General Care Discussion :: Shell color not bright green anymore

[biomanz]

One of my turtles has been growing at a fairly rapid pace (I notice him growing every 2 weeks or so) but along that time his shell's been getting a bit darker and yellow. It's like a brownish yellow-green, not bright green anymore like the new baby turtle I put in. Is this a sign of some illness? It certainly isn't behaving strangely.

[Pito007]

When turtles get older they get darker. My turtle is still small so its still green, but Im almost 100% sure that when they grow older, they get darker.

[rachel16]

Its fine most all turtles loss there bright colors

[biomanz]

Good to hear. But...I like it when they're bright green
Time to whip out the airbrush

[Pito007]

Good to hear. But...I like it when they're bright green
Time to whip out the airbrush

[marisa]

The change in coloring sounds normal, but I'm wondering how fast your turtle has been growing if you notice growth every two weeks...How much as he grown since you've gotten him? What do you feed him, how much and how often?

[biomanz]

When I put him in the tank he was still 1 inch, and within 2 months or so he's now 2''. Still not big but I seem to notice every mm or two of growth. I actually just did a rough calculation which came out to .45mm a day
Since I'm on campus most of the time, my mom mainly feeds it various meats and veggies she buys for each evening along with pellets - beef, chicken, cooked fish, and feeder fish. Only thing I'm worried is the big one taking all the food from the baby we recently added in. Aside from that, they've been getting along fine (or just totally ignoring each other).

[marisa]

He gets these meats along with his pellets every day? His diet sounds a little high in protein...how many pellets does he get? You don't want him growing too fast because it's likely to cause health and shell problems in the future. A little boiled white chicken meat is OK as a rare treat, but I think I'd skip the beef. Does he eat the veggies? What kind is he being given?

You added a baby to the tank in addition to the turtles you have in there already (I'm unclear from your post, but I'm under the impression that you had two turtles in the tank already..) Or, is the baby you mentioned the turtle that's changing color in your original post?

A baby really shouldn't be put in with a turtle with a significant size difference. How big is the big one? How big is the tank they're in?

I'd say feed them separately to make sure the little one gets enough food, but since you say you've got a baby in with a "big one," I'd give the baby a separate set-up until he's more the size of the larger one.

[biomanz]

I thought juveniles have a larger appetite for meat? Anyway, I have one bigger turtle (the one with the color change I mentioned) and a smaller one, 2'' and 1.2"".
The big one doesn't seem to eat any veggies, but the small one will eat almost anything, including carrot shreds. I'm unsure of the name of a green leefy veggy we feed them, but we add in choy-sum and romaine lettuce.
They do get along, even when fighting for food the small one manages to get his share and they don't deliberately bite each other in the neck.

[marisa]

They are more carnivorous when young and grow progressively omnivorous as they age. Offering veggies/plant matter early on is a good thing to do, however. The portion size of what he's getting and how many pellets at a feeding wasn't indicated. It's just good not to overfeed.

Even if there's no agression now, I'd really be careful. And the little one really shouldn't have to "fight for food" (neither should).