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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.

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the rescue. It's normal for the shell to be slightly pliable on hatchlings. Do not get a calcium injection or an unnecessary vitamin injection.

How close is her UVB lamp to her? I'd also mix up her pellets with another brand… give her less or the worms/shrimp/crickets.

The lamp is 6 t 8 inches away from her floating platform. I make sure that it is on for 12 hours a day. I feed one cricket and one worm a week currently and give her a little pile of the freeze dried blood worms once a week. I have been giving her the krill 2 time a week because I read that the were higher in calcium. I will back off of the shrimp and wait longer between worm and cricket feedings. Any suggestions on a feeding schedule?

I'd feed her those once a week or less. You can dry dusting a few pellets with phosphorous-free calcium dust and see how well she likes those. Is the UVB directly over the basking area?