General Care Discussion :: color changing

[stanthrax]

I have 2 baby RES... had them for about a month and a half living in a 10gallon tank.
I feed them the pellets, occasionally krill, lettuce and once a week i give them minnows to chase around and eat.

Ok.. so the issue
One of them seems to have been getting lighter and lighter in color as the weeks go by.
They were both originally the same color.. i could barely tell them apart at first besides looking at their size and shell pattern.
As the weeks have gone by, one seems to be getting lighter in the shell and on its skin.
He is healthy as far as behavior goes... he goes out to bask in the "sun" often, he is the more aggressive turtle and very social with people.
These are my first turtles so I don't know if it's because of shedding, rot or if it's just normal.

[the_orphaned]

I dont think its shell rot. His skin is ligther so it has to do with pigmentation. My turtle went through the same thing 3 weeks ago. Now he is back to his normal green. He looks healthy enough. Could be that he isnt basking enough. When a turt basks long enough, his color turns dark to cope with the UV, so I guess its just a lack of UV rays.

[stanthrax]

the weird thing is that he basks under the light more than the darker one...

I've seen some other entries with people saying their turtles bask for hours during the day...
mine do it like...15min intervals though... is that abnormal?
They go up... bask for like 15 minutes... go swim.. come back half an hour later... and repeat through the day, depending on who's walking around.


I didn't have a sulfa block in the tank... so i just added a 'ReptoGuard Tetra Happy Turtle Block' ... not sure if that had anything to do with it.

[CountryGirl68]

My vet explained it to me: since turtles are cold blooded, they cannot produce body heat. When they get cold, they will go to their basking area to get warm. Once they are warm enough, they will go back in the water. As long as they are basking - even if it is for only 15 minutes at a time, I wouldn't worry.

The color change could be that he's changing colors. The turtle block is not necessary and really doesn't do anything.

[the_orphaned]

maybe he's turning albino? Have you seen the pic of the albino posted in the gallery? Looks like he's turning white... again pigmentation.

I agree with CountryGirl, mine almost never basks anymore because of the water temperature here in the Philippines. It climbs to 86F on normal days so I dont see a problem since the basking temperature is set at 90F.

As long as the turt doesnt have breathing problems or eyes clouding, I think he's pretty ok. His shell is hard right? No soft shell disorders? Before you freak out, hehe, remember that baby turts have a more "pliable" shell but that does not necessarily mean he has soft shell.

Other than that, I believe its just a pigmentation issue.

[scripta_elegans]

I think you may have what breeders refer to as a pastel, which is a semi albino slider. They actually try to get turtles light in color to breed and produce the lighter pigmentation your little fellow has. It is a recessive trait for obvious reasons in nature, but it could still happen as it seems to have with your turtle. I think he looks very healthy!
http://www.reptilecity.com/gallery/turtles/Resize_of_DSCN9486

[stanthrax]

maybe he's turning albino? Have you seen the pic of the albino posted in the gallery? Looks like he's turning white... again pigmentation.

I agree with CountryGirl, mine almost never basks anymore because of the water temperature here in the Philippines. It climbs to 86F on normal days so I dont see a problem since the basking temperature is set at 90F.

As long as the turt doesnt have breathing problems or eyes clouding, I think he's pretty ok. His shell is hard right? No soft shell disorders? Before you freak out, hehe, remember that baby turts have a more "pliable" shell but that does not necessarily mean he has soft shell.

Other than that, I believe its just a pigmentation issue.

thank u for the advice

and nope, no soft shell... so far e everything looks good

[stanthrax]

I think you may have what breeders refer to as a pastel, which is a semi albino slider. They actually try to get turtles light in color to breed and produce the lighter pigmentation your little fellow has. It is a recessive trait for obvious reasons in nature, but it could still happen as it seems to have with your turtle. I think he looks very healthy!
http://www.reptilecity.com/gallery/turtles/Resize_of_DSCN9486

ahh man, now they'll say he bleached his skin...

hope this doesn't mean i'll have to add a ferris wheel and some monkeys to the tank

[steve]

It seems like they are not basking and eating at the same frequency.