General Care Discussion :: No back legs/ not eatting

[Cinderella&theTurtle]

Hi
So I have 2 RES and I love them, I went to this park today with tons of them and right off I found a turtle with this back legs gone. He had a hard time swimming and when he did his but would stick up but I think its because his stubs cant get him down. He is skinny and one leg is almost all gone the other one has the knee that he uses. They are healed wounds. I've only had him for about 5 hours and he hasn't eatten. I'm not to worried because this is all new to him but I wanted to know what everyone else thought. I haven't seen anything weird with him and I'm keeping him away from my turtles until I know he isn't sick. He is a BOY for sure and a lighter green.

I've tried feeding him pellets, dried shrimp, fresh shrimp and tomato. Is there anything to look for as far as if he is sick? What do you guys think?

[n00bEmpty]

Can you take a picture of him? He could have gotten in a fight with another turtle or something when he was little and gotten his legs bit off. Here's some information for you. http://www.redearslider.com/index_health.html

[Cinderella&theTurtle]

I do have pictures? How do I post them?

[n00bEmpty]

Upload it to a site like imageshack.com or photobucket.com, tinypic.com is always good. Get the link and use the tags

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[img]<link>[/img]

It should be something like this if you picked TinyPic.

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[IMG]http://i48.tinypic.com/2v11com.png[/IMG]

[Cinderella&theTurtle]

[img][IMG]http://i50.tinypic.com/n4bpfd.jpg[/IMG]
[/img][code][IMG]http://i50.tinypic.com/n4bpfd.jpg[/IMG][/code]

Other Pic


[code][IMG]http://i47.tinypic.com/v8k076.jpg[/IMG]
[img][IMG]http://i47.tinypic.com/v8k076.jpg[/IMG]

Can you get to it?[/img][/code]

Oh if you only use the http to the jpg you will see it

[Cinderella&theTurtle]

So pretty much I think he must of been a pet someone ponded off because when I walk into the room he takes his head out of the water and watches me. He isn't afraid at all, he doesn't bit, He lets me pet his head, checks and feet with out going into his shell. It seems as if he trusts me. My RES aren't as calm and willing to be pet as he and they have been handled a lot sense they were babies.

[n00bEmpty]

Other Pic

If somebody did released him then they most likely didn't know how to raise him and he was confused when he was in the wild. And also, it looks like a she to me.

[Cinderella&theTurtle]

Thank you for doing the pictures like that! Yeah that picture doesn't show him manly feet but they are for sure. So I have another question, see around his eyes how its light. They look grey and when he closes his eyes hi eye lids are gray. My turtles eyelids seem more clear and blend in. Should I be worried. Also he still isn't eating.

[n00bEmpty]

A turtle can last a while without eating.
His eyes might be a trait, like some turtles were born with more blended in eye lids (yours) and some were born like that. If you really want to make sure nothing's wrong then go look for some cod-liver and drop a couple on his eye lids.

[Cinderella&theTurtle]

Thank you n00bEmpty your so nice to answer all my questions

[steve]

Are you planning on keeping this turtle? Tough to make the call if it's wild or captive, though he certainly is a survivor. If he has been in the wild, it looks like he's been there for awhile.

If you plan on keeping him, he obviously needs to be kep apart from the others. I would do a good scrubbing and cleaning with diluted betadine (not a soaking) and use the zoo med eye drops and sulpha dip.

[Cinderella&theTurtle]

Thank you thats great to know, his under sell is kind of dirty. If he is wild he is super sweet, better then my turtles. He lets me do anything and isn't afraid or seem to care. I love him so much already and I'm so happy he started eating a couple days ago.

Can you tell me where I would find those things for cleaning??? Should I keep him away from my turtles forever?? What kind of problems would it bring ?

[Rosepruner]

well, if you put him in with your other turtles, he will most definately be targeted because he's different. Also, he can't swim as fast the others, so yes, he needs to stay away from your turtles forever. He seems like quite a cute little turtle, and I think that you should keep him, because if he goes into the wild, he most certainly will have a hard life, however, if you don't feel like you can adequately care for him, you might consider seeing if there's a rescue organization that will take him.

[Cinderella&theTurtle]

Well I have looked into a rescue but I can't find one here in CA at least none that are replying. I want to try and keep him, I'm more worried about my 2 girls then him but I love my pets so much, they always come first. Thank you for your feed back

[steve]

Betadine can be found in any drug store/pharmacy/first aid section. If there are injuries I would use diluted Hibiclens (Chlorhexidine) but I don't see any in the pic. Just dilute, scrub and let it dry. The other items can be found in most pet stores and online (like drsfostersmith.com).