Rescue mission

[Ellen & Toby]

So this little beauty was brought in to my local vets where my sister works. It was found abandoned by a pond (in the UK - some people are cruel!) and has no home. The vets were going to take it to the rescue center but they said they had no room so it would be put to sleep! Knowing I am tortoise/turtle mad, my sister has asked me if I could help her take it on as a rescue. We think it is a YBS but not sure, is anyone able to confirm? I will get some better pictures this evening when I go to pick it up. Also may need some help sexing as the vets aren't sure (not exotic specialists). Fortunately we have a tank we can use as a temporary home but would love any advice on the correct set up so we can go and get the correct things at the weekend.

 

[Yvonne G]

Turtles like that are much easier to care for when set up outside. They make an aquarium dirty real fast. A water trough with a couple bricks in the middle as an island is a good temporary set up.

 

[Ellen & Toby]

Would it not be too cold outside? We are based in Cheshire (UK), aren't YBS from Florida? Sorry if it's a silly question, I am starting at the beginning here with this as I have never kept a turtle before...

 

[cdmay]

Hi Ellen and Toby.
Yep, that's a yellow bellied slider all the way.
They do occur in Florida---but NORTH Florida, and then Georgia, Alabama and parts of Louisiana too. So while they endure warm, if not hot summers, they also occur in places that get fairly cold too.
Here's the key though....while it does indeed get down into freezing temperatures where they naturally live, it is not for extended periods of time. Plus, even in the dead of winter, they may be seen basking on mild and sunny days.
I've encountered yellow-bellied sliders in north Florida basking at midday even though the temperatures at daybreak were in the low 40s F.
Very happy that you helped them out

 

[Ellen & Toby]

Thanks for the info Yvonne G and cdmay, it is much appreciated and I will go on a hunt for a proper set up at the weekend.
So as promised here are some more pictures (light wasn't great so not the best). I think this is a female, roughly 8 inches carapace length so nearly full grown. She was a little stressed when we collected her form the vets, hissing at everyone so we tried to limit handling, but she calmed down when we got her into the tank (6ft long, i got lucky on a temporary tank loan). Looks to be in fairly good health, slight rub to the Carapace and a small cut on her head that is already healing. I am worried about her plastron, can anyone tell me if they think there is some shell rot there and if so how do i treat it?
I was pleased to see her appetite seems to be good, she had some prawns last night, and she even took them out of my brother-in-laws fingers without biting him. Not sure what is best to feed her, would love some ideas. For example, do I need to feed calcidust as i do with Toby (my RFT), is pelleted feed a good idea, how much should i be feeding each day, some websites say salad as well as meat?
Also need to check how deep the water should be, i haven't overfilled at the moment and she has somewhere she can get out and sit under a lamp to bask but i wasn't sure if we needed this to be deeper?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions, i love this forum, so many kind people dedicated to helping these wonderful creatures get the best care they can

 

[Alicia Hoogstra]

Once again, and yes I've said it before....lol but wow this forum gives me hope for the hearts of humanity!!!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Hi Ellen and Toby.
Yep, that's a yellow bellied slider all the way.
They do occur in Florida---but NORTH Florida, and then Georgia, Alabama and parts of Louisiana too. So while they endure warm, if not hot summers, they also occur in places that get fairly cold too.
Here's the key though....while it does indeed get down into freezing temperatures where they naturally live, it is not for extended periods of time. Plus, even in the dead of winter, they may be seen basking on mild and sunny days.
I've encountered yellow-bellied sliders in north Florida basking at midday even though the temperatures at daybreak were in the low 40s F.
Very happy that you helped them out

They're also found in South Carolina and there the ponds DO ice over in the winter.

 

[Markw84]

Yes, indeed that is a mature female. The plastron is a bit hard to see the necessary detail in your pictures, but from what I can see, it does not look like active shell rot. It looks like old abrasions that are in various stages of healing. Nothing terrible. Probably kept previously on some abrasive rocks or in shallower water with rocky substrate.

I use Mazuri aqatic turtle diet as the staple for my Trachemys. Since they live in a large pond with my other turtles and koi, I throw in a bunch of Turtle diet mixed with a koi pellet. I find that is quite a well balanced diet with all the vitamins and nutrients a basking turtle needs.

Yellow bellies are great swimmers and do prefer deeper water. I always like to ensure the water dept is at a MINIMUM deeper than the turtle is wide. If shallower than that, if they happen to flip themselves over while climbing the walls, they cannot flip themselves back over as the water is too shallow. I would use water at least twice in depth as the turtle is long.

 

[Ellen & Toby]

Hi Markw84, I'm glad you don't think it's anything to worry about, none of the shell was soft anywhere but i wasn't sure if it was shedding, damage or rot having never had anything to compare it too. I will keep a close eye on it and try to get a better picture but we are trying to avoid handling for a couple of days to let her settle down and not get stressed since she was obviously not very happy yesterday so it may be in a few days time.

Great i will go on a hunt for aquatic turtle pellets right away! I have seen some Zoo med pellets online that are stocked at my local pet store that i was debating but will try to find Mazuri if they are the ones you recommend (i have heard they are difficult to come by in the UK).

That's good to know, I will make the water deeper for her but i will need to get some more rocks first to raise the basking area. Looks like i'm off on a shopping spree this evening for the essentials

And thanks Zeropilot for the info about temperatures, i am going to price up both indoor and outdoor set ups at the weekend and see which works best for us. My sister is slightly concerned about leaving her outside in case someone tries to steal her (the back gardens have gates on to public walkways and although its rare, things have gone missing from peoples gardens around us ). Neither of us currently has a pond so it may be safer and cheaper to keep her inside, at least to start off with.

P.S. i cant remember how to tag people sorry, someone has told me how before but i'm having a blonde moment!

 

[TammyJ]

Lovely girl! Glad you are keeping her!