Hi all, I adopted a ~15 year old RES that is malnourished and was kept in a dirty tank with a couple inches of water. He (I think) is now in a 30 gallon tank (half filled, see note below), water temp 74F, basking temp 85F. I've had him for a couple days now and could use some advice:
1. He doesn't have much of an appetite for anything except shrimp. He was severely underfed with just koi pellets and his carapace is only 3.5" long. I understand what a balanced aquatic turtle diet should look like, but am wondering if perhaps I should just get some shrimp into him to start with as he's pretty lethargic. Thoughts?
2. He doesn't seem to swim very well and appears very uncoordinated. I had originally filled the tank up more but lowered it as he struggles to swim up for air and instead uses rocks or the glass to stand up. assuming he is just weak from never swimming, should I just keep raising the water slowly?
3. He is not basking. He comes about half way up the ramp and just sticks his head up. I understand that maybe he is shy and needs time to adjust, but after some length of time, should I just take him out into a dry container and dry him off completely to avoid fungal growth?
Otherwise, he seems surprisingly ok given his previous circumstances. Perhaps you may spot other areas of concern, so here are some pics:
https://imgur.com/a/DM4gYvN
https://m.imgur.com/a/WWX73Y3
Thanks!