General Care Discussion :: Turtle shell has blue green color on it

[glennjones]

Have a turtle that has a blueish greenish color in the grooves of the shell. What is this?

[Kyurois]

Could you post a picture? It may just be the turtle is ready to shed scutes.

[glennjones]

I can try and do a picture in the morning. The color is only in the lines between the different shape patterns on her shell. She swims all the time and always wants to eat. We used to have her in only about 4 inches of water until I started reading up and found out that I needed to fill her tank. She acts like a different turtle now. She has her floating dock thing thats she gets on under the light. She seems to be very happy compared to before when she stayed low and was not that active. Do you have any pictures of one that is ready to shed? Maybe a web sight or something. Real worried something is wrong.

[SpotsMama]

The blue green color sounds like algae. Sometimes it grows on a shell. Have you tried washing it GENTLY with a soft toothbrush? (Turtle shells have nerves and are sensitive, especially the lines between the scutes, so clean with care.) If not, try it and see if anything comes off.

Here's some photos of a shell that's getting ready to shed. It's fairly typical. Some shells look different than others so if yours doesn't look exactly like this one, it doesn't mean something's wrong. If we could see a photo of your turtle's shell when it's dry, it would help.

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... ight=white

[glennjones]

I have not tried to wash her shell but I will and will let you know if anything comes off. Thanks for your help. By the way I feed her often and she steady want more food. After she rest and dries out for a while, (about 30 min) then she back in her feeding spot wanting more food. Is this normal.

[octpusgirl8]

Yes it is, turtles are notorious beggars. You have to control how much you feed them.

[SpotsMama]

Yes, don't give in to all that begging! They all are fantastic beggers and once they figure out you're the one that feeds them they'll act like they're starving every time you come around.

Its bad for their health to overeat or eat food that is too rich. Are you familiar with the info on nuitrition on this site? It's got everything you ever wanted to know about turtle nuitrition. Why don't you take a look if you haven't already:

http://www.redearslider.com/index_nutrition.html

[marisa]

Take a q-tip and gently rub it on some of those bluish-green areas. Does anything come off? If so, it sounds like algae. Is there any algae in the tank?

[glennjones]

Well I finally took the advice of gently rubbing her shell with a soft toothbrush to see if it would come off and it did. Thank you so much..... The tank as far as I knew had no alge in it but we had left her with my parents from Thanksgiving until Christmas due to work out of town and when I got home for Christmas the tank was so awful. They are in there 70's and it was hard for them to do much for her but feed her. Since we have been back around her all the time the tank got back to normal and shortly after is when we noticed the odd color on her shell. The turtle belongs to my 13 year old daughter who lives in Reno, NV with her mom. I am from AL. Me and my girlfriend are the grandparents of this turtle. We are really enjoy her!!!! She is a smart turtle. I will read up on the nuitrition so thanks for the link. We are still learning how and what it takes to take care of one and am very thankful I found this site.