Soft Shell

Question
My red eared turtle is set up in a tank with heat, water, rocks and lighting.  Lately it's been lethargic and I picked it up recently and it has a very soft shell.  Do you know what might be wrong?
Thanks, Kathy

Answer
Softshell is a calcium problem. To use calcium correctly, it has to get enough in the diet, and get several other nutrients as well including vitamin D3. It also cannot get too much phosphorous- which is very common in many lower-nutrient lettuces.

The right nutrients can be provided by using a good quality turtle pellet and supplementing it with live for frozen/thawed  'meaty fish foods' like worms, bugs, shrimp, krill, snails, etc.

You can boost the D3 even more by using UVB light.

There could also be husbandry issues, such as temp, water quality, tank size, and more.

You can get some great advice at htp://www.austinsturtlepage.com