A change in the color of your turtle’s skin means that something is going on with your pet. Your pet’s skin change will likely be very concerning to you as a turtle owner, figuring out why this is happening is likely your top priority
This article looks into why your turtle’s skin is turning pink
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Why is my turtle’s skin turning pink?
If your pet turtle’s skin deviates from the usual colors of gray, brown, or green then you may think that there is an underlying health issue that caused this, but this isn’t always the case
Here is why this may be happening with your turtle:
The animal is growing:
One of the reasons why your pet’s skin is turning pink is that the animal is growing.
When a turtle’s skin grows and expands it starts to thin out, this thinning of the skin makes the blood vessels under the thin skin more visible and this makes the skin look as though it is turning pink
You’ll usually see this type of skin thinning in young growing turtles.
What to do:
You don’t have to worry if you see this in your young turtle, this is normal and is something that happens in many young turtles.
This skin color change should not come with any signs of sickness or distress. If you see signs of illness or distress along with the pink skin then take your pet to the vet.
As the animal ages it will stop growing and its skin will thicken, once this happens the pink tinge on the skin will disappear and the skin will maintain a grey, brown or green color.
Infection:
Another reason why your pet’s skin may be turning pink may be because the reptile has an infection.
If you see redness in your older turtle then the animal may be suffering from septicemia, this is an infection of the blood that causes the animal’s skin to go red or pink
What to do:
The treatment of septicemia in turtles is antibiotics, these need to be prescribed by a vet. It isn’t recommended that you give your pet antibiotics if you are not a vet.
Inflammation:
Inflammation may also be the reason behind the change in the color of your pet’s skin.
Inflammation of the animal’s skin may have developed because of a chemical imbalance in the tank water, namely, high amounts of nitrates or ammonia in the water.
What to do:
A vet visit would be recommended if this is happening with your pet
Issues with basking:
While basking is very good for your pet there are many ways where it could go wrong.
If your pet sits and basks for a while, and doesn’t move at all, then the animal may start to develop circulation problems.
Circulation problems will cause blood to pool in some areas of the animal’s body and the blood won’t be able to flow to other parts of the body, the result will be pink areas in some parts of the animal body.
You will usually see blood pooling bending the animal’s legs and around his front legs
What to do:
You can encourage the animal to move, or you can move the animal out of its basking area and get into the water. Doing this will get circulation going and will get rid of the pink on the animal’s skin.
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’s Shell Turning Pink?, Why Is The Bottom Of My Turtle’s Shell Pink?, Why Is My Turtle’s Shell Turning Silver?, Why Is My Turtle’s Shell Turning Gold?,