Hello all,
Thank you for allowing me to join your forum. I look forward to learning from you all. My name is Robert and I am a first-time owner of a RES. About a week ago my cat brought a new creature to my back porch and I felt compelled to keep it. I am unsure if it's male or female yet but from what I have read on the internet it is likely a "she"; her carapace is flat and not concave. If that is the case I will be calling her Frankie as I was hoping to name a "him" Franklin.
When I discovered Frankie/Franklin the rear end of its shell was badly damaged as it appears my cat was trying to eat it. The shell appears to be healing now but I am noticing odd behavior. For the first week, I had to put Frankie/Franklin in a Rubbermaid container and had to use the sunlight to keep the "tank" warm as I have never had any sort of aquatic pet and had nothing handy. I found that most of my local stores do not carry supplies for anything other than cats/dogs so I've had to order stuff online and wait for shipping. Anywho, I have Frankie/Franklin in a 55-gallon tank with a Tidal 75 filter and 100w tank heater that is set to 80 degrees. The heat lamp bulb is a Zoo Med Repti Basking Spot Lamp (75w) and the UVB bulb is a Exo-Terra Reptile UVB100 Bulb, (26w).
Unfortunately, I was unaware of the tediousness required to set up a tank properly until recently. I have not yet tested the water but did dose the tank with an API Tank Water Conditioner. I will be buying a test kit today for pH & gh .
Now that Frankie/Franklin is in a much larger tank she/he is much more active, swimming, eating, and basking much more. The problem comes when she/he floats to the top of the tank. She/he lists heavily to her right side which, coincidentally, suffered the most damage to the rear of her shell. A quick Google search had me convinced that my RES was gonna die as it pointed directly to a severe RI. The only issue I have is that I have not observed any other symptoms of an RI. The odd floating only seems to occur when she comes up for air. When it swims or explores the tank, it's pretty level and very fast I might add. Its appetite is insatiable and I have had to stop myself from giving in to the temptation to overfeed.
I don't quite have the money to take her to a vet to get it checked out until at least the next payday in two weeks. I've spent all of my "turtle budget" this go around on the tank and other things. What should I do? Can anyone offer me some pointers or directions as to what I should do from here? Any help offered would be greatly appreciated. By nature, I am a "stresser" and the thought of my turtle dying is keeping me up at night.