Red-eared slider: Concerns with appearance

Question
Hi, My son has a RES turtle about 2 years old. She has recently developed what looks like algae spots on her shell as well as what looks like dead skin flakes coming off her neck and front leg area. Please advise.  

Answer
'Generic' skin problems usually stem from water quality issues- too small a tank, poor filtration, wrong pH, cleanliness, etc. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon- turtles are a moderately difficult pet to keep.

Try a good care site and compare their recommendations with what you are doing and see how it goes. A good starter site is www.tortoise.org/watcare.html.

Good luck!