Other Turtle Discussion :: Changing Colors

[Vivi]

hey guys when do res suppose to change there shell color?? I've seen turtles that are like 3 inches and there shell is brownish. nicks shell is still green like when i first got him s/he is two inches. Before crush passed away her shell was brownish she was huge. so i know that age might be a factor of why there shell changes. So my question is when do they change there shell color??? thanks in advice.

[TurtleMan17]

The shell of a Red Ear Slider should be hard and relatively smooth. The carapace should be dark green and the plastron should be bright yellow. Recently hatched RES will have a slightly soft carapace that is a lighter green shade. The most common factors that cause shell problems are related to water (lack of quality or basking), diet (lack of calcium) and lighting (lack of vitamin D3). While most shell diseases are preventable, injuries often take a long time to heal properly and may require intensive care.

I got this from the main site it says nothing about color changes.

[cam722]

As an RES gets older it's shell color darkens. It's not something that happens all at once, it gradually happens over time. My turtles started out with different color shells.. one has more black, one more yellow.. etc. Their shell color is individual they aren't all the same.

You can look through the photo gallery and see the different colors and markings on the shells for examples.

[tini]

I don't know if this is true or not, but in most cases I have noticed that females have darker shells then males (of course with age) That could also be a coincidence verus a coileration.

[marisa]

Males actually are supposed to darken more with age, and with some the red markings eventually are almost indistinguishable from the rest of the markings.