That is definitely a red eared slider there, and an elderly lady slider at that. The absence of red ears stems from age. All sliders grow increasingly melanistic after they pass their first decade of life. Males are even more so than this, sometimes to the point of having a brown head with espresso brown spots. Females, especially ones that were brightly colored in their youth, may retain much of their high contrast color (this is why I'm glad to live in South Texas; we have a local form of red ear here that is absolutely gorgeous, bright yellow bands on the carapace, a split, vibrant red post orbital blotch; plus they get big; I've seen some that were too big to fit into an orange Homer bucket, and these had ridiculous markings like you wouldn't believe)... Sorry for the tangent.
But yes, we are definitely dealing with an elderly red ear that some ignoramus sentenced to die. Fortunately, red ears are tougher than a bundle of roofing nails, so she should bounce back so long as she's not badly injured. Soak her in water that allows her to breathe by raising her head like Yvonne said. A turtle that has been out of the water in a dry environment will have, in all likelihood, evacuated much of the water from her bladder. This throws the flotation off, and turtles in this state will often swim about with their hindquarters rising above the surface like a bobber on a bass line. You want her to acclimate, which can take up to forty eight hours, depending upon how long she's been wandering. I recently had to go through this process myself with a red ear this one lady had kept for years in a twenty gallon tank. The animal was sixteen years old and thirteen inches long, a giant rio grande slider, double ears and all, and it couldn't turn around in it's tank. It would just sort of sit there, waiting for the couple hours a day the lady would allow the turtle to walk around her apartment. She must've been a looker when she was a youngster, given that she's still quite colorful. Plus she's mean, scratching and biting and hissing, and I don't know what it is, but the good looking lady red ears of South Texas are just the meanest things you can pull from the water. I've handled so many Louisiana farm bred sliders that were completely docile, but every rio grande I've ever laid hands on wanted to bite and scratch those hands, even the ones that would swim up to me expecting food. Again, sorry for the tangent. Bottom line, she's doing well now, basking, viciously tearing into any grape, hibiscus, mulberry, lettuce, or chickory leaf I toss into the pond. And she loves that mazuri turtle diet. If you get this little lady back on her feet, she will be just fine.
T.G.
But yes, we are definitely dealing with an elderly red ear that some ignoramus sentenced to die. Fortunately, red ears are tougher than a bundle of roofing nails, so she should bounce back so long as she's not badly injured. Soak her in water that allows her to breathe by raising her head like Yvonne said. A turtle that has been out of the water in a dry environment will have, in all likelihood, evacuated much of the water from her bladder. This throws the flotation off, and turtles in this state will often swim about with their hindquarters rising above the surface like a bobber on a bass line. You want her to acclimate, which can take up to forty eight hours, depending upon how long she's been wandering. I recently had to go through this process myself with a red ear this one lady had kept for years in a twenty gallon tank. The animal was sixteen years old and thirteen inches long, a giant rio grande slider, double ears and all, and it couldn't turn around in it's tank. It would just sort of sit there, waiting for the couple hours a day the lady would allow the turtle to walk around her apartment. She must've been a looker when she was a youngster, given that she's still quite colorful. Plus she's mean, scratching and biting and hissing, and I don't know what it is, but the good looking lady red ears of South Texas are just the meanest things you can pull from the water. I've handled so many Louisiana farm bred sliders that were completely docile, but every rio grande I've ever laid hands on wanted to bite and scratch those hands, even the ones that would swim up to me expecting food. Again, sorry for the tangent. Bottom line, she's doing well now, basking, viciously tearing into any grape, hibiscus, mulberry, lettuce, or chickory leaf I toss into the pond. And she loves that mazuri turtle diet. If you get this little lady back on her feet, she will be just fine.
T.G.
