# Rescued a Turtle.



## Aluyasha (Sep 2, 2010)

So today my mother tells me one of her neighbors needed to rehome her turtle and heard I like animals and wanted to know if I wanted it.
I went there just a few hours ago to pick it up and could smell the tank before I even entered the house. The water was only about 1 inch deep and black, she has no filter, heater, or a way to fully immerse herself. The tank seems to only be about 10 gallons.
Apparently she has been kept like this for a very long time and her shell is deformed flat and very dried out. She also seems to have a fungus problem on her tail and parts of her shell are soft and caved in.
I have her in a medium sized bin right now with a heat lamp and some slate rocks for basking.
I am kind of out of my element with turtles and any help is welcomed. Let me know what you all think. I would like to get her healed up and ready to be adopted out. She is a Red-Eared Slider that is about 7" inches long.


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## cowboy (Apr 14, 2013)

I absolutely love red ear sliders and kept one for many years. Fortunately he didn't get sick much and the one time I was concerned the reptile vet said he was fine. 

A few things I remember... You are going to find a ten gallon tank on the small side. I used to keep the water around half full so he could swim. I used to have a heater for the water and a proper basking light over his basking area. I left it on May 9 hours a day. It is a must to prevent soft shell. Soft shell is bad news, I hope the light and drying him out will help. Mine like to get out and play in a big tub with wood for him to crawl on. They can be out of water but I wouldn't leave him more than an hour. They love fish but it's not mandatory mine used to eat turtle pellets, freeze dried worms and vegetables. They love eating the plant water wisteria. 

I have no suggestions to help health wise besides what I've mentioned but there are such a thing as reptile vets if needed. 

Good luck with him, keep us posted. 

Ps always clean your hands after handling them and they are very mischievous and love attention and are so much fun. He can get to the size of a dinner plate.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

You can go over to tfk's other sister forum, http://www.turtles.net , for info and help. I have no experience with it so I don't know what it's like but a mod might know more. 

I've never kept RES and don't know much about them but I take care of a couple. I do know that they need enough water to swim in and tanks that are a lot bigger then 10g. Good luck with him.


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## sbrit94 (Aug 1, 2013)

They def need a big tank! They love to swim and can never get enough water at all! There tank water should be 3 times there length, or at least double. That way she can exercise and become healthy. 

They like to eat the pellets but live food is also a delicacy. You could try some feeders to see if she is interested. They also have frozen cube food for turtles.

When I had my turtles all I had was a heat lamp but they also need the UV lamp for better shell growth and it looks like she could use it! 

And if you don't want to do water changes everyday a strong filter is a must! Turtles are like goldfish in the reptile world. They poop and create all kinds of messes.


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## cowboy (Apr 14, 2013)

Your right I forgot about the filter. If your going to adopt him out I would be cautious of feeding him live foods. Not everyone (myself included) likes the thought of feeding live food. But with that said he will love it. I used to give real fresh shrimp from the supermarket until he wouldn't eat anything else than I stopped per the vet. I did however give him imitation crab from the seafood counter as a treat and he loved it. 

How's she doing today?

They are quite hardy animals at that size.


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## Aluyasha (Sep 2, 2010)

Thank you for all the great advice everyone. Today she ate some turtle pellets and has been pooping ALOT. lol
I have cleaned the tub out everytime she poops, hopefully that is enough until she can get into a bigger setup. She is pretty laid back, she hisses at me when I pick her up but does not squirm. I was told by her previous owner that she was very mean, they even said they had named her the "B" word because of it. :/
What is healthy turtle poop supposed to look like? Her's kind of look like green rocks.


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## cowboy (Apr 14, 2013)

Wish I could remember. Hissing? I never had that problem since I had mine for ten years and got him as a baby. I would imagine they nick named her that because they never handled her or paid attention to her. This is off topic but I used to hand feed mine when he was a baby (he's in my album if you want to see him) I fed him shrimp and he was so excited he bit my finger and wouldn't let go, he really wanted the shrimp lol. He was very people oriented but my mom had him and his girlfriend basking in a big container in the sun. While she turned her back the big dog stuck his face in to have a look. Well he was protecting her and probably more than a little scared so he bit the dog on the nose lol. Don't let these two stories scare you he was great just keep handling him, he should get used of it but watch your fingers. It does hurt a little. He might like a bird cuttlebone (I think they have turtle ones now) to play with. Just remove the metal. Mine actually jumped out of his fish tank that was up on a stand and went strolling through the living room. Make sure if he lands on his back if he's out of water to flip him over. It restricts their breathing

If the turtle pellets are green that would probably explain it. Your making me miss my guy!


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## Aluyasha (Sep 2, 2010)

Good news! I managed to contact an exotic animal vet here and they took her for me, are going to bring her back to health and release her in a lake they have filled with other RES turtles.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

That's awesome news! I hope she makes a full recovery.


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## cowboy (Apr 14, 2013)

You did a really good job. She will be happy and get the experienced care she needs. Good job.

We ended up giving ours to someone with a large outdoor heated pond. Its so much better for them. Our turtles ran and jumped straight in, almost like they said we are free. 

They need really really large homes that most can't give them.


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## ilykadothechacha (Jul 7, 2013)

I hope she will get better. She probably has the soft shell syndrome. They need a UV light with a heating light too. I'm glad she has found someone who will take care of her! And that's awesome that they have a pond for them! I have 3 red eared sliders. My boyfriend brought Donatello home when he was the size of a half dollar! My boyfriend rescued him and then I rescued two more. 
I had no idea on how to care for them at first. But I stayed up all night researching and then spent lots of money on them to make sure they are happy! I now love them! Lol


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