Rescued a turtle

[MissSkittles]

In my travels I happened across a turtle (yellow bellied slider maybe?) in a very sad situation. Poor thing was in about 2” of nasty and foul water - no light, no heat, no filter, no dry area, no nothing - just a 20 gallon tank, the foul water and the turtle…for 2-3 years. I was given this poor little critter and it is just so sad. Poor thing doesn’t even know how to ‘turtle’ anymore. I quickly set up a 55 gallon tank which while ideally needs to be bigger, will do for now. I just need a decent canister filter, which will have to wait a couple of weeks. Anyhow, I put the turtle in his new tank this morning and he has forgotten how to dive and swim. He’s just paddling around at the top. Thankfully he has enough strength and know how to climb to the basking area and has been basking all day. Not sure if it’s just being able to dry out, the heat or the uvb, but he’s obviously enjoying it. Has been shedding scutes like crazy and I’m wondering how many layers of shed scutes have built up. I’m surprised it doesn’t have shell rot, infected eyes and is even just still alive. I do see some missing claws and possible scars. I think it was another case of being found in the wild and taken as a hostage pet. It has no idea what real food is other than pellets which are even too big for it to eat. Hopefully with time, it’ll remember how to ‘turtle’ and recover. A turtle is the very last thing I want, but my stupid soft heart over-ruled the brain.
*don’t laugh at my diy basking dock.

 

[GrannyK]

You’re an angel!!! It needed you
You have a huge heart and it’s in the best hands.

 

[dinomom]

I like your dock! Non slip

He must be seriously soaking up the UVB.

Lucky fella.

 

[Flick boy]

What can I say you have a good heart hope your little guy has a good time awesome

 

[Beppo]

Yay!! I’m so glad you have taken this turtle in, what a beauty! I rescued a box turtle about a year ago and I k ow exactly what you mean about them not even knowing how to turtle anymore so glad an animal lover such as yourself was able to help the turtle

 

[MissSkittles]

You’re an angel!!! It needed you
You have a huge heart and it’s in the best hands.

Aww…thanks. I don’t know about being an angel…maybe just a crazy animal lover.

I like your dock! Non slip

He must be seriously soaking up the UVB.

Lucky fella.

Thankfully I tend to keep strange items at times and listen to my inner McGuyver. Poor guy has been so deprived of so much. Maybe once all the layers of stuck scutes come off he’ll be able to better absorb some uvb.

What can I say you have a good heart hope your little guy has a good time awesome

Thanks. I’ll do my best to give him a good life.

Yay!! I’m so glad you have taken this turtle in, what a beauty! I rescued a box turtle about a year ago and I k ow exactly what you mean about them not even knowing how to turtle anymore so glad an animal lover such as yourself was able to help the turtle

It’s so sad and I wish people would leave the wild turtles in the wild. Has your turtle relearned how to turtle?

 

[Beppo]

Aww…thanks. I don’t know about being an angel…maybe just a crazy animal lover.

Thankfully I tend to keep strange items at times and listen to my inner McGuyver. Poor guy has been so deprived of so much. Maybe once all the layers of stuck scutes come off he’ll be able to better absorb some uvb.

Thanks. I’ll do my best to give him a good life.

It’s so sad and I wish people would leave the wild turtles in the wild. Has your turtle relearned how to turtle?

Yes! She seems like she’s really thriving now, I barely ever see her because she loves to burrow

 

[janjan20]

Awe! I LOVE turtles! You are turning into a well rounded herper lol! I have a 22 yr old soft shelled turtle. I recommend getting frozen krill at the pet store, my turtle LOVES them. It’s a little pricey but a nice treat for them. I feed him Saki-Hikari turtle pellets, made the water much cleaner from the waste (very messy eaters ). A canister filter is a must have and a game changer with turtles in a tank lol.

 

[Flick boy]

I rehomed a yb slider 5 years ago ,he's around 15 ( my guesstimit) when I got him ( Billy Jo) he was in a 2ft x1ft tank with couple of inches of water slowly but surely I have upgraded 3 times to now 400 liter tank , he is such super quirky little guy , I love watching him playing with his cuttle fish bone, and the pebbles

 

[Beppo]

Here’s my turtle Shelby

 

[MissSkittles]

Awe! I LOVE turtles! You are turning into a well rounded herper lol! I have a 22 yr old soft shelled turtle. I recommend getting frozen krill at the pet store, my turtle LOVES them. It’s a little pricey but a nice treat for them. I feed him Saki-Hikari turtle pellets, made the water much cleaner from the waste (very messy eaters ). A canister filter is a must have and a game changer with turtles in a tank lol.

I love turtles and tortoises too. With their grumpy little faces I feel a kinship with them. I just picked up some of those pellets and he ate about 10. I’ve tried giving him greens and he has no idea what to do with them. A canister filter is on my wish list and I’ll be getting as soon as I can. Until then I’ll just have to do almost daily partial water changes.
Poor little guy/gal isn’t in as good a condition as I initially thought. With all of the scutes he’s shedding, I am concerned about shell rot. Going to give him little baths in dilute chlorhexidine just in case.

 

[kinyonga]

Found this site… it don’t know if the advice is good or right or what…
https://reptileknowhow.com/turtles/red-eared-sliders/how-to-fix-shell-rot/

 

[MissSkittles]

I rehomed a yb slider 5 years ago ,he's around 15 ( my guesstimit) when I got him ( Billy Jo) he was in a 2ft x1ft tank with couple of inches of water slowly but surely I have upgraded 3 times to now 400 liter tank , he is such super quirky little guy , I love watching him playing with his cuttle fish bone, and the pebbles

Wow! That is a great looking tank and turtle! A few years back I had a couple of turtle tanks with a red eared slider and a river cooter (can’t recall exact type now) in place where normal people have TVs. Those were rescued from a punch bowl of dirty water along with a gopher tortoise that sadly didn’t make it. (It was that grief that led to my Stella being obtained from Petco). I loved watching them, but they too quickly outgrew my ability to care for them. I found a wonderful woman with a pond who took in all sorts of turtles and tortoises.

View attachment 340635
Here’s my turtle Shelby

What a cutie! I love box turtles!

 

[MissSkittles]

Found this site… it don’t know if the advice is good or right or what…
https://reptileknowhow.com/turtles/red-eared-sliders/how-to-fix-shell-rot/

Thanks Lynda! I’ve been searching all sorts of stuff to get the husbandry right and researching shell rot. The more I learn, the more fearful I am that poor turtle has the rot and once it sheds all the loose scutes there’ll be wounds beneath. There’s no drainage anywhere though, so trying to stay positive that it is mild if at all. It’s been basking almost all day long and even slept on the dock, so is staying dry.

 

[MissSkittles]

After a quick little bath and very gentle scrub with a soft bristled toothbrush, he looks like a different turtle. The water was loaded with black debris. Before his light colors didn’t even show. I think he feels a bit better too.

 

[Flick boy]

You got a name?

 

[MissSkittles]

You got a name?

Not yet. Not sure of gender yet.

 

[janjan20]

I love turtles and tortoises too. With their grumpy little faces I feel a kinship with them. I just picked up some of those pellets and he ate about 10. I’ve tried giving him greens and he has no idea what to do with them. A canister filter is on my wish list and I’ll be getting as soon as I can. Until then I’ll just have to do almost daily partial water changes.
Poor little guy/gal isn’t in as good a condition as I initially thought. With all of the scutes he’s shedding, I am concerned about shell rot. Going to give him little baths in dilute chlorhexidine just in case.

He is in the BEST hands!

 

[janjan20]

After a quick little bath and very gentle scrub with a soft bristled toothbrush, he looks like a different turtle. The water was loaded with black debris. Before his light colors didn’t even show. I think he feels a bit better too.
View attachment 340638

That’s a face of gratitude...

 

[Beppo]

Wow! That is a great looking tank and turtle! A few years back I had a couple of turtle tanks with a red eared slider and a river cooter (can’t recall exact type now) in place where normal people have TVs. Those were rescued from a punch bowl of dirty water along with a gopher tortoise that sadly didn’t make it. (It was that grief that led to my Stella being obtained from Petco). I loved watching them, but they too quickly outgrew my ability to care for them. I found a wonderful woman with a pond who took in all sorts of turtles and tortoises.

What a cutie! I love box turtles!

Thank you!