A lot of ailments can affect your pet turtle. These ailments will make the animal’s body swell, look inflamed, red, and cause a variety of different skin problems.
One skin problem that you may be worried about is red spots on your turtle’s belly. This article looks into why this happens.
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Red spots on turtle belly:
Any sudden change in how your turtle looks will understandably make you concerned as a turtle owner.
So, as a turtle owner, you’d need to figure out and understand what your pet is going through before it’s too late.
Here is why your turtle may have red spots on its belly:
The turtle is young:
Turtles grow slower when compared to other animals but these animals do certainly grow. The pink spots on the bottom of your pet’s belly may simply be signs of the animal growing.
New skin is usually thinner and softer than older skin on turtles, the new skin may look pink because you can see the blood vessels under the skin and this may be the pink spots that you’re seeing.
Your pet may simply be growing on its belly and you may have caught it in the middle of the growth.
What to do:
You don’t have to do anything in this case, as long as your pet isn’t acting distressed or ill while growing then it will be fine.
As your pet continues to grow, its skin will begin to thicken and harden. Over time you won’t be able to see the blood vessels under the skin as the skin will begin to harden, turn yellow, and look normal.
Septicemia:
Another reason why your pet may have pink, or even red, spots on its belly may be because the turtle has a condition called septicemia.
Septicemia is basically blood poisoning. This blood poisoning could have happened if your pet suffered an injury that became infected.
High amounts of bacteria would need to enter the wound site to cause your pet to develop this condition.
In addition to the pinkish-reddish coloring on your pet’s belly, other signs of this condition will be seen in a turtle suffering from septicemia, signs including a very weakened state, swollen legs, the top of your pet’s shell may turn pink, and red/pinkish skin may develop on your pet’s leg.
Turtles who spend a lot of time in the water, are more prone to developing this condition as water usually contains higher levels of bacteria compared to air.
This condition can become life-threatening very quickly so addressing it as soon as you can is a must.
What to do:
If you think that your pet has the condition then you should treat this as an emergency and take your pet to the vet.
Your vet will start off by physically examining your pet and taking a blood sample for a culture.
Treatment for this condition in your pet will either be a broad-spectrum antibiotics or more specific medications.
These medications may either be given orally to your pet, by injection, or alternatively through a drip in your pet’s neck.
If your pet’s condition isn’t too advanced then the antibiotics will work to clear up the infection.
Unfortunately, if your pet’s condition is advanced then your poor little guy likely won’t make it even with the medications.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other turtle/tortoise related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Tortoise Bleeding Leg, Baby Tortoise Leg Problems, Tortoise Cut On Leg, Tortoise Having Trouble Walking At Night, Turtle Bulging Out Of Shell, Algae Growing On Turtle Head, Adding Salt To A Turtle Tank, Wheat Germ Pellets For Turtles, How To Fix Retained Scutes