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Hi Everybody, i just registered a few minutes ago. I was surfing the internet for something unrelated when i bumped into this forum and i was totally blown out. Seven months ago, we found a turtle in the road. It is a male RES and approx 6 inches. For the first few months i fed him pellets but when i introduced goldfish, he never ate pellets anymore. From then on, I just fed him with as much goldfish and cricket he can eat.

I didn't realize that I was not feeding him properly. I'm worried that he is now very unhealthy and at risk. Can anybody look at these pictures and tell me if he's healthy or not? Im mostly concerned about his neck. It looks like he has a bump there... could it be goiter or he is just fat?





That lump vanishes when he stretched his neck like this...




Also, his shell looks dry.



I promise, i'll do my best to take care of him from now on.

EDIT: Sorry, images work now.

Unless your turtles claws are trimmed, your "male" looks like a female to me. Can you get a picture of his/her tail? Also maybe hold a ruler up to his/her shell? I would say from your pictures that your turtle looks like it has the beginnings of an abcess. I would get a herp vet appointment to get it lanced before it gets any worse. Does he/she have the appropriate lighting?

Are you concerned about the saggy area under her (yes, looks quite feminine) chin? That looks ok to me. RES sometimes puff that area out - mine puffs his out when he's about to be fed. I'm not sure what it signifies.

If you're concerned about swellings on the side of the head, though, that may be, as mentioned, the beginnings of an abcess and needs attention from a vet.

The shell may be a little bit dull and has some white on it but it's not terrible. Has she shed scutes lately or is she starting to shed? Looks like some of the scutes are loosening.

How's she behaving? Is she basking and alert? From what I can see in the photo her eyes look fine. I guess her appetite is good. Does she chase after the goldfish with enthusiasm?

When you make her switch back to pellets and vegetables from her steady diet of goldfish and crickets she's probably not going to like it. She may refuse to eat for a few days. If so, read up on "how to entice a turtle to eat" info in the general info section of this site.

Keep us posted!

All my turtles have that bump under their heads, I believe it's normal.

Thanks for the advice. How often do they normally shed? Gongi shed right after we found her and for a while the color on her shell was vibrant. Recently it's started to dull again, it seems similar to when she shed before but that was only about seven months ago. Is that a reasonable time frame?

Can you explain more about an abcess? She has a very healthy appetite and is active, she chases goldfish and crickets with abandon. Gongi's head seems to match other turtles I've seen, it was just the throat I was worried about.

Actually, I noticed that the throat puffing looks like the same thing my husband's geckos do, ha ha ha.

The "bulge" under the chin is normal. I thought I saw a lump underneath her "red ear" and just above the big yellow stripe that runs beneath her eye. Maybe it is something else - her real ear is about there. Can she pull her head into her shell with ease?

She looks healthy to me. Her skin/shell might need to shed, but that's a normal process. Do you have a heat light and a UVB light over her basking area? These lights aid the turtle in keeping it's skin and shell healthy, as well as helping them metabolize food and calcium. She's very cute!

Lotsofpets, I thought I saw the same small bulge on the side of the head that you thought you were seeing. However, it was probably just the angle of the camera on a normal wedge-shaped RES head.

Ear abcesses are not that uncommon with RESs. It's like a boil in the ear area. A vet will lance it and clean it out and give antibiotics. Here's a picture of one with an advanced abcess:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... ear+abcess

And regarding throat puffing, I know some people that do that too!

Gongi is a cute little turt!

SpotsMama, im sure that Gongi doesnt have an abcess. It might be just a bad camera angle. Here's a close-up picture of her. Gongi's facial expression is really funny - sort of aristocratic look. I havent tried to feed him pellets but he's eating the veggies and the aquatic plants with glee so i have no complaints about it. But do you think i should still try to feed her pellets?



Lotsofpets, yes, she can pull her head into her shell with ease and haste... like whoosh...

scripta_elegans, It's a relief to know that Gongi is Healthy

now, the only thing that im really want to know is the gender. I've read the article about sexing the turtle but Gongi's claws are confusing. They are longer than most females but shorter than most males. Here's a picture of the claw and the tail




Thanks!

If shes eating veggies and aquatic plants,then that is good.But keep offering her pellets and cut down on protein(goldfish,crickets,etc) another thing alot of people on this forum dont recommend feeding a Redearslider goldfish because they are very fatty and tend to carry alot of parasites.

You can give her a rare treat,like chicken or shrimp treat.But since shes a big redearslider,her diet should consist more of vegetable and plant matter.

Your turtle's diet should consist mainly of pellets. Here's a link on pellets. There's also other good info on diet here. My Spot turned up his nose at several kinds of pellets but really loves the Reptomin. The people know know a lot on this forum recommend rotating a variety of pellets:

http://www.redearslider.com/pellets.html

Your turtle just really looks like a girl to me! Here's a link on the subject. If anything, the pictures don't convey how big a males tale is and how long those front toenails are:

http://www.redearslider.com/determining_sex.html

Here's a link with pictures of a very manly turtle. You'll see how different it is. My Spot looks kind of like this one.

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... ght=freddy

I concur that it is a female, male RES are VERY easily distinguishable once you put one of each gender side by side, you'll never mistake it again,

I will agree that Gongi is a pretty and quite healthy female RES. It must have been the camera angle/lighting in the first pictures. I can tell she likes her lettuce! I have a male about the same size and there is a lot of difference between the sizes of claws and tails between the two genders. From the looks of her it appears that someone may have dumped her. Apparently whoever didn't want to take care of her anymore - she looks too healthy to have been a wild turtle. Do you have any background information on her?

What a pretty girl!

Nice looking turtle. Goiters aren't that common. The bulge under the neck when you turtle breathes is normal (she's also smelling when she does this).