Turtles and Tortoises

you tell how old a tortoise by counting the square like things on its shell.

Correction: - The above information is incorrect, it is an old wives tale. In short, unless you know when a tortoise was born it is almost impossible to determine it's age.

If your turtle/tortoise is in fresh and clean water water then there are more chances for shell rot to heal.

in most of the cases it does not heal naturally. it needs proper medicines.

if it heals automatically then your turtle have xtraordinary healing power because in most of the cases, as studied and analysed, pet turtles need proper aid of medicines...

if it heals automatically then it's good but if not then...

Here is the solution:

if shell rot just started now:

This type of minor shell damage is common among wild semi-aquatic turtles. When the shell of an older individual is examined, one sees many small pits from old lesions. During times of cloudy, wet weather and little sun, a variety of pathogens can take hold and damage the outer layer of the shell. When the turtle finally gets a chance to bask in the sun, the condition will usually clear up, leaving a small pit, but otherwise causing no long-term harm. With captive animals, the problem can become long term, because of incorrect care. The few individuals with which I am familiar who had the lesions cultured had evidence of bacterial infection, not fungal. But there are many different pathogens that could be associated with these minor, shallow infections.

TREATMENT:

Step 1: Correct the cause of the problem. For turtles who live in captivity, poor conditions will cause shell rot. Dirty water, and lack of appropriate basking area and light are the most likely culprits. If your turtle has developed shell rot in your care, the first step is to correct your husbandry. Extensive information is available on correct care of a wide variety of species, on the internet and in books. Once you have corrected your turtle's housing, you may turn you attention to the shell condition.

Step 2: Clean the turtle's shell. Using a soft toothbrush and mild soap, clean off any dirt, algae and damaged pieces of the outer layers of the scutes. After the bath, dry the turtle off as thoroughly as possible. Gently peel off anything that will come off easily. Try to scrape out the white pits. If they do not come out easily, leave them in place. Further treatment will loosen them up. The small white spots often come out easily when the turtle is completely dry, even if they stay stubbornly in place while wet. Scrape them with the edge of a clean, old credit card or some other plastic utensil. Do not use a knife. The infected material needs to be removed so that the treatment can reach the tissue below it. Large areas and deep infections should only be cleaned by an experienced veterinarian. Extensive debriding is incredibly painful for the animal and should be done under anesthesia.

Step 3: Disinfect the shell with a general antiseptic. In years past, antiseptics such as hydrogen peroxide or Betadine (povidone-iodine) or antibiotic ointments have been used. These will generally kill the pathogens successfully, however recent research indicates that these things actually slow the healing process by preventing the regrowth of the epithelial cells over the damaged area. The antiseptic of choice is often Nolvasan (chlorhexidine) which is available from veterinary clinics (non-prescription), some pet stores and herp supply stores on the internet. Healing is noticably quicker with Nolvasan, so it is worth the effort to find some and use it. Nolvasan liquid solution is generally made with one part Nolvasan, 100 parts water. (Read the directions on the bottle.) If you cannot find chlorhexidine, povidone-iodine can be used successfully, even it it takes a little bit longer to heal completely. If there are just a few discolored areas, swab those areas with the weak antiseptic solution. Reapply the solution every ten minutes or so for about a half-hour. If there are a large number of tiny discolored areas, it might work better to soak the turtle. If you choose to soak, make the liquid shallow enough for the turtle to easily hold its head up out of the water, because any antiseptic, even Nolvasan, can cause some minor eye irritation. A follow-up application of silver sulfadiazine cream can be beneficial, however SSD cream is available by prescription only in the US.

Step 4: Air! Place the turtle in a dry container for at least 2 hours. Some turtles are not overly stressed if left in the dry container overnight (in complete darkness), returning it to the aquarium for at least a portion of the day. Air is the enemy of shell rot pathogens, so it is important to keep the animal dry for a lengthy period of time. But dehydration and excessive stress must also be prevented. So the turtle MUST spend some time each day in water.

Continue to clean, disinfect and air dry the turtle each day for a 5 to 7 days. By that time, all the white pits will have loosened and been removed. If not, continue treatment.You will need to remove all the whitened material to get to the healthy shell underneath, so that it can heal and grow normally. If there are discolored areas remaining after 2 weeks, consult a veterinarian.

When the turtle has been returned to the aquarium full time, it is vital that you maintain conditions that will prevent a recurrence. Keep the water clean. Provide a dry area with a warming light for basking. Natural healing will continue until the damaged areas are filled in (or nearly) with new epithial cells.

For a filtration system that is easy to maintain and produces excellent quality water, visit this link: One effective setup for aquatic turtles in small tanks

This Malayan box turtle (Cuora amboinensis) was turned over to a pet store when the owner grew tired of it. An aquatic species, it had been kept in dry conditions for an extended period of time and had a flaking shell condition common to that species. The flaking shell allowed bacteria to move in under several damaged laminae. When the animal was returned to an aquarium, the pathogens flourished and mild "dry shell rot" was the result. Treated with the above method, the larger white area loosened and fell out after 3 days. Numerous other small pits cleared out after one day. Complete healing (new epithelial cells filling in the pits) took about six months.

This Asian leaf turtle (Cyclemys dentata) was also abandoned at a pet store, which subsequently turned it over to me for treatment. There were 2 crusty patches on the plastron and numerous small ones on the carapace. The white pits on the carapace were shallow and easily removeable, but the plastron pits were quite deep. This is an ongoing case, and I expect it will require treatment for many months. There is no odor or pus, so I expect this turtle will respond well to consistent treatment with Nolvasan and dry tanking. C. dentata is an environmentally sensitive species that prefers cool, very clean, slightly acidic water. This turtle's condition was likely caused by extensive time spent in dirty and/or alkaline conditions. In other species, excessively cool, or excessively warm, water temperatures can contribute to shell rot. Another frequent causative factor is the lack of suitably warm and dry basking facilities. It is important to know the specific requirement of any species of turtle in your care, so that shell lesions can be prevented.

Hope you got your answer

thank you

this was your friend: Sunny

A Green turtle breaks the surface to breathe.

Sea turtles are almost always submerged in water, and, therefore, have developed an anaerobic system of respiration. Although all sea turtles may breathe, under dire circumstances, they may divert to anaerobic respiration for long periods of time. When oxygen is present, a sea turtle, with a single explosive exhalation and rapid inhalation, can quickly refill their lungs when they surface. Their large lungs have adapted to permit rapid exchange of oxygen and to avoid trapping gases during deep dives. However, turtles must emerge while breeding, given the extra level of activity.

Green turtle swims above corals at Hawaii

A feeding Green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas

The lifespan of sea turtles has been speculated at 80 years.[citation needed]

It takes decades for sea turtles to reach sexual maturity. After mating at sea, adult female sea turtles return to land to nest at night. Different species of sea turtles exhibit various levels of philopatry. In the extreme case, females return to the beach where they hatched. This can take place every two to four years in maturity. They make from one to eight nests per season.

The mature nesting female hauls herself onto the beach and finds suitable sand on which to create a nest. Using her hind flippers, she digs a circular hole 40 to 50 centimetres (16 to 20 in) deep. After the hole is dug, the female then starts filling the nest with a clutch of soft-shelled eggs one by one until she has deposited around 50 to 200 eggs, depending on the species. Some species have been reported to lay 250 eggs, such as the hawksbill. After laying, she re-fills the nest with sand, re-sculpting and smoothing the surface until it is relatively undetectable visually. The whole process takes thirty to sixty minutes. She then returns to the ocean, leaving the eggs untended.[1]

The hatchling's gender depends on the sand temperature. Lighter sands maintain higher temperatures, which decreases incubation time and results in more female hatchlings.

Incubation takes about two months. The eggs in one nest hatch together over a very short period of time. When ready, hatchlings tear their shells apart with their snout and dig through the sand. Once they reach the surface, they instinctively head towards the sea. Only a very small proportion of each hatch (usually .01%) succeed, because local opportunist predators, such as the common seagull, gorge on the new turtles.

The survivors then proceed into the open ocean. In 1987, Carr discovered that the young of Chelonia mydas and Caretta caretta spent a great deal of their pelagic lives in floating sargassum beds, where there are thick mats of unanchored seaweed. Within these beds, they found ample shelter and food. In the absence of sargassum beds, turtle young feed in the vicinity of upwelling "fronts".[2] In 2007, Reich determined that green turtle hatchlings spend the first three to five years of their lives in pelagic waters. In the open ocean, pre-juveniles of this particular species were found to feed on zooplankton and smallernekton before they are recruited into inshore seagrass meadows as obligate herbivores.[3][4]

Instead of nesting individually like the other species, Ridley turtles come ashore en masse, known as an "arribada" (arrival). With the Kemp's Ridley, this occurs during the day.

Moche Sea Turtle. 200 A.D. Larco Museum Collection, Lima, Peru

"Manner in which Natives of the East Coast strike turtle". Near Cooktown, Australia. From Phillip Parker King's Survey. 1818.

Marine turtles are caught worldwide, although it is illegal to hunt most species in many countries.[5][6] A great deal of intentional marine turtle harvests worldwide are for food.

Many parts of the world have long considered sea turtles to be fine dining.Ancient Chinese texts dating to the fifth century B.C. describe sea turtles as exotic delicacies.[7] Many coastal communities around the world depend on sea turtles as a source of protein, often harvesting several turtles at once and keeping them alive on their backs until needed. Coastal peoples gather turtle eggs for consumption.[8]

Turtles are popular in Mexico as boot material and food.[9]

To a much lesser extent, specific species of marine turtles are targeted not for their flesh, but for their shells. Tortoiseshell, a traditional decorative ornamental material used in Japan and China, comes from the carapace scutes of the hawksbill turtle.[10][11] Ancient Greeks and ancient Romansprocessed turtle scutes (primarily from the hawksbill) for various articles and ornaments used by their elites, such as combs and brushes.[12] The skin of the flippers are prized for use as shoes and assorted leather goods.

The Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped the sea and its animals. They often depicted sea turtles in their art.[13]

Sea turtles enjoy immunity from the sting of the deadly box jellyfish and regularly eat them, helping keep tropical beaches safe for humans.

Legal notice posted by nest atBoca Raton, Florida

All species of sea turtles are listed as threatened or endangered. The leatherback, Kemp's Ridley, and hawksbill turtles are critically endangered.[14][15] The Olive Ridley and green turtles are endangered, and the loggerhead is threatened.[16] The flatback's conservation status is unclear due to lack of data.

One of the most significant threats now comes from bycatch due to imprecise fishing methods. Donnelly points to long-lining as a major cause of accidental sea turtle death.[17] There is also black-market demand for tortoiseshell for both decoration and supposed health benefits.[18]

Turtles must surface to breathe. Caught in a fisherman's net, they are unable to surface and thus suffocate. In early 2007, almost a thousand sea turtles were killed inadvertently in the Bay of Bengalover the course of a few months after netting.[19]

However, some relatively inexpensive changes to fishing techniques, such as slightly larger hooks and traps from which sea turtles can escape, can dramatically cut the mortality rate.[20][21] Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) have reduced sea turtle bycatch in shrimp nets by 97 percent. Another danger comes from marine debris, especially from abandoned fishing nets in which they can become entangled.

Beach development is another area which threatens sea turtles. Since many turtles return to the same beach each time to nest, development can disrupt the cycle. There has been a movement to protect these areas, in some cases by special police. In some areas, such as the east coast of Florida, conservationists dig up turtle eggs and relocate them to fenced nurseries to protect them from beach traffic.

Since hatchlings find their way to the ocean by crawling towards the brightest horizon, they can become disoriented on developed stretches of coastline. Lighting restrictions can prevent lights from shining on the beach and confusing hatchlings. Turtle-safe lighting uses red or amber LED light, invisible to sea turtles, in place of white light.

Another major threat to sea turtles is black-market trade in eggs and meat. This is a problem throughout the world, but especially a concern in the Philippines, India, Indonesia and the coastal nations of Latin America. Estimates reach as high as 35,000 turtles killed a year in Mexico and the same number inNicaragua. Conservationists in Mexico and the United States have launched "Don't Eat Sea Turtle" campaigns in order to reduce this trade in sea turtle products. These campaigns have involved figures such as Dorismar, Los Tigres del Norte and Maná. Turtles are often consumed during the Catholic season of Lent, even though they are reptiles, not fish. Consequently, conservation organizations have written letters to the Pope asking that he declare turtles meat.

A Green Sea Turtle at rest

Climate change may also cause a threat to sea turtles. Since sand temperature at nesting beaches defines the sex of a turtle while developing in the egg, there is concern that rising temperatures may produce too many females. However, more research is needed to understand how climate change might affect sea turtle gender distribution and what other possible threats it may pose.[22]

Fibropapillomatosis disease causes tumors in sea turtles.

Injured sea turtles are sometimes rescued and rehabilitated by professional organizations, such as theMote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, the Marine Mammal Center in Northern California, the ClearWater Marine Aquarium in Clearwater, Florida,[23] and the Sea Turtle Inc. organization in South Padre Island, Texas.[24] One such turtle, named Nickel for the coin that was found lodged in her throat, lives at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

In the Caribbean, researchers are having some success in assisting a comeback.[25] In September 2007, Corpus Christi, Texas, wildlife officials found 128 Kemp's ridley sea turtle nests on Texas beaches, a record number, including 81 on North Padre Island (Padre Island National Seashore) and four onMustang Island. Wildlife officials released 10,594 Kemp's ridleys hatchlings along the Texas coast this year.

Also in 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service issued a determination that the leatherback, the hawksbill and the Kemp's Ridley populations were endangered while that of green turtles and olive ridleys were threatened.[26]

In Southeast Asia, the Philippines has had several initiatives dealing with the issue of turtle conservation. In 2007, the province of Batangas in the Philippines declared the catching and eating of Pawikans illegal. However, the law seems to have had little effect as Pawikan eggs are still in demand in Batanganmarkets. In September 2007, several Chinese poachers were apprehended off the Turtle Islands in the country's southernmost province of Tawi-Tawi. The poachers had collected more than a hundred sea turtles, along with 10,000 turtle eggs.[27]

Sea turtles on a beach in Hawaii

Sea turtles play key roles in two ecosystem types that are critical to them as well as to humans-oceans and beaches/dunes. In the oceans, for example, sea turtles, especially green sea turtles, are one of very few creatures (manatees are another) that eat the sea grass that grows on the sea floor. Sea grass must be kept short to remain healthy, and beds of healthy sea grass are essential breeding and development areas for many species of fish and other marine life. A decline or loss of sea grass beds would damage these populations, triggering a chain reaction and negatively impacting marine and human life.

Beaches and dunes form a fragile ecosystem that depends on vegetation to protect against erosion. Eggs, hatched or unhatched, and hatchlings that fail to make it into the ocean are nutrient sources for dune vegetation[citation needed]. Every year, sea turtles lay countless eggs on beaches. Along one twenty-mile (32 km) stretch of beach in Florida alone, for example, more than 150,000 pounds of eggs are laid each year.