redearslider.com

I went to a friend of my parents' house today for thanksgiving, and they had 2 adult Red Ear Sliders.

Thing is, they're living in terrible conditions.

The tank is incredibly small for turtles their size, probably about 15 gallons at most. No basking light, tons of dirty pebbles with lots of algae, a waterfall filter covered in algae, and what I believe to be some shell fungus on both turtles.

They don't seem to be pyramiding, but they are EXTREMELY obese. There are 2 Goldfish in their tank, and apparently, they're so lazy to the point that they don't even bother eating them. Both turtles have injuries on the flesh, one seems to be bleading on his forehead, the other seems to have it's neck skin torn.

These living conditions almost make my turtle seem spoiled!

isnt thanksgiving in november? lol

Thanksgiving is in October in Canada.

Let your friend know that his parents aren't taking proper care of their turtles. If it helps, you can send a care sheet with them, or direct them to this site. If they refuse to improve the conditions and you have the space and time, you could even offer to adopt them.

I see this type of stuff all the time with bird rescue. People get these animals and don't have a clue what they need. I am in the process of rehabing a RES with some shell rot right now do to living in conditions that you described above. In the past I have worked in many pet shop and aquired a lot of supplies so sometimes I help friends/family up with what they need for their critters. I would start out talking to your friend, and maybe printing out care sheets for the people (like missibsu said) sometimes they really mean well..they just don't take the time to research.

Hmmmm. I thought Thanksgiving was just an American holiday. Well I guess not.