So just to give a slight backstory, my friend is currently in university, studying abroad in China, and her and some friends were at Wal-Mart when they saw a turtle being kept in a tiny plastic container with no room to even really move around, so they bought him on a whim because they couldn't stand to see it like that. As much as I disapprove of buying any animal you know nothing about on a whim, or buying from stores that obviously care so little for animals health and well being, I'm happy they were able to rescue him from the terrible conditions he was in.
My friend messaged me asking if I knew any information on how to take care of him because I'm her go-to reptile friends, so I helped out where I could though I'm not super great with turtles (lizards, tortoises, and snakes are more my route but I still do know quiet a bit on turtle care and obviously the pieces I didn't or wasn't sure about I helped her research). With the research and time I've put into helping her we were able to find out what type of turtle he was as the store didn't even tell them that, and got her to get him the right set up, the right lighting, and the right amount of water, etc. gave her a food list of things red-eared sliders can eat and what they should stay away from.
He seems okay, and he looks overall healthy to me in the photos she's sent me, which given the conditions he was being kept in still has me quiet shocked, but he still isn't eating anything they try to give him and I was wondering if there's something we can do?
My friend knows very little about reptiles and how to find forums like this which is why I'm posting for her, I'm just trying to help her out with this turtle because I'm really passionate about reptiles in general but especially the mistreated ones since there's no regulations for these animals, so I want this little guy to thrive and I really could use some advice and help because I'm sort of stumped here.
Thank you for any information, at the moment any and everything is helpful to us because we just want to help him be happy, thrive, and live his best life now that he's able to be in a good environment. And if there's anymore info you guys need let me know and I'll add whatever I can, the only info we're not aware of is obviously his age but he's definitely a baby by his size, he's about palm sized I'm guessing by the pics, maybe a bit bigger but not much, so I'm sure he's pretty young we're just not sure of any time frame that I can relay to you guys.