Urgent Care :: New turtle

[Vh621]

Hello, so yesterday my brother who is moving to florida and couldn't take his daughters turtle decided to give it to my mom he/she is a red eared slider and after doing some reading I believe this poor little guy hasn't been cared for properly first the tank is way to small it's about 12*12*3, no basking light/area or water heater he didn't even have anything to get out of the water. The turtle is about six years old, which considering his circumstances is a miracle. Anyway so last night I noticed that he had some white lines on the shell and also noticed that the shell is peeling. So I'm wondering if this is possibly shell rot. Oh and they've been feedinf him one of those commercial diets, Tetra i think. Any info is greatly appreciated.

Oh and don't worry I plan on getting him/her into an appropriate habitat with everything a res needs.

Here is the link to some pictures of what I described

[steve]

There is some shedding starting, but I'm not sure what the white parts are. It could be fungus, though that is hard to tell from the pictures. Any smell or softness associated with those areas?

[Vh621]

No i'm not smelling anything. Her shell feels pretty solid all around, nothing feels weird or out of the ordinary as best I can tell.

[steve]

Once you move him to a new tank, I'd do some gently cleaning on the shell and re-examine everything. Some diluted hibclens is pretty good and a bit sudsy, so be extra careful if you use that.

[Vh621]

Thanks I'll try that. Since we moved her to a new space with extra space and a basking area the lines have mostly disappared her shell is starting to look way better. Also I was wondering about diet. She's been fed reptomin food sticks her whole life and I was wondering if I should throw in some protein like fish, worms or crickets. I've read about other people giving it to their turtles. Since we've had her we've fed her some leafy greens and we also bought aquatic plants(real plants). Do you think that's enough or should I add a little extra protein to her diet. I know it's bad to over feed them protein cause it could cause problems like pyramiding. But she so little at 6yrs old and only 4in, from my understanding that's pretty small for a RES especially if she's female which I suspect she is. I feel like she's been deprived of so much I just want her to be as healthy as possible. By the way thanks for the advice it's much appreciated.

[steve]

I'd switch away from Reptomin and try Omega One. As for fish, worms, or crickets - they are usually fine as a rare treat. She should get veggies every day. Can you post some pics of her/him? We can sort out the gender issue.

[Vh621]

Here is a link to some pics of her let me know if you need a different angle or something.

Excuse the mess in there I have to clean it later.

Oh by the way as far as the food sticks we've been feeding it to her twice a day cause that's what my sister-in-law was doing. But I'm wondering if that's to much?

Thanks again!!

[steve]

Looks like a female, though a pic of the underside of the tail would be better. Sort out the food in a pill box, and hide the rest of the food. So if someone is tempted to sneak some food, they won't overdo it.

[Vh621]

Hey, sorry this took so long... I got two pics of under the tail but i don't know if they're good enough. It had to be fast, safe to say she was not happy.

[steve]

Also looks like female from those new pics.

[Vh621]

Yea, that's what I figured to. Thanks for all your help!

[Protracturtle]

Welcome to the forum! Hope all goes well with your new reptile companion.

Does he have a name?