General Care Discussion :: is this a RES or something else?

[roxmysox]

okay so I have a pond with 2 RES and a painted turtles, a friend of mine recently found this turtle and gave him to me to care for, but i havent seen a turtle like him before.... He has the shell of a RES, only narrower, but his skin is all black and seems to be textured differently... Is it maybe because he old? any help from someone who may know would be great! Id just like to know what kind he is to ease my curioustity....

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/546/dsc01641p.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/21/dsc01646pk.jpg/

[Diamondbacks4Life]

A picture of a the turtle would really help. Without out seeing it it hard to even imagine what the turtle looks like.

[Linus]

Most likely a malentistic red eared slider.

If he was taken out of the wild, I would urge you to be him back. He is obviously an old turtle.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Yep just a Melanistic Res, it is very common in older male res for them to turn melanistic with age.

[roxmysox]

He wasnt taken out of the wild, My friend just found him in his neighborhood and no one has responded to "found turtle" signs. He seems to love the pond, he is a little more aggressive than the others though when I feed them.

[roxmysox]

Around what age do they start turning? I know the exact ages of all mine except this little guy.

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Around what age do they start turning? I know the exact ages of all mine except this little guy.

Its not a 100% chance it will happen just a chance it could happen. As for start turning, most people have noticed changes to a melanistic form starting as early as 8 years old.

[Linus]

Where does your friend live?

[steve]

My male RES became melanistic around 7, though he's still getting grayer/darker.

[roxmysox]

He lives in Mesa, AZ. Right of a major freeway

[Diamondbacks4Life]

He lives in Mesa, AZ. Right of a major freeway

Red Eared sliders are not local to Arizona so go ahead and keep it.