There are many species of turtle worldwide, we humans prefer to keep only a handful of these animals but in reality, there are over 250 species of turtles on the planet and they come in a variety of colors.
This article looks into why your turtle’s shell color is fading to yellow.
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Turtle shell color fading to yellow:
A change in how your turtle looks or acts will understandably worry you as a turtle owner but this does happen on occasion.
Here is why your turtle’s shell color is fading to yellow:
Old age:
One of the reasons your turtle’s shell may turn yellow may be that the animal is getting older.
Just as with any other animal, your pet turtle’s appearance will change with age. While turtle shells will get darker with age other turtle shells will become lighter with age.
Your turtle’s shell may change from a vibrant green to a yellow, a similar color change may happen in brown-shelled turtles, their shells will change to black.
A shell color change, to some degree, is inevitable for virtually every turtle species as it ages. The degree of the color change varies from turtle to turtle.
What to do:
If you know that your pet is old, and its shell starts to change color to yellow, then you don’t have to worry, this is normal.
As long as your pet isn’t acting ill or out of the ordinary along with this color change then your pet will be fine.
Shedding:
Another reason why your pet turtle may be developing yellow on its shell may be that it is shedding.
Some turtles will naturally have some yellow coloration on their carapace, if your pet’s scutes haven’t shed in a while then these yellow streaks may become less visible.
The yellow may only start to become visible once the old scutes shed off and the new scutes, which have a brighter and more vibrant yellow color, appear.
Your pet’s shell will go back to looking darker as the shell gets exposed to more water and light, this is also normal for your pet.
What to do:
If you know that your pet usually has yellow coloring on its carapace, and this yellow color comes back after shedding, then you don’t have to worry, vibrant colors coming back to your turtle’s shell after the scutes shed is quite normal.
You don’t have to help the animal remove its scutes when it’s time to shed, in fact, removing the scutes yourself may be very painful for the turtle.
What you can do is make sure that your reptile gets enough UVB light when shedding, switching to a new UVB light, if your current light is old, may also be a good idea.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other turtle/tortoise related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Orange Spot On Tortoise Shell, Can Turtles Turn Around In Their Shell?, Why Is My Turtle Turning Orange And Red?, Why Is My Turtle Turning Orange?, Baby Turtle Shell Color Fading To Yellow, Red-Eared Slider Orange Mouth,