Rescued Mud turtle needs help please!

[Liz Burton]

I just rescued what I believe is a mud turtle from a family who's father had passed. No one even knew he had a turtle in one of these disgusting tanks, so I have no background as to age, what it has been eating (other than algae), how long he had it, etc. The family did take it to an exotic vet who declared it "healthy but obese", but I am inclined to disagree, I think it's bloated with infection or ? It can't even close it's shell. My only experience with anything similar was a side neck that had a severe bacterial infection. This poor thing had no area for hiding, emergence, no filter, no heat and no UV other than what made it thru the windows. It is now (temporarily) in a large trough with hides, emergence area and sunlight, and I have a wide variety of insects, algae, aquatic pellets, etc for it, which it does seem to eat. After reading some of the info here, I will make it a proper tank with "beach". Meanwhile, I need all the help I can get with species ID, sexing, and what to do about the bloating? Thank you so much!

 

[wellington]

Sadly it didn't get uv thru windows either, it doesn't go thru windows.
How sad no one knew about it.
Maybe @Markw84 can help

 

[SinLA]

I just rescued what I believe is a mud turtle from a family who's father had passed. No one even knew he had a turtle in one of these disgusting tanks, so I have no background as to age, what it has been eating (other than algae), how long he had it, etc. The family did take it to an exotic vet who declared it "healthy but obese", but I am inclined to disagree, I think it's bloated with infection or ? It can't even close it's shell. My only experience with anything similar was a side neck that had a severe bacterial infection. This poor thing had no area for hiding, emergence, no filter, no heat and no UV other than what made it thru the windows. It is now (temporarily) in a large trough with hides, emergence area and sunlight, and I have a wide variety of insects, algae, aquatic pellets, etc for it, which it does seem to eat. After reading some of the info here, I will make it a proper tank with "beach". Meanwhile, I need all the help I can get with species ID, sexing, and what to do about the bloating? Thank you so much!
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Thank you for saving it! I hope there were no others there…

 

[Liz Burton]

Thank you for saving it! I hope there were no others there…

The family did check the other tanks. I assume at one time, he would move the turtle from one to another then clean one, but obviously it's been a LONG time!

 

[Liz Burton]

Sadly it didn't get uv thru windows either, it doesn't go thru windows.
How sad no one knew about it.
Maybe @Markw84 can help

Occasionally, some of these windows were opened, so he got a modicum of UV, but no where near what he needed, I'm sure.

 

[Markw84]

That is a female mud turtle. Probably Eastern mud. It does not look bad at all. It is not fat or bloated. Mud turtles ferquently look like that when is good shape. They do not close up their shell like a box turtle, and do normally look like they could not fit in!

With a decent diet, they also get most of their vitamin D from their diet. Also both mud and Musk turtles can do well without basking platforms. Although mud turtles do benefit from a basking platform.

As long as it is moving normally and and eating, if you set it up in a nice, proper setup, I'm sure it will be a great turtle.

 

[Liz Burton]

That is a female mud turtle. Probably Eastern mud. It does not look bad at all. It is not fat or bloated. Mud turtles ferquently look like that when is good shape. They do not close up their shell like a box turtle, and do normally look like they could not fit in!

With a decent diet, they also get most of their vitamin D from their diet. Also both mud and Musk turtles can do well without basking platforms. Although mud turtles do benefit from a basking platform.

As long as it is moving normally and and eating, if you set it up in a nice, proper setup, I'm sure it will be a great turtle.

That is GREAT news Mark, thank you so much!

 

[TammyJ]

It's adorable.

 

[methos75]

Looks good, mine only bask at night when the lights are
off so uvb isn't really a issue with them as long as the diet is diverse

 

[Moozillion]

How's your new turtle doing?
Does she have a name?

 

[Liz Burton]

How's your new turtle doing?
Does she have a name?

She came with the name "Osbourne", though she gets called "Ozzie" most of the time. She is still in temporary digs until her permanent location is decided. They are illegal here in Oregon, but I run a wildlife rehab so have permits for a few "illegals", which we use in our educational programs. We've historically rehomed water turtles to "legal states" as we have a very small volunteer crew so labor has to be considered, but from all the info here it seems that she is a pretty easy keeper. My biggest challenge so far is getting her to eat any protein. She prefers greens over shrimp, pellets and crickets. I have been moving her to a feeding tank, so maybe that is upsetting her? Also, in her previous (horrible) set up, much of what she had to eat was algae, so maybe she's just gotten into that habit? I know diversity is critical for her health, so I will keep trying. Thinking of getting a few guppies to try?