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Hi,
I bought a red-eared slider about a week ago from a nightmare of a store! (I know this now). I was told the wrong things and after doing my own research I went out and bought [I think] everything my turtle needs. He is about 4 months old and is acting strange.

First, some background:
Carlo (the turtle) spent the first night in a small tank and was clearly unimpressed. The next day I went to a local pet store and bought an aquatic turtle tank that came with: a filter, a basking dock, a fake tree, a UVB lamp, and a heat lamp. I set everything up and walked away for a few hours.
I came back and the UVB light bulb was blown! The next day I returned the light bulb and they ordered me a new one. The woman claimed he would be ok for a few days without it. He went 5 days without it (and looking back on the store I bought him from, these five days were added to probably 4 months of no UVB lamp). I got worried, panicked, and came to the conclusion that poor Carlo was probably suffering from Soft-Shell Syndrome.
He seemed lethargic and struggled to swim away from the filter, sometimes being sucked toward it and just sitting there. I searched and searched and then went into the pet store and they suggested I take home a frozen dead mouse, thaw it, skin it, cut it up, and feed it to Carlo for the calcium. This wasn't really something I had in mind when buying a turtle, but I've become attached to my little friend so I sucked it up and did it. He seemed to enjoy the meat and the optimist in me even seemed to notice he had more energy.

Today I picked up a new UVB lamp, installed it, changed out some of his water, and dropped in a calcium block and cuttle bone (this was suggested on many forums), but he's been acting extremely weird.
He hasn't been basking. Instead he's been propping himself up on the fake tree with part of his head sticking out and when you look at him, he gets startled and swims away. But his swimming doesn't seem right either; he's swimming back and forth at the bottom of the tank with his chin to the ground... almost as if he's penny-pushing. I've also noticed that when he isn't swimming at the bottom he's almost flailing about and hitting the glass. I even moved his basking dock lower just in case I had messed up his chi when I took it out to change out his water, but still no basking! Besides his erratic swimming and lack of basking he seems to be fine. I even took him out today to see if his outer shell was soft, but then I realized I'm not really sure how soft or hard it's supposed to be so...

Can someone please tell me what's up with Carlo?

tl;dr: Carlo hasn't been basking, has been propping himself up on his fake tree, and "penny-pushing" the bottom of his tank with brief periods of erratic swimming and headbutting of the glass.

I would give him some time to get used to the new home. Don't expect him to start basking right away. I had my turtles for years before I built the above-tank-basking-area and it took a few weeks before he decided to venture up there.

As far as the soft shell goes, I'm sure someone with more knowledge will be along shortly to help you diagnose that properly. But the shell ought to be hard, but not brittle - just like you'd probably imagine a turtle shell should feel.

And also wanted to say I love the "tl;dr", even though I did read the whole thing, because I was just reading a reddit post with one

Hi,

Those kits are usually not recommended since they are limited in size and the equipment can be inadequate. Was a water heater included? Also skip the little turtle-shaped calcium block.

Instead of mice, look into getting a good pellet like Reptomin Baby, as it'll have calcium and vitamin D3. You can also offer boiled white chicken meat or canned tuna as a treat.

What else are you feeding him?

Do you know the water temps and basking temps?

steve wrote:Hi,

Those kits are usually not recommended since they are limited in size and the equipment can be inadequate. Was a water heater included? Also skip the little turtle-shaped calcium block.

Instead of mice, look into getting a good pellet like Reptomin Baby, as it'll have calcium and vitamin D3. You can also offer boiled white chicken meat or canned tuna as a treat.

What else are you feeding him?

Do you know the water temps and basking temps?

I unfortunately learned this the hard way - $225 later! A water heater wasn't included, but I'm going out tomorrow to purchase one (as well as a thermometer). I also think the filter is kind of faulty as the water is foggy and I just changed it! (not all of it). But I was wondering if this could be due to hard-water in the house rather than the filter? Do you think I should boil the water before putting it in? (obviously not while it's still hot).

Right now I've been feeding him Nutrafin Basix: Floating Turtle Gammarus Pellets. It includes: crude protein min. (34.0%), crude fat min (4.0%), crude fiber max (2.5%), and moisture max (10.0%). I'm also going to purchase some fish for him. Do you recommend a specific kind? I feel like spoiling my little man!

and thanks for the information!

dwnb wrote:
I unfortunately learned this the hard way - $225 later! A water heater wasn't included, but I'm going out tomorrow to purchase one (as well as a thermometer). I also think the filter is kind of faulty as the water is foggy and I just changed it! (not all of it). But I was wondering if this could be due to hard-water in the house rather than the filter? Do you think I should boil the water before putting it in? (obviously not while it's still hot).

Right now I've been feeding him Nutrafin Basix: Floating Turtle Gammarus Pellets. It includes: crude protein min. (34.0%), crude fat min (4.0%), crude fiber max (2.5%), and moisture max (10.0%). I'm also going to purchase some fish for him. Do you recommend a specific kind? I feel like spoiling my little man!

and thanks for the information!

I would avoid the gammarus, as they're high in protein and pretty much nothing else. Instead, I'd feed him mostly turtle pellets. Reptomin is a good choice (by Tetra) but I also use Sera RAFFY P and the Exo Terra ones. Other stuff you can give him are: veggies, feeder fish, fresh fish, fresh shrimps and as a treat white meat, mealworms, earthworms.
As for the cloudy water it could be either the filter cycling, or same filter being too small and inadequate.
You should use a conditioner for the water and/or wait 24 hours before putting it in the tank, as tap water contains chloryne.

How long has the water been cycling through the filter? Sometimes there is a lag between when you fill the tank, put the animal in, and when the bacteria cultures in the water/substrate/filter/etc grow to sufficient numbers to adequately complete the nitrogen cycle. A RES is a relatively large producer of waste (compared to something like tropical fish) so it might take a little while for that to happen. But like Marcus said, you also want to make sure you're conditioning tap water.

The water hardness shouldn't make the water cloudy unless it is outrageously high - I assume it's the same water you're using for the rest of the house's plumbing? If your hardness was high enough to be cloudy you'd likely have significant buildup on all water spouts/faucets.