RES help

[Katherine]

I have a small tributary behind the house and sliders are forever coming into my yard to nest. Lately I have been finding scattered adorable hatchlings trying to make their way back into the water. Usually I will leave them be or if they appear to be having a challenging time, headed towards the road, or are found on the inside of a turtle/tortoise enclosure I will give them a lift to the water. Today I removed two hatchlings from a nest inside one of my sulcata pens (I think mom must have dug the nest abutting the wall and these guys dug up on the wrong side of the fence) and was really saddened by what I saw.

One of them has only one functional eye, and looks to have suffered some type of head injury although he is moving around okay. It's possible what I am thinking is an injury resulting in scarring and the loss of an eye was actually a genetic deformity, can't be sure. The other hatchling looks like it his scutes are shedding but he is very discolored. I am not familiar with raising water turtles and do not know if the ashy grey coloration is characteristic of a shedding red eared slider hatchling or something to be concerned about(maybe fungal). Both tiny turtles were severely dehydrated. I decided to bring them both in for the evening and would love advice on whether they could benefit from human interference or should just be placed down by the water. As always, I hate to meddle with nature, but I feel these little guys are off to a really rough start and leaving a half blind injured turtle and a flakey grey turtle down by the water seems like sprinkling bird seed to me...

I will post some picture of them tomorrow.

 

[LittleTurtles]

Im not a turtle expert, but I would wait to hear from another person who has more experiance, especially with RES, but for now, I would try to keep them hydrated, well fed, and apart from each other, def don't let them loose, just in case it turns out the one who looks discolored does have some sort of fungal infection

 

[LindaF]

Nature can be very cruel to hatchlings. You can try water and a basking light and see how they fair. Once you feel they are doing ok, I would set them free.

 

[ascott]

http://happyturtle.ms11.net/medical.html

This is an informative site....also, I agree...you can certainly offer a little aid to try to get them in a state that they can then be released....I wish you all the luck and a speedy recovery...

Also, these little guys are so tough and tenacious...if there is any way possible...these are the fighters for sure....

 

[Katherine]

Hard to capture a pic of the other ones head injury because they are extremely weary of my human hands, I will try again tomorrow. Does this look like a normal shed to you guys?

---

http://happyturtle.ms11.net/medical.html

This is an informative site....also, I agree...you can certainly offer a little aid to try to get them in a state that they can then be released....I wish you all the luck and a speedy recovery...

Also, these little guys are so tough and tenacious...if there is any way possible...these are the fighters for sure....

Thank you for the link : )

 

[LindaF]

For wild hatchlings they look good. It might be very hard for you to get them to eat. I would suggest earthworms. If you do want to release them back to the wild, the less human intervention the better. You have a good heart to make sure they have a good start.

 

[Katherine]

For wild hatchlings they look good. It might be very hard for you to get them to eat. I would suggest earthworms. If you do want to release them back to the wild, the less human intervention the better. You have a good heart to make sure they have a good start.

I am both happy (and a bit surprised!) to hear this hatchling looks good. I have found many hatchlings over the years and they have always been so pristine looking. Does this look like a healthy shed to you? Perhaps I have just never seen a RES hatchling in this stage of ecdysis and am over reacting, that would actually be wonderful.

 

[LindaF]

I'm sorry. Perhaps I should have said he doesn't look too bad. It is hard to tell from pictures at time. He also seems big for a hatchling. I have seen some that are so small and injured and dying. He does just seem to be shedding. They grow so fast at that age. I think because of the dehydration made it look worse. Some water and basking should help. The scutes can look grey or have white spots under them when they start to shed.

For wild hatchlings they look good. It might be very hard for you to get them to eat. I would suggest earthworms. If you do want to release them back to the wild, the less human intervention the better. You have a good heart to make sure they have a good start.

I am both happy (and a bit surprised!) to hear this hatchling looks good. I have found many hatchlings over the years and they have always been so pristine looking. Does this look like a healthy shed to you? Perhaps I have just never seen a RES hatchling in this stage of ecdysis and am over reacting, that would actually be wonderful.

 

[Katherine]

After some quality study time with the Mader Bible I do believe he has an infection but on the upside he and his one eyed brother are eating and swimming and basking like they have yet to notice their setbacks : ) I will probably keep him in until it clears up and then feed him a large bon voyage meal and place him on bank. Thank you for your help.