Recently I rescued a very small turtle who was stuck in some mud at a golf course during the later part of fall. It didn't seem to be doing well and I absolutely love water turtles so I brought it home as a pet. I have done quite a bit of research on things like diet, lighting, cleaning, etc so I feel confident that I am doing many of the right things. The turtle was about 1.5 inches to start and is now just over 2 inches. I feed it Exo Terra aquatic turtle pellets for juvenile, red worms, blood worms, crickets, krill, guppies (when she can catch them) and I always have red leaf lettuce and cuttlebone available for graze. She actually just started to eat the lettuce last week and the cuttlebone shows she has chomped it as well. I have a dual bulb hood for her lighting that has reptisun 5.0 uvb and daylight blue 60w (uva) bulbs. I have had her about 2.5 months now. She is very active, sun baths regularly and eats great!
My problem... When I examined her shell today it seems to be pretty darn flexible i can wiggle it near the edges and slight compression makes it flex even in the middle. I have read about softshell syndrome so I am freaked out! But I have also read that its normal for a 2 inch RES to have a flexible shell. The shell looks pretty healthy otherwise with no discoloration or signs of pyramiding. The scoots do have ashy looking centers that are the size of her scoots when I first got her before she started to grow. I am considering taking her to a vet but first I wanted to ask around to see if the flexible shell is normal or if there is anything else I should be doing for her. Should I take her to see a vet and get a calcium injection? Please help! Any input is greatly appreciated.
