Hi, my sister had a baby red ear slider (3 inches shell) and hadn't been taking care of it properly. It wasn't eating anything and was extremely lethargic, so I took it from her. It's now in a 10 gallon tank, heated to around 75 degrees F, and with a large basking stone that the turtle goes on for about half the day and a full spectrum UVA/UVB light. I coat all pellets in Repti-Cal calcium before feeding, and have cuttlebone in the tank as well.
While it did take me a few days to get her to eat again, now she eats 3-4 pellets a day. However, her feet have curled up and turned black, as well as the tip of her tail. Yesterday, the tip of her tail fell off, and today her right "hand" fell off. t looks like her left "hand" is the next to fall off. I suspect the blackened limbs are due to lack of circulation for whatever reason.
As she is a very small turtle, I don't think the vet will take care of her.... I'm wondering what I can do to save her, or should I let her go? Is she in pain? She still eats fine every day but her swimming is awkward. Even before anything fell off, her swimming was lopsided (a sign of a lung infection??) What is the cause of her blackened feet? The rest of the limb does not seem to be black.
I also have another baby turtle in there, about 3 inches, which on 2 separate occasions I have found this turtle attempting to bite the limb of the other turtle. Could this be why my turtle is losing circulation?
*********I'm not looking for info on how to raise turtles. I will change the tank size, of course, when the turtles get bigger. The issue at hand is what does my turtle have and how do I treat it?**********
While it did take me a few days to get her to eat again, now she eats 3-4 pellets a day. However, her feet have curled up and turned black, as well as the tip of her tail. Yesterday, the tip of her tail fell off, and today her right "hand" fell off. t looks like her left "hand" is the next to fall off. I suspect the blackened limbs are due to lack of circulation for whatever reason.
As she is a very small turtle, I don't think the vet will take care of her.... I'm wondering what I can do to save her, or should I let her go? Is she in pain? She still eats fine every day but her swimming is awkward. Even before anything fell off, her swimming was lopsided (a sign of a lung infection??) What is the cause of her blackened feet? The rest of the limb does not seem to be black.
I also have another baby turtle in there, about 3 inches, which on 2 separate occasions I have found this turtle attempting to bite the limb of the other turtle. Could this be why my turtle is losing circulation?
*********I'm not looking for info on how to raise turtles. I will change the tank size, of course, when the turtles get bigger. The issue at hand is what does my turtle have and how do I treat it?**********