redearslider.com

you know that part around a turtles rear legs and between them and the tail? like, the soft fleshy part? is that supposed to feel kind of hard to the touch, or when you press it is it supposed to squish in?
i honestly cant remember if it was ever otherwise, but a few days ago i was pressing around back there to check if anything was abnormal because i recently moved him from a glass tank into an opaque tub and hes been acting a little erratic and that part felt hard to the touch, like maybe something under it was swollen or he was bloated.
is that normal? or is that part supposed to be squishy?

hes been eating normally but I also noticed he had bitten off some plastic from a sheet that I thought he couldnt reach and I'm worried about impaction

Should be hard. Do keep an eye out for that missing plastic though.

I've found a couple pieces in the water so I dont think he ate a lot, if any at all. I think he was just biting off pieces to make my life hard lol

he also escaped somehow today?? I have literally no clue how he climbed out because theres at least 4 inches of space between the surface of the water and the rim of the tank so maybe hes just a little demon (hes also fine dw)

They're known to eat inedible things, poop them out and then eat them again

As for escapes, they are absolutely little demons! Once they think they have a way out, they will try and try until they succeed. Some sort of cover would be good for them. I've seen some nice DIY ones... an egg crate one can fit any shape and a wire shelf looks pretty slick.

found all the plastic! it was clogging my filter

I'll try something like that! I have plenty of wire fencing and such laying around I could use, or I might get something I can glue to the edge of the tank to make a little fence lol

Glad you got it all. Wire fencing should work, I've seen some use hardware cloth attached to a little wooden frame around the tank.