Help, I suddenly have a turtle? (helping a neglected turtle)

[reptilenewbie]

Hello there,
so, I am in need of some help, quite urgently
i just moved back to my home town and found out my father has bought a turtle (I believe its a turtle and not a tortoise)
however, he clearly did no research or basic prep or even maintenance of said animal.
I'm not a reptile person, but it pains me to see the terrible conditions it's living in.
so if anyone could give me some basic tips to make it's life better please do.
I've already done the bare minimum of changing the water, but the shell also seems to be covered in a thick layer of dirt? and I'm not sure how to clean it in a way that's not harmful, would just water be enough?
and also, I will be getting her a proper heat lamp, so some advice on that would be greatly appreciated too.
i should note that we live in a very small town and have very little access to most name brands.

 

[TheLastGreen]

Hi and welcome, can you send images of the turtle? If we can identify it we can give you the best possible advice for it

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Hello there,
so, I am in need of some help, quite urgently
i just moved back to my home town and found out my father has bought a turtle (I believe its a turtle and not a tortoise)
however, he clearly did no research or basic prep or even maintenance of said animal.
I'm not a reptile person, but it pains me to see the terrible conditions it's living in.
so if anyone could give me some basic tips to make it's life better please do.
I've already done the bare minimum of changing the water, but the shell also seems to be covered in a thick layer of dirt? and I'm not sure how to clean it in a way that's not harmful, would just water be enough?
and also, I will be getting her a proper heat lamp, so some advice on that would be greatly appreciated too.
i should note that we live in a very small town and have very little access to most name brands.

Hello and welcome. Can you provide some pictures so we know what kind of turtle you have?

 

[reptilenewbie]

Hi and welcome, can you send images of the turtle? If we can identify it we can give you the best possible advice for it

these are the only ones i have at the moment.
I got an incadencent light to help it through the rest of today and tomorrow as i look for better options

 

[reptilenewbie]

Hello and welcome. Can you provide some pictures so we know what kind of turtle you have?

i posted some photos above, thank you for your reply

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome, are you in Lisbon, Portugal?
Thank you for trying to give this turtle a better life,
I don't keep turtles so can't help but I'm sure the the US members will be logging on soon and be able to help.
Do you know how old he is?

 

[Dcatalano]

Hi. It looks like you have a red eared slider. You can Google info but they require a large enclosure or pond, heat lamp and the eat mostly plants and a few worms/pellets. I will see if I can find some additional info to share or maybe someone else will help. Thanks for trying to help this turtle out.

i posted some photos above, thank you for your reply

these are the only ones i have at the moment.
I got an incadencent light to help it through the rest of today and tomorrow as i look for better options

 

[TheLastGreen]

I think it may be a yellow-bellied slider.
I can't find any care sheets for the bugger @maggie3fan @DoubleD1996! @Yvonne G are the experts on them

 

[Maggie3fan]

Looks like a yellow-belly or possibly a very old RES...I'd use a brush and scrub the carapace see if that washes off. They like live food...nightcrawlers, minnows, feeder fish....they can only eat in water. The incandescent bulb is great for basking, get a good filter set up and there ya go. What size aquarium is he in? read this

Water turtles​

 

[reptilenewbie]

Hi and welcome, are you in Lisbon, Portugal?
Thank you for trying to give this turtle a better life,
I don't keep turtles so can't help but I'm sure the the US members will be logging on soon and be able to help.
Do you know how old he is?

i know my father has had her for about 3 years, and i think she's only shed once, from what I've been told.

 

[reptilenewbie]

Looks like a yellow-belly or possibly a very old RES...I'd use a brush and scrub the carapace see if that washes off. They like live food...nightcrawlers, minnows, feeder fish....they can only eat in water. The incandescent bulb is great for basking, get a good filter set up and there ya go. What size aquarium is he in? read this

Water turtles​

I think it's a 15 gallon fish tank.
We have a fish tank filtering system but i think its too big for the amount of water she would need, or potentially it's not even working anymore.
the pet shops here only open at night for some reason, so I'll go look for a new filter then.

 

[reptilenewbie]

Also, thank you so much everyone for your help, I went to check on her at lunch and i could already notice a difference in behaviour.

 

[Maggie3fan]

I think it's a 15 gallon fish tank.
We have a fish tank filtering system but i think its too big for the amount of water she would need, or potentially it's not even working anymore.
the pet shops here only open at night for some reason, so I'll go look for a new filter then.

Wait a minute...a 15 gallon tank? Can you measure the turtle for us? Just measure his top shell front to back of it...as an example why I am asking is I have a water turtle who is fully grown he's 6 inches and he's in a 175 gallon tank and I feel bad because it's really too small for an animal who was picked up from the wild and stuck in a 20 gallon tank. 15 gallon is not even up to minimum standards.I know you are saving him so please don't think any of us thinks you caused this...thanks for trying to help him

 

[DoubleD1996!]

That's looks to me like a yellow belly slider. Their care is essentially the same as a red eared slider. An omnivore diet consisting of live feeders such as worms, minnows, crustaceans and occasionally some protein like chicken heart. And veggies like duck weed, algae and dandelion greens. It looks fairly big so your going to need a bigger enclosure. This is fairly simple and pretty cheap. I recommend one of those big 100g stock tubs you can find at places like Lowes or home depot. It also needs to bask. So some sort of structure to get out of the water to dry itself off completely. You could buy a floating dock, or simply find some big rocks on the side of the road and give them a rinse. This needs to be above water. The water also needs to be heated to aid digestion. A fish tank heater is the go to. Or a warm room that stays around 85, but I don't think you'd do that?. You also need lighting a simple flood light bulb or your every incandescent bulb. And uvb. I recommend the zilla dessert fixture, it comes with a bulb and stretches across the entire tank. Last is filtration. Turtles poop a lot, so your going to need some sort of filtration like a canister filter. Daily water changes(half the water drained) could work until you get one. Hope I helped a bit

 

[reptilenewbie]

Wait a minute...a 15 gallon tank? Can you measure the turtle for us? Just measure his top shell front to back of it...as an example why I am asking is I have a water turtle who is fully grown he's 6 inches and he's in a 175 gallon tank and I feel bad because it's really too small for an animal who was picked up from the wild and stuck in a 20 gallon tank. 15 gallon is not even up to minimum standards.I know you are saving him so please don't think any of us thinks you caused this...thanks for trying to help him

so i measured her in inches, it's about 6 inches.
i also measured the tank in inches, its 32x15x12 inches

 

[DoubleD1996!]

so i measured her in inches, it's about 6 inches.
i also measured the tank in inches, its 32x15x12 inches

That's a fine size for now

 

[reptilenewbie]

That's looks to me like a yellow belly slider. Their care is essentially the same as a red eared slider. An omnivore diet consisting of live feeders such as worms, minnows, crustaceans and occasionally some protein like chicken heart. And veggies like duck weed, algae and dandelion greens. It looks fairly big so your going to need a bigger enclosure. This is fairly simple and pretty cheap. I recommend one of those big 100g stock tubs you can find at places like Lowes or home depot. It also needs to bask. So some sort of structure to get out of the water to dry itself off completely. You could buy a floating dock, or simply find some big rocks on the side of the road and give them a rinse. This needs to be above water. The water also needs to be heated to aid digestion. A fish tank heater is the go to. Or a warm room that stays around 85, but I don't think you'd do that?. You also need lighting a simple flood light bulb or your every incandescent bulb. And uvb. I recommend the zilla dessert fixture, it comes with a bulb and stretches across the entire tank. Last is filtration. Turtles poop a lot, so your going to need some sort of filtration like a canister filter. Daily water changes(half the water drained) could work until you get one. Hope I helped a bit

there's none of those shops here, but i shall look for something similar, thank you for the idea.
I've also already ordered a replacement uvb lightbulb for the tank as the one there im sure is way past efficacy

 

[reptilenewbie]

I'm just coming back to thank everyone. she's been doing a lot better. i can see a clear change in behaviour, she's started to swim again! and I've even seen her "hunt" her food.
We had to order the filter and it shall be arriving tomorrow, just in time for christmas!
I shall post pictures when her new habitat once it is all set up.
thank you again