Tiny Rescued RES

[Viggo Mortortoise]

So yesterday I took in a rescue RES. A friend of mine visited a friend of hers, and saw the baby in bad conditions. I have many pets and take in rescues often, so she reached out asking if I could take it in. I didn’t have too much information in the beginning, and assumed it was some poor Petsmart turtle that was at least the legal 4 inches.

When I went to pick it up, I saw that it was SUPER tiny. Barely 2 inches. Apparently, the family bought it from some guy selling them on the side of the road and were keeping it in a small Tupperware. No heat, no light, feeding it random scraps and apparently the water was so dirty my friend had to clean him off with a paper towel because he was covered in crud. My friend told them the proper care needed for the turtle, but the family was not willing to make changes and she then convinced them to give it away.

I have owned fish, salamanders, snakes and tortoises, but never turtles.

I have him set up in a ten gallon, but the water level isn’t even halfway up. I have two plastic plants in the water, as well as a floating basking area. I have a heater for the water that at the furthest corner the temp is 80 degrees, and a heat/UVB bulb with a basking area of 86. I am feeding him the best food I could find at Petco, “Flukers Turtle Diet”. I feed him once in the morning and once in the evening. I copied the light cycle that I have set for my tortoise, it’s on 7AM to 7PM.

He has a swollen/puffy eye. He can still open and close it, and it is not red and not weepy or any puss. I am thinking maybe a Vitamin A issue? I bought “API Turtle Fix” just in case it’s a bacteria thing, and also a just in case because he was in such bad conditions.

He doesn’t spend much time in the water. When I brought him home yesterday in the afternoon, I put him in the water, but he immediately found his floating basking area and stayed there all afternoon, all evening and slept there. Today, he went in the water to eat, but went straight back to land after and hasn’t gone back in. Is this normal?

I weighed him, and he is currently 5g.

 

[LasTortugasNinja]

I don't have a lot of experience with baby water turtles, but I did see a lot of them on the shore in the weeds, compared to the deeper water where animals were more likely able to see them.

 

[Yvonne G]

He might have pneumonia, which makes it hard for them to swim. A sick turtle often stays out of the water. I used to be able to buy my antibiotic at feed stores, but there's a semi recent ruling that says you now need a vet's prescription to buy it. See if you can get your vet to write a scrip and look online for this:


You mix a quarter teaspoon in a quart of warm water and allow the turtle to soak in the solution for a half hour a day for about a week.

Your vet may sell you the same thing, but it will cost more, and if you buy this packet online you'll have it for future use (if kept in a tightly closed container)

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Sounds like you got him setup good for now but he'll outgrow that ten gallon in no time. Sick turtles will spend a lot of time sleeping in the basking area. In my experience though they usually quit eating before it gets too that. So if yours is eating that's a great sign. 5g is really small. They should be bigger than that 2 weeks out of the egg. So no doubt this little guy hasn't got adequate care. Hopefully he's not sick because at that size there's not much you can do.

 

[Viggo Mortortoise]

Thanks for your responses! He is eating and seems to have a good appetite. He also seems alert and does move to different spots on his basking land. Should I make things warmer if he is possibly sick or keep it to the temperatures I have? (80 water, 86 basking)

 

[ZenHerper]

He may just be exhausted if he was made to swim 24/7 indefinitely. Try a very shallow bit of water so that he can soak and drink without burning more calories than he takes in.