Urgent Care :: Adopted an abused red eared slider

[qiuyidio]

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I adopted a red eared slider from one of my neighbors. The turtle's pretty big (maybe 8 inches wide), but for the past two years, she's been keeping it in a tank so small that it barely had room to turn in. Also, the tank contained maybe two inches of water at any time. The exercise the turtle got was wandering around her kitchen every once in a while. What are the next steps I should take? I don't have much money, but I want to "make it up" to the turtle...

[steve]

First thing to consider is habitat size. Are you certain she's a female?

[qiuyidio]

Yes it is

[steve]

The 2 major expenses are the filter and tank. The tank can be previously owned, or you can be a bit creative and reuse a stocktank or similar container. If you have a female, then a 75-100 gallon could serve as a "forever" home. A good filter should last years (I'd say at least 5), maybe more. It won't take her long to get comfortable in a larger tank. The guidelines are the same, I don't think you need to do anything extra outside from our basic recommendations.