Yeah that colour is perfectly normal as they mature (: it's more dark brown/black you need to be worried about. Anything squishy is also bad news bears.
Yep, as long as they donβt feel slimyβ¦ I usually lightly run between my fingers occasionally to make sure they are healthy and it also pulls some of the brown/black offβ¦ just be VERY gentleβ¦ I have also pulled a root off that way