A healthy turtle will have a vibrant green or brown shell and skin, if however, your pet’s skin starts to turn red then you’d understandably be alarmed.
This article looks into why your turtle’s shell is turning red.
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Why is my turtle red?
Any change in how your pet looks will understandably be very alarming to you, your pet shell or skin turning red will definitely be very alarming to you but this can happen and happens for a variety of reasons
Here is why your pet may be red:
Shell growth:
The red on your turtle may be more visible in your very young turtles, like the hatchlings and juveniles, this is normal.
The red will show up more so on the skin that lines the newly formed shell, or, on the plastron, which is the underside of the shell.
This happens because the skin is being stretched as the turtle is growing, the stretched skin becomes so thin that you can see the red blood below the skin.
What to do:
Redness in your younger turtle is perfectly normal and isn’t something that you’d need to worry about, all turtles go through this, and the red color will disappear as the animal gets older.
Foods:
Another simple reason why your pet may be turning red may be because of the foods that the animal is eating
If your pet is suddenly eating red or pink foods then this may be the cause of the color change.
What to do:
Look at what your pet is eating and then remove the red or pink foods from the animal’s diet for a little bit.
If the animal’s color goes back to its normal then this is a sign to have more variety in the animal’s diet.
Poor circulation:
Another reason why your pet turtle may develop some redness on its body may be because the animal has been inactive for a while and has poor circulation.
If a turtle stays in the same place for a while then its blood will pool in one area and cause the skin in the area to look red.
This coloring can usually be seen on the animal’s back legs and a little around its front legs
What to do:
This is common in turtles but isn’t exactly a good thing, you’d need to get the animal to move more to get the blood moving again.
This color change will go away once the animal starts running around or swimming around.
Help by ensuring that your pet has a way of entertaining itself in the tank and make sure that its water body is comfortable to swim in
Septicemia:
A blood infection called septicemia can also be the reason behind the red on your pet’s skin. Septicemia can develop when bacteria get into a wound on the animal’s skin and poisons the skin.
This is caused by poor water quality and causes the skin to develop a red or pink color. If the filtration system in your pet’s enclosure is not up to par then bacteria can thrive in the water.
What to do:
This is something that needs antibiotics to treat so taking your pet to the vet is a must, septicemia is fatal without treatment so getting medical attention for your pet is a must
You’d also need to remedy the issue of your pet’s dirty water by improving the filtration system, this may be done by getting the filter repaired or getting a new filter for the animal’s tank.
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: Why Is My Turtle Yawning Underwater?, Why Are My Turtles Eyes Closed, Why Is My Turtle Pink?, Why Is My Turtle Twitching, Why Is My Turtle Eating Sand?, Why Is My Turtle Restless?, Why Is My Turtle Yawning?, Why Is My Turtle Tank Foaming?, Why Is My Turtle Whistling