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Hey Turtle Talk! Seems like I have a new question every week lol. I'm a little concerned about my YBS plastron. There are these discolored areas toward the edge of the plastron. I'm not finding anything on the net about these markings being a problem however I'm trying to figure out if maybe they are caused from too much protein in his/her diet? At first I thought I wasn't feeding enough with all the begging he/she has been doing but then thought maybe I'm feeding too much so I decreased the amount of Fluker pellets he/she gets to everyother day instead of everyday with assorted lettuce still everyday. Any input is grately appreciated.

I don't have an exact answer for you, but it's usually believed to be from fast growth, poor water filtration or an abrasive basking area.

I was thinking it most likely was caused by fast growth. Especially since his seams on his shell have seemed to thicken up a bit since we got him. Also his basking area is pretty smooth with a few ridges on the side for him to pull himself up out of the water and the water quality is 100% better than what he had before we got him. I just hope with cutting his pellets down I can find a happy medium regarding his diet.

I hope so too, I think it's the right step.

Also I'm wondering is there such thing as feeding too much lettuce? The last few weeks he has been getting this assorted lettuce and the leaves are a lot smaller than your average romaine or green leafy lettuce leaves so I've been giving him 1-2 everyday. Should I be cutting down on the lettuce as well? It is more than what would typically fit in his head if it were hollowed out.

from everything i have read and from personal experience, turtles will eat enough lettuce to satisfy them, then stop. I have 7 assorted turtles in a 300 gallon stock tank and we toss in around 12 leaves every other day. Sometimes they eat them all in a couple hours, other times they let them be for days and we have to fish them out. So only you can find what a good amount is for your turtle.


"assorited lettuce" does it have spinach? If so that is a HUGE do not feed?!?

In my personal experience that look just happens with turtles with yellow plastrons when their growing and their small. When i was big on raising painteds all hatchling/ yearlings would get that look at some point. They all had perfect shell growth too. I think its just normal, i never worried about it.

CactusJohn: No spinach. Its 2 different red lettuces and 2 different green leafy kinds. I drilled into my boyfriend and daughters heads spinach and iceberg lettuce were huge no-nos for the turt.

Diamondbacks: Thanks for the input . I feel better that it isn't caused from something that I have been doing wrong. I'll just keep an eye on it and make sure nothing crazy is happening on the plastron.

How much they eat will depend on their personality... some will eat to the point of vomiting.

I haven't seen him vomit so I guess the amount of lettuce I'm feeding is okay. I just feel bad because some nights I get home and as soon as he sees me he is up on top of the filter trying to crawl out to get to me for food I'm assuming. However I will just chalk that up to begging and that he is perfectly fine.

Diamondback... does this look like what your experience has been with your painted turtles?

Gurgi still hasn't shed his top shell... running out this weekend to get some wheat germ pellets... crossing my fingers that it'll help.