General Care Discussion :: I recently rescued a RES from bad conditions

[DOOMSTACHE]

My girlfriend's ignorant 13 year old brother was keeping a full grown male RES in a 10 gallon tank half-way filled up with dirty water almost unable to even reach the filter. No basking area or any way for the turtle to get out of the water to dry off. I could barely even see the turtle in the tank, the water was that dirty. So I cleaned the tank and took the turtle home with me. Im reading up on this site and buffyfan9005 is taking me tomorrow to get an entirely new setup. I hope to learn a lot more about turtle care and give Josh a better home. Thanks for any support and help.

[missibsu]

When you say full grown, how big is this turt? Remember that he truly has growing left you are going to want a bigger set up to allow for growing room. Males will grow to be 8-10 inches. It's great that you have rescued the little guy, I'm glad to hear you are taking the right steps to fix everything. I would suggest that if the guy has been living in those conditions for very long he could have underlying health problems that you may not recognize. I would suggest having a herp vet check him over. Good luck, welcome to the forum, and show us some pics when you get him all set up!

[buffyfan9005]

I examined the turtle last night. I'm thinking he's six inches but that was just an estimation. His shell is in fact hard which I find almost unbelievable with no basking set-up. The shell has a tiny bit of a curl but it doesn't look anything extreme. The shell's color is a bit greyish, not soft or rotted but just a dark greyish or blackish color. The skin going into his shell turns to pink which I'm not sure if it's a normal thing or not seeing as I have a hatchling and this is an adult turtle we're dealing with.

John wants to get a sixty gallon tank at least, full basking set-up and get Josh on a new, healthy diet.

The turtle seems to be pretty active so I think there's hope for him yet.

[missibsu]

The slight curling of the shell is possibly a shell deformity from the lack of basking area. There was a pic in the photo gallery awhile back, I just spent 20 minutes looking and couldn't find it. But anywa, the shell was curled up all the way around the bottom, enough that people were questioning if the turt was even still alive.

There is something else with a pinkish tint, and I can't think of what it is called. I'm sure someone will read this and respond. It may not even be the same thing. I'm just learning too! Keep up the good work so far and post pics when you get a chance!

[buffyfan9005]

I remember that picture. It was horrible.

[ellman605]

click here

is that the pic you were asking about?

[missibsu]

Elliott, I get a blank page when I click there...but it probably is.

[steve]

Nice job buffyfan9005. My male RES has some shell deformity/curling and I attribute that to a lack of water and poor diet (excessive protein) - which is why I like people to know that everything we do is important.

[fishandcandy]

Watch the pinkish skin. You may want to have vet check on that. It's his skin, right? Like his shoulder/armpit area? Pink skin can be a sign of septicemia/blood poisoning.

[marisa]

Good job saving the turtle. Josh sounds like he's in good shape considering what he was living in. The curling is the result of poor diet and habitat. (Couldn't see the pic, though.)

A pinkishness to the skin can also be from certain foods in the diet. Septecemia would also affect the seam between the scutes and the turtle would likely be lethargic. Having him checked out would be good, though.

[DOOMSTACHE]

Okay, so I now have a 55 gallon tank and everything is fine now. Buffyfan bought me a basking dock (thank you so much). I was about to say that the turtle hasn' got on it yet but he did just now. The only thing i really need right now is probably just a new filter (so I can lower the water) and a UVB bulb, and maybe some minos. He was just on the basking dock for a min and just swam off. I hope he gets used to it. I might need to put chickenwire on top so that he won't try to get out because the filter wont let me have any less water than it is now (old filter). Anyways, im quite glad I have the little fellow.

[DOOMSTACHE]

Yeah, im witnessing Josh bask for the first time. He's pretty incredible.