Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 1.5 year old RES and recently bought a 3 month old painted turtle. The painted turtle is green and red whereas my RES is brown and black. Ive noticed that my painted turtle is now turning brown and black. WHY????

I have 2 light sources on them constantly. One is a tube light - UVB and the other is a DayGlo bulb for basking. I bought them both at the pet store.

Is there something Im not doing so that the will keep their color? I feed them Nutrifin pellets, lettuce, berries, krill, shrimp, chicken, etc.

I dont want them to be unhealthy. Ill fix the prob, I just dont know what it is. I assumed my RES was healthy because he eats like a horse and has grown normally.

Thanks in advance!

~Meg

I just read some books on aquatic turtle today in petco

and the author noted a problem with captive bred turtles

losing colors after period of captive care simply because

their food doesn't have colors.

He suggested to feed occationally with color fish food or

vegetables with colors like red and purple.

i could be wrong..hope this helps.

I`ve read that foods with bet carotene like carrots, squash, pumpkin as well as leafy greens like dandylions and kale, etc. will enhance coloring, as will natural sunlight. (A more varied diet and natural sunlight are part of the reason why wild turtles are more colorful and captives.)

Oops..should be "than captives."