General Care Discussion :: Plastron Changing Colors on RES?

Taking care of your turtle's overall health.

Post Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2015 3:17 pm   Plastron Changing Colors on RES?

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I’ve had an extraordinarily busy week so it has been about a week since I pulled my RES out of the water to check him.

But I pulled him out today and saw something I have never seen before… his plastron is getting darker on the outside going in. I attached two pictures of his underbelly (one without flash - which looks way more concerning - and the other with flash) and a regular picture of his size.

I have had him for roughly… 6 months or so. All in all, he is between 7-8 months old.
I do have a water heater - set at 76-78 degrees F. His basking area is around 90 degrees F.

Any ideas why his plastron would be changing colors like this?
There is nothing that would be bruising it/cutting it in his tank.

I’ve very worried for him :(

He had two rosies in his tank about a month ago… he ate one of them after a week or so and kept the other one around. So I figured I would give him some more, since he seemed to be doing a good job at only eating them when he was in the mood/hungry (instead of all at once). So I added 3 more rosies in.
Needless to say, I was wrong. He immediately ate all 3 rosies (about 5-6 days ago)… while still keeping the one original rosie alive. The original rosie is still swimming alongside him and he seems to hold no interest in eating her... but the same can't be said for any other new rosie I had to his tank, it seems.

Maybe this color change has something to do with the 3 rosies he ate within a 10-minute time frame?

still though - please give me all theories you have
ysitkowski
 
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Post Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2015 3:26 pm   Re: Plastron Changing Colors on RES?

I think most of the pinkish color is from very fast growth. You need to cut down on the treats/protein.

The circle patterns unfortunately go away and are replaced by brownish splotches. Male RES will eventually become melanastic and have even darker plastrons.
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steve
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