Shell rot?!!

[ScarletteM]

Hi, I'm worried about these white marks on my turtle Atticus's shell. He had a small patch of this kind of discoloration on him when we bought him but when we mentioned it to the vet he checked it out and said it looked like scarring from an old injury. Since then the discoloration has cropped up all over his shell so it couldnt be that. The patches are hard with no indication of softness underneath and the shell doesn't seem to be coming loose or peeling at all. Atticus has plenty of calcium in his diet (repto cal powder and cuttlebone)and has a large land area with a uv light and heat lamp to bask under which he does for hours every day so he always gets a good chance to dry out.We do have somewhat hard water so I'm hoping it could just be mineral deposits on his shell, I'm really hoping it isn't shell rot or some other type of fungus but that's a real possibility from what i've read about it. If you guys have seen anything like this before I would really appreciate your insight. No matter what its probably time for a trip to the vet. Thanks guys

[Marnix Hoekstra]

Hi Scarlette,
It looks like mineral deposits to me; which, as you say, can be caused by hard water.
Is his shell shedding properly? If the scutes come off, does it look the same underneath?

[ScarletteM]

Yep, mineral deposits. So nothing terrible, just not too pretty. Vet says use filtered water, scrub shell with soft toothbrush etc., etc. and they should eventually go away (atticus actually enjoys the toothbrush scrubbings). I just got a little freaked out not knowing what the white marks were(some of the google images of what fungus and shell rot can do to a turtle are pretty horrible). So thanks,tempest in a teapot in the end.