shell fading

Question
He wasn't given tetracycline, but I don't know whether what he was given might have been related.  According to his paperwork he was given an injection of sulfamethoxazole at the vet, and I was given Trimethoprim sulfa to administer at home.  We don't know his exact age, his last owners had him about 7 years, and he was a class pet before that.  He is about 6 inches from one end of the shell to the other.  Does the fact that the shell fading has continued mean that he must be under some stressor, or is it just a really slow process to reverse?  I'll check out the site you recommended, I love this turtle and I'm doing everything I can to do right by him.
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
Hello,

About a month ago my painted turtle had a bout of pnemonia.  He stopped eating for several days and the front 2/3 of his carapace faded dramatically.  They were greenish black, and now are a pale green with some pattern visible.  He was treated at the vet for pnemonia, his temperature has been raised and he is eating.  He seems completely healthy again, except for the continued fading of his shell.  The vet told me it was likely a vitamin A deficiency, and to push spinach and carrots.  I have done so, but have seen no improvement.  The back half of the carapace has slowly faded, whereas the change in the front half happened in about a day.  Now the orange of his plastron has a more muted quality to it as well.  Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, as I can't find anything on this subject online, it all just refers to color change due to aging.
-----Answer-----
It is partially due to Vitamin A, but is also the result of stress and other factors.

The odd thing is that it can happen very quickly in some situations, and takes a very, very long time to come back- if it ever does.

Just out of curiosity- did the vet give you tetracycline or a related anti-biotic for the pneumonia? Vets who are not used to reptiles sometimes do, which is sad because tetracyclines attack calcium- like in the shell. I have heard of situation like that happening sometimes.

You don't say the age or size of the turtle. The reason I ask is because...
a.) At about 4", the shell colors do start to change pretty radically towards a more muted shade, and
b.) Under about 4", Painted turtles really don't eat veggies much.

For a good care sheet for this species, try http://www.austinsturtlepage.com Great info on housing, diet, etc. and a good medical section as well.

Answer
So- he is easily over 7 years old and is 6" long. He is definitely an adult and well in the range for fading.

I am not a vet, and I've never seen anything quite like this before.

UV-B lighting is important for color development, as is a well-balanced diet with the proper load of vitamins. Other cases similar to this I have known about (but not so dramatic) have been the result of terrible cares.

I doubt there is anything too awfully terrible going on here, but I suspect from experience that the colors may not come back. With a younger turtle, they would take months to return, but your turtle is old enough now that it might just not happen.