General Care Discussion :: Pink on Bottom Shell

[industrial_girl_2000]

If you are talking about the little bit of pink in between the scutes, that is normal when they are growing. Shrimp will make the scutes more pink & should only be used as an occasional treat. Other than that, your turtle's coloring looks healthy to me!

FYI - the reason why flamingos are pink is because they eat so much shrimp! So turtles aren't the only ones with this problem.

[DavidY]

Wow, that's really interesting! Have they found that flamingos that don't eat as much shrimp aren't as pink? Cool stuff!

[SpotsMama]

I've heard that about Flamingos too. And yes, if they don't get shrimp they get real pale.

It works for other birds too, especially red ones. A cardinal that eats red food will be brighter than one that doesn't.

The turtles, too, that are fed a lot of beta carotene (carrots, cantelope, etc) get orangey on their plastrons.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Wow, that's really interesting! Have they found that flamingos that don't eat as much shrimp aren't as pink? Cool stuff!

Yup! White flamingos don't eat shrimp! Weird but true.

[DavidY]

That's cool! So i guess the old saying "you are what you eat" is really true.