Scooter: Female Florida River Cooter : 01-06-2002
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Scooter went to a different vet today that seemed to know a tremendous amount about turtles. As soon as he looked at her he recognized the fungal infection and laid out a treatment plan. Apparently he had just treated thirty other turtles for the same problem from a local reptile park.

He applied a lot of pressure on Scooter's plastron in the most infected areas with a large tongue depressor and all of the sudden I heard it. -- CRACK --

Scooter's shell began to break apart. The doc explained that the entire infected area would likely need to come off. The fungal infection needed to be removed so that a healthy shell could return. He noted it would take a long time to heal and it wouldn't be an easy thing to deal with but that if we work at it, we have a good chance of her getting better. At that point her treatment plan was mapped out.

Scooter's Plastron After Doc
Scooter would be given an antibiotic injection every other day for 10 days. This would help her fight the infection from the inside out. We would also be cleaning Scooter's plastron with betadine two times a day and then coating it with Silvadone cream. Placing a bandage on it and dry docking her for a couple of hours each time.

Prior to each cleaning we have to go over her entire plastron applying a bit of firm pressure looking for soft spots on the shell and breaking anything away that will come without too much force. It's similar to picking off a scab on your own arm that isn't quite ready to be picked at..but it'll come if you scratch at it.

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