lighting, I give him plenty of calcium, and the water is very clean and at a good temperature. I haven't noticed any strange behavior other than A LOT of basking... Like, most of the day. Can anyone please help? View attachment 1162846
You can sort of see it in the lower right corner of the shell (the rest is just him shedding). Is this just shedding as well? I'd try to get a better picture but my phone camera can't focus properly when it's too close. Can anyone help?

Just hard water staining/calcium buildup and shedding scutes. Nothing to worry about. If super concerned just scrub with a little lemon juice and a tooth brush and it'll come right offl.

 

[TroyMIfishkeeper]

Glad to know it's not an infection or anything. Here are some more pictures of him. In some of the pictures he looks a bit like an eastern painted, but I've housed him with these before and he stands out.
Sorry some of them are blurry, the little guy never stops moving.

 

[Frank Castle]

Yea, to me that looks more like a Cooter or a Chicken turtle or something. It has the stripe that only the Southern Painteds have, but the rest of the colors and markings are not painted.

Also white vinegar is safe too if you don't have lemon juice.

On 2nd thought, maybe it is a painted...says here "red or yellow stripe down the carapace, plastron yellow and unmarked". I was looking for some red where the front legs meet the body, but this one just might not have any. Nothing else in N. America has that stripe and looks like that....lemme check out yellow-bellied slider...but IDR them having a stripe..

whatever it is, it's female

 

[TroyMIfishkeeper]

Female? Wow, how can you tell? I'm curious because need a way to determine my turtles' sex other than claw length and the concave/convex plastron.
She does have some red on her, but it's very very faint. And it's only on the edges of the bottom of the shell. Again, extremely faint.

 

[Frank Castle]

Female? Wow, how can you tell? I'm curious because need a way to determine my turtles' sex other than claw length and the concave/convex plastron.
She does have some red on her, but it's very very faint. And it's only on the edges of the bottom of the shell. Again, extremely faint.

Dude, those short claws are a dead giveaway. Males always have ridiculously long claws and the females are always short like hers. I had a male Eastern painted and at 4", his claws were about 3/4". As freakish as that sounds, it is in fact reality with turtles. Snappers are much easier.....just look or pressure (gently) for the "hemipenal"-bulge like you would a snake. Longer tails = easy

 

[TroyMIfishkeeper]

Wow ok. I didn't know they developed the claws so early on. Thanks!