Turtle shells come in a variety of colors including brown, black, and green but if the color of the animal’s shell starts to suddenly change, if the shell suddenly turns to blue, then you’d understandably be worried.
This article looks into why your turtle’s shell may be turning blue
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Why is my turtle’s shell turning blue?
Any change in your turtle’s shell will have you wondering about the health of the animal, and for good reason, especially if your turtle’s shell turns blue all of a sudden.
Here is why this may be happening with your turtle:
Algae growth:
If your turtle is suddenly sporting blue-green on the shell then this means that algae is growing on the shell.
The algae on your pet’s shell will grow as a blue-green patch or several small blue-green patches on the shell.
The algae can grow on your pet turtle or in the tank, it isn’t harmful in itself and it can even create a healthier living environment for your little reptile pet to live in.
What to do:
While the algae itself is not dangerous to turtles it can hide infections or injuries, it can also get in the way of the animal’s ability to properly absorb heat from its lamp and the UV rays emitted by the lamp. This can cause a number is health issues in your pet.
For this reason, it’s recommended that you remove the algae from the turtle’s shell by scrubbing the shell with a soft toothbrush and room-temperature water.
Don’t scrub the animal while it’s in the enclosure, use a different container when scrubbing your pet. Once done clean the container out using F10SC, bleach, or chlorhexidine.
Being very gentle when scrubbing is a must, the turtle can feel its shell just as you can feel the top of your head, this part of the turtle’s body may be bone but it still has sensitive nerve endings
Keep algae from growing on your pet’s shell in the future by regularly using a soft toothbrush to scrub your pet’s shell.
If the algae is left to grow on the shell then the algae may find its way under the partially shed scutes and this may cause shell rot to develop
Adding live plants and algae-eating fish to the tank will also help to keep algae at bay, note: your turtle may try to eat the algae-eating fish
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 Does My Turtle’s Shell Look Cracked?, Why Is My Turtle’s Shell Breaking?, Why Is My Turtle’s Shell Shiny?, Why Is My Turtle’s Shell Turning Green?, Why Is My Turtle’s Shell Squishy?, Why Is My Turtle’s Shell Dented?, Why Is My Turtle’s Shell Getting Darker, Why Is My Turtles Shell Caving In?, Why Is My Baby Turtle Not Growing?
