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Post Posted: Mon May 25, 2015 12:06 am   Adopted a RES

Well I have recently returned to the world of turtles by adopting a juvenile RES. I used to have two RES when I was in middle school (now 28) but they died and since then I had never owned a pet. About a month ago my girlfriends neighbors moved and unfortunately left this unwanted turtle on her front porch. She thought of leaving it on a nearby river but I told her to bring it to me and I'll take care of it. From the looks of it the previous owners didn't take care of the little guy. Seems like they bought it for their kids and got tired or bored of taking care of it.

When they dropped it off they left it on a plastic container, where I kept him in until I bought him one of those Zilla 20 gallon turtle kits. I am already regretting that decision since it will clearly need a bigger tank soon but I did get him a Penn Plax Cascade 1000 filter that is working wonderfully. It is clearly doing a lot better now, he is way more active and has actually learned to swim instead of walking around like it did on its old setup.

I have attached pictures of the turtle and you can clearly see that it is shedding but I do have some concerns regarding his shell. It looks like he has some dark pitted spots on its shell but I don't know exactly what it could be. After he eats in the morning he will actually bask for hours and close his eyes or lay his head down. Also it does get agitated in the afternoon and just starts swimming around recklessly and messing around with the tank setup. I don't know the sex of the turtle but to me it looks like a male since the nails seem to be kind of long. Let me know what you guys think and thanks for reading my turtle story. :D
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cruising_37
 
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Post Posted: Mon May 25, 2015 12:01 pm   Re: Adopted a RES

Congrats on the new addition! It looks great! The shell will probably heal with good diet, consistent water changes, and a few sheds.

Just in case can you post a few closer pictures of the shell dry?
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devilduck
 
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Post Posted: Mon May 25, 2015 4:31 pm   Re: Adopted a RES

Here are some close up pictures of its shell.
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cruising_37
 
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Post Posted: Mon May 25, 2015 10:28 pm   Re: Adopted a RES

Welcome to the forum! That looks very rough. Usually when it's dark like that, it's scar tissue but I have not seen it like that before (large, wide area affecting multiple scutes). The previous injury must have been pretty severe, and there may still be some underlying damage/infection going on. I would locate some local herp vets incase you need to use them. I'd say how the next shed progresses is very critical in his recovery.
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steve
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Post Posted: Tue May 26, 2015 12:57 pm   Re: Adopted a RES

Thanks for the advice I hope it doesn't get to the point that I'll need a vet. I use a uvb and heat lamp on his floating dock that he'll get on for hours after he eats. I've also been using a shell conditioner and calcium powder when I feed him crickets/worms.
cruising_37
 
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Post Posted: Tue May 26, 2015 3:22 pm   Re: Adopted a RES

If it's vitashell, I would avoid it. It has a bad reputation. Air drying is usually best for shell issues.
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steve
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Post Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 1:40 am   Re: Adopted a RES

OK I will definitely stop using the vitashell conditioner. Do you know anything on the API products? I'm interested in buying the turtle fix so it can help his shell heal a bit better. Another thing I've bee noticing lately that when he sleeps at under water he'll sometimes twitch. Thanks for all your help Steve.
cruising_37
 
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Post Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 10:02 am   Re: Adopted a RES

API is OK, though I don't know much about Turtle FIx. I would rather try some SSD cream, but you will need to get that from a vet. For shell cleaning, Hibclens (Chlorhexidine) is good and can be found in most pharmacies.

The twitching isn't likely anything, maybe he's dreaming :)
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steve
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