My red bellied slider got soft around the edges and also looked too dark in color. This happened while I was out of town and had friends looking after my turtles. (I was mad) She had a bacterial infection. You can purchase some powder stuff to give your turtle a sulfa bath which will help kill the bacteria. I think it was because my friend was so worried about what my fish were eating she was giving too much and noone was home to keep their water clean. Also, they left their uvb lamp on 24/7 which caused algae to grow. Meanwhile, my turtle is much better although some of the strange spots in her shell have not grown out totally, but seem to be slowly improving. Her shell is totally hard now and color has returned to normal.
Aug 10, 2010
Shell problem by: Anonymous
Your turtle probably has metabolic bone disease (MBD). It needs sunlight or UVB light so it can metabolize calcium. It also needs enough calcium.