General Care Discussion :: NEW TURTLE!

[Starchick]

My best friend's mother asked me to turtle-sit for Napoleon's brother, who I've been wheedling to adopt for months now. I've been trying unsuccessfully to get in touch with her son, whose turtle it actually is. When I got there to pick him up tonight she told me that she had called her son and convinced him to let me take him! His name is currently Slowpoke, but it may change...Napoleon used to be Speedy, but I think they should each have their own names rather than be part of a pair. I'm trying to leave him alone and not stress him out too much at this point, but I've tried to give him a look over without picking him up. I'm fairly certain he's male, he has a giant dinosaur tail and decent sized claws. I'm guessing his SCL at about 5 inches. He actually doesn't look too bad, given the circumstances. His skin is shedding massively (definitely not due to water temps being too high, his water is currently at 68 degrees, which I'm assuming is the high point after a day with the basking light on), and he is really really fat. I thought he was a lot bigger than Napoleon, but after holding the tape measure up to him I think his shell might actually be a bit smaller, he's just fat so he looks huge! His eyes look a little red, so I'll start him with eye drops, and my main concern is that I'm almost certain he has RI (not surprising given the lack of heating) because he whistles. Loudly. His shell looks good at a glance, but I won't know for sure until I can pick him up, and he's currently slathered with Vitashell, so I'll have to wipe that off. I'm having difficulty gauging his personality, he's definitely more mellow than Napoleon, and he's not shy...he doesn't hide from me when I'm at the tank, but he does seem to hang out under his rock bridge even when I'm not there.

Anyway, input is welcome!!! Suggestions for any of the issues mentioned, concerns, name suggestions etc... It's not quite so intimidating after having gone through everything with Napoleon, but the excessive shedding worries me a bit, since I've never heard of it being caused by anything but high temps. Could it be a fungus or something? My plan is to keep him in the 10 gallon until we find a bigger tank (hopefully within the week) and work on raising his temperature slowly, adding a water conditioner, adding more water (he's in about 4 inches right now, which is at least better than the 1 inch the last time I saw him), starting eye drops, cutting way back on the reptomin, getting a uvb lamp, and taking him to the vet on Thursday. If you can think of anything else I should do immediately (before necessarily getting him into a new ideal setup) please let me know!

[SpotsMama]

I'm so glad you got him! You'll give him really good care which is what he deserves.

A higher temperature sounds like his most immediate need.

On his skin, I don't know if this is comparable but when we found Spot, it was just before Thanksgiving in our back yard. It was cold - not freezing yet but chilly. He had apparently been out of the water for awhile. His poor skin shedded and shedded. It was sort of grey (should have been hatchling green) and came off in sheets. I thought it might have been disease or damage from being cold and dehydrated. If your turtle has been too cold and in water so shallow he couldn't get wet all over, maybe what you're seeing is similar to what I saw with Spot. Spot got over it with improved temperature and diet, in the great scheme of things it didn't turn out to be serious.

Your vet or some of the more experienced turtle keepers may recommend treatment like sulfa or hibiclens for his skin.

[Starchick]

Thank you for the response, good to hear it may not be serious, but I do have both sulfa and hibiclense on hand if necessary!

[SpotsMama]

Come to think of it, one of the really experienced turtle people says she routinely treats her new turtles with hibiclense. In fact, I think you were part of the thread where that was mentioned:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... biclens%2A

I tried soaking Spot once in a hibiclense solution but found it to be a little scary so after that I just rubbed the dilute solution gently on his shell then rinsed real well. The disadvantage, of course, is that if you just rub it on the shell you don't treat the skin.

[Starchick]

I was too scared to soak him too! I ended up just doing like you said, just putting it on his shell. I guess I'll see how Slowpoke reacts to being handled, maybe he'll be sedate enough to soak in it without splashing or going under, Napoleon is not.

(Also forgot to mention, I found a 45 gallon tank with a stand for 100 bucks! I'm waiting on Michael to ok the size since it's going in his apartment, but I'm very excited!)

I gave him some cuttlebone and a peice of Napoleon's papaya, he seems to have chosen the cuttlebone for now!

[SpotsMama]

Go Slowpoke (or whatever his name is!)

[Starchick]

Update time...

Slowpoke allowed me to pick him up, he seems pretty used to being handled. He's just a smidge over 5 inches. Good news: no signs of shell rot or MBD, his shell is smooth and firm all over. Bad news: he appears to have a few minor cracks on his plastron. They don't appear recent, and they don't look infected. He didn't react to me pressing near the area. Regardless, he'll start getting washed with hibiclense as soon as he gets settled and I'll talk to the vet about it. I'll also post pictures eventually but I didn't want to stress him out by holding him up for pics.

What does it mean if his stools are like hard little pellets? They're like perfect pebbles. Napoleon's have always been long and usually are composed of chunks of whatever he's been fed. Maybe Slowpoke's only had reptomin for a while?

[kbraids]

you can buy cream to help his shell. i would take him. i have a great vet but i don't know where you are located. I live in New Jersey. take him it an easy problem to solve. good luck, Karen

[kbraids]

One of mine her name is big momma had long pellets i think it is normal

[steve]

Starchick, I would wait a couple of days to see if there is a change in stool. Everything sounds fine and it looks like it's getting better Although, now you have twice as much poop to clean up... hehehehe

[kbraids]

lol steve

[Starchick]

Yeah, he's going to be living with Michael...I'm only there one day a week, but you know exactly when cleaning day is going to fall don't you? I'm sure Michael would do it if I asked him but I'm a control freak. Plus I'd rather clean tanks than cook so I can insist that he cook for me while I'm busy with the tank!

And here's Slowpoke's first pic, unfortunately a bit out of focus I was trying to be stealthy. I'll get better ones soon!



I like the black stripe over his nose. It makes his nose look like an owl or a kitten wearing a helmet. It also makes his eyes look like swim goggles.

[steve]

Great looking turtle! I had missed the part about Vitashell, but it's not recommended. One time use isn't harmful, but it should not be used regularly - and I don't think its been proven to be beneficial.

[kbraids]

you need to adress thu white on his shell. he or she ia awesomely cute

[Starchick]

Yeah, someone here told me that, maybe Kristin? Don't remember for sure but I stopped using it on Napoleon after that. My friend's mom gave me all her turtle supplies including a huge jar of Reptomin and like 4 jars of Vitashell, which is mind boggling to me. She must have found it on clearance or something. I guess both of the turtles have been getting that once a week for as long as they lived there, but I don't plan to continue it.