Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We have a small yellow belly slider that we have had 2 months. We got a proper tank set up with the help of a local store. My daughter noticed that his shell is soft rather than hard. Can you tell me what causes this?
He won't eat the purchased turtle food, but does eat lettuce.

Instead of lettuce, try feeding it collared greens, carrots, a bit of kale, etc (just feed veggies like chinese cabage & spinach VERY sparingly, because of the oxalic acids that interfere with calcium absorbsion). The reason 4 the soft shell is most likely MBD (Metabolic Bone Disease -> the animal is not getting enough calcium & vitamin D3). Get it to a herp vet ASAP. Also feed it some cuttlebone (usually used 4 birds) as a calcium supplement. Besides that, also feed em crickets, mealworms (not to much, as they have a bad phosphour : calcium rate), earthworms (excelent food item), not to forget to gutload em. Fruits are also fine (not citrus fruits however). And, also feed some feeder fish (small goldfish & guppies, just make sure that they're parasite free & well fed a few days before feeding), and some dried/feeder shrimp (if they are available). Be persistent when feeding pellets, maybe some thay he/she will find them irresistable. Oh yeah, and not to forget to provide your pet with ultraviolet lighting (sunlight is best, & free too )
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My "babies" :
1.0.0 Indo BTS (Tiliqua gigas gigas)
0.0.1 Rainbow skinks (Mabuya multifasciata)
0.0.3 RES (Trachemys scripta elegans)
0.0.4 Amboina box turtles (Cuora amboinensis)
1.0.0 Chinese softshell (Trionyx sinensis)
1.0.0 Asian leaf turtle (Cyclemys dentata)
1.0.0 Leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius)
And still growing...

Make sure you have a UVB bulb for your turtle to bask in. Shell problems are no joking matter. I rescued a turtle that was in a very very bad living condition at a local pet store(very bad source for pet information) who had some shell rot and algea all over him. I got him on an excellent diet. Plenty of calcium. Good source of UVB. Frequent water changes. Got rid of the rot and algea. His shell is very scarred and not very attractive. He is get better. Its important that you take good care of ur turtle. My best advice is to listen to everyone on this board.

THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING!!!!!!!!

-Keith
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Keith

1 Pembroke Welsh Corgi (Kaiya)
1 RES (King Koopa aka Bowser)
1 Betta (Garcia)
1 Fiance' (Lacy - Requires more work and attention then any animal. Not Recommended......j/k)

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