General Care Discussion :: What is this? Algae?

[nickvicious]

So Squirt's shell is looking a lot healthier, but over the past few weeks I've been noticing a green build-up in between the scutes (they are called scutes, right?) on his shell, especially near his tail.



If you look by the back you can see what I mean. Is this just algae or something far worse? How would you treat this? There's also light brown around the outer shell (see on his right?), I assumed that he was shedding but I'm not sure.

Any advice would be appreciated!

[steve]

It's algae. You can easily remove it by using a brand new toothbrush and gently scrubbing the area. Some turtles like a good scratch too. A good idea would be to use warm, running water from a faucet or a container with water the same temp as the tank water.

[nickvicious]

Great! Thank you so much. I tried scrubbing it off with a washcloth but it wasn't doing much good. I'll try a toothbrush.