General Care Discussion :: help with new baby turtle

[michelangeloandleo]

Hey Everyone!

Let me start by saying I have had a red eared slider, Michelangelo, for almost ten years now. I love him and he is happy, healthy, and doing great! (I'm 19, so I've had him since I was 10...he's been there through it all!) He has never had any major health issues and I really love that he is a huge part of my family.

With that said, I never thought of ever getting another turtle just because, well, Michelangelo is enough work. I was at the flea market today, however, and I saw a man (must have been from Chinatown, I live about 10 minutes outside New York City..I know they have baby turtles as food there) selling baby quarter sized turtles. Being in New Jersey, turtles are completely illegal to sell and anything under 4 inches is illegal in the United States. I was really upset as I watched children and their parents buying these little turtles in these tiny tanks with a centimeter of water in them and no room to bask. The man told them that they could just keep them in there and feed them. I tried to tell as many of them as I could that they need to get a bigger tank, filters, heat lamp, but nobody really cared.

So, I went over and watched as the man picked up a baby slider from this huge tank full of baby turtles and threw them into these tiny little tanks with a plastic palm tree. Then I saw this little one who obviously had a bit of shell rot and I could just tell he just really was in bad shape. I decided to buy him because I figured if he went with anyone else he would die and maybe I would be able to take care of him properly. I named him Leonardo, and I put him in a separate 10 gallon tank (for now), FAR away from Michelangelo. I put him in some sulfa dip and put some Vitashell on him, anything to get his shell strength back. I was just wondering if anyone had anymore suggestions for me and how exactly I could get this turtle back to being strong and healthy. He has a really soft shell, and two white spots in the top of it. He closes his eyes a lot too..other than that, he is very active and seems to be okay. He is not really eating, but I know that is to be expected with a new arrival. (I just got him today) I'm really confident that he will get better, he seems to be improving already. Now that you all know my entire life-story, advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your time!

-Linda

[sonyj]

Well, it sounds like the little guy needs a vet visit. Other than that, making sure his setup is correct and that he has plenty of direct sunlight/UVB to bask in along with some cuttlebone to supplement his calcium would be good. I wouldn't use the vita-shell on him anymore. It can cause more shell damage than help. It blocks the shells ability to breath by clogging the pores.

You will want to keep him in his own set up for quite a while. Mixing older/larger turtles with smaller ones has lead to injury/death to the smaller turtles by other owners that were unaware that aggression can occur. And since Michelangelo has been alone all this time there's the chance he would not accept him anyway and then you'd end up having an injured turtle and having to separate them again.

Good luck with the little guy. Hope he gets better. If you have any pics of your guys we'd love to see them.

[JuelisKaylee]

If anything under 4 inches is illegal in the US, then if you take it to the VET woudl that be a problem for you? or me in my case? I have two turtles and the biggest is 2.25 inches. I might have to take mine to the Dr due to a little eye infection but i'm sougt of timid about doing so, since somone there tomd me on the phone that they know somone who was trying to collect them all and ship them off the island.

[missibsu]

In the US it is not illegal to own RES under four inches, but is supposed to be illegal to purchase them. I'm not sure of rules outside the US, or whose laws you fall under in terms of pets owned.

[JuelisKaylee]

OH well we follow US rules as well...I just alwasy wanted to know because my first pair of Turtles I had while i was in school up in Maryland.

[marisa]

I'd stop the Vita Shell and concentrate on giving a good habitat with plenty of basking time under correct lighting (UVB light plus a heat source) and a balanced diet with ample calcium.

What is the water and basking area temp? You might want to keep him a tad warmer for a bit (water 80F and basking area about 90F) in case he has a touch of an RI.

How bad is the shell? Can you post a pic of the shell dry?

[michelangeloandleo]

hey everyone..sorry it has taken me so long to reply...

unfortunately, little leo passed away today. he was doing so well...the first day after the sulfa bath, he was eating and swimming around...even the second day...he ate was very active...i thought that i had succeeded...

by the forth or fifth day, however, all the sudden he became very lethargic..he stayed on the rock..refused to go in the water...refused to eat...it was a complete 360 from the day before...i kept trying with the sulfa dip and eyedrops..nothing helped..i had his water at 80 degrees and basking area around 90..he still just stayed there and put his little head sadly on his basking rock...

i decided today that i would take him to the vet because i read somewhere that these were signs of pnemonia and the vet had medicine that would make him better...i called and was going to take little leo for a checkup tomorrow..he didn't make it.

i am very, very, upset about all of this and wish i could have done more to save him...the sad thing is i thought he was doing better and then literally overnight he became deathy ill. thank you all so much for your replies..i know now not to use the vitashell on michelangelo lol...if only i could have helped leo...ugh i really wish i took him to the vet right away, the first day i got him..i guess i learned..i don't know if i'm going back to the flea market to save anymore turtles..i cannot deal with this heartache! thanks again..i did manage to take some pictures of leo and a nice little video..i'll upload them soon so i can remember this special little guy.

-Linda

[sonyj]

Sorry for your loss. It was a good thing you did. We know you had his best interests at heart.

[missibsu]

Sorry for your loss! I'm glad that you had him in a separate tank. You have saved yourself a lot of cleaning work, and it's a good lesson for anyone else that comes along!