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As the title says, I found a RES on the side of a rather busy road in town while walking my kids home from school, at first I was going to only move it away from the road and go about my day, but this guy doesn't look very good at all.

He was bone dry with moss covering his shell, only movement is reactive, he's about 5 inches long, no obvious shell issues that I can see, not any obvious injuries that I can see other than maybe one of his eyes is a little buldgy, but not bleeding or oozing anything.

I'd take him to a vet or rescue but I have no car here and there is nothing within walking distance that I could find.

On my end what am I able to do for this poor guy? I did have a RES years ago but I'm talking YEARS, and aside from basic care I don't remember much.

It's not very hot here today (south Texas), the sun was out but not scorching, my first though is he needed some water, so I have him in a shallow dish with just enough water to reach his mouth if he opens it but not to his nose. I put him in luke warm water, not too cold not too warm and I have him sitting outside in partial sun since it's much colder in my apartment.

I'm honestly not too optimistic that he'll make it but I figured I should try and do what I can. My goal would be to nurse him back to health if possible and release him in a safe area.

Any suggestions for what I can do would be appreciated.

Do you have any nearby ponds or lakes? If you can put him in a small tube with warm water, add a bit of plain pedialyte for him. Might want to check if here is a herpetological society nearby, if not ask if they have a member nearby that can pick him up... maybe start at http://www.gctts.org/

Mainly run offs, no reall lakes or ponds terribly close, not sure where he managed to come from.

I'll try what you suggested, I also was able to borrow a heat lamp to try and keep him warm. I did notice he has very small leeches, two came off just a few minutes ago and I can see a few more on him still now that I know what to look for (they blend in really well! ).

I'll plan on making some calls in the morning but honestly I doubt he'll make it through the night.

Have you tried feeding him? A little bit of boiled chicken meat is OK for them. If you add more water, would he be able to lift his head (to make it easier for him to drink)?

If you want to take the leeches out, have some Betadine or the likes with you and disinfect the wound immediately. Be careful not to have products in the water though.