Help...found Injured Baby Turtle

[Faythee]

My husband found a baby turtle, a bit bigger than 1" on the golf course cart path. Think it is a Slider turtle. It is not using one of its front legs. I have never had a turtle. I went to the store and bought the only tank they had that seemed feasible along with a heat lamp, etc. I think there should be more water in it. Currently only about 1" depth on each side (see pics). No heater or filter yet as not enough water depth. I put rocks on the one side as I was worried it would fall and land upside down and drowned. Tell me if I am doing anything wrong or if it looks fine.....

 

[loraxchick]

kind of you to take him/her in. hopefully his little leg will start feeling better soon.
as for the set up-
reasonably big for now but you need a uva/uvb bulb along with the heat lamp-the turtles need it for their shell growth. also do you have a filter? turtles are very very very messy and create loads of waste. good filtration and good maintenance are necessary. it was difficult to tell but make sure the basking area is accessible and the turtle can completely haul themselves out and dry out their shells-dont want him getting shell rot-very difficult to treat and the healing time may take several months.
keep in mind that as small as this little guy seems, within a year's time it will be approx 4" or more in shell length and will need an upgrade. they also can live over 35 years-that is a big commitment. where are you located? if appropriate, i would suggest nursing him back to health and letting him grow until he is about 4-5 inches long in shell length and then finding a nice pond to release him (but ONLY if you live in the southern parts of US where they are native. becoming common in northern climes of US as folks have released pets and now are maintaining stable wild populations and outcompeting native northern turtles such as painteds).
for food, dont just feed greens-baby turtles need lots of protein...go buy some freezedried tubifex/bloodworm and see if it will eat that. my turtle loved it when she was a baby. they take more and more veggies as they age. but as i said need the protein as they grow. and only feed as much as will fit into her neck (estimate volume) once a day. no need for a heater if it is above 65 (although others im sure will say differently-this is a wild turtle-not a farm raised pet and will be fine. that heat lamp likely is doing a fine job of keeping water warm anyway being such a small volume.
if it seems to have trouble staying sunken dont worry. takes a few months for them to lose their buoyancy and be able to stay at the bottom. keep water level about 2-3X deeper than the shell is wide. avoid planting it as you will quickly become frustrated as turtles like to dig and will uproot all your plants. they do LOVE anacharis(aka elodea) and will happily eat it. just float it around in the tank. it wil lalso help soak up some of the ammonia/nitrates in the water) and then you can keep your lettuce for salads
over all things seem good. just giving a bit of info for you. but definitely get a uva/uvb bulb for it! and a big filter(around 3X larger than the water volume you have).
good luck with it! turtles are a lot of work but are really great pets!!!
cheers

 

[Faythee]

Thank you !!!

I picked up a filter today for "shallow" tanks.


I added more water to be a bit deeper and he likes it.

As far as the UVB light....we are just going to let him sun on the screened pool deck during the day and bring him in at night as it is still getting a bit chilly after dark. We can just carry the tank in and out.

We will be taking him to the pond with the other turtles once he gets healed up and a bit bigger. I hope he gets better. He doesn't move much, he stays in one corner and floats there most of the time. He was on the turtle dock this morning. He doesn't use that upper middle section of the tank. I think I would have been better off with just a regular Rubbermaid container.

Tried feeding him frozen blood worms, cantaloupe, banana, etc. and he is not interested. I will try the tubifex. Is freeze dried shrimp okay ? That's what my fish love as a treat.

Anything I can add to the water for his leg ? I noticed a little fleshy area and am concerned about infection. I have Melafix, or maybe some salt ?

 

[keithp]

You should really find a wildlife rehabilitation center to bring the turtle, it's nice you want to help, but it should be helped so it can eventually be released again.

 

[Faythee]

You should really find a wildlife rehabilitation center to bring the turtle, it's nice you want to help, but it should be helped so it can eventually be released again.

That certainly would be a nice, but they are only interested in Sea Turtles here. Slider turtles are plentiful and not so much in need of protection. Same with birds.....only sea birds like pelicans.

We will be releasing him and hope he heals quickly. I already have 4 large fish tanks and 2 dogs to care for amongst other things.

Thanks though. I probably could find some type of rescue to take him if needed.

 

[lumpyheffalump]

be sure to check your state laws, as they are very strict on the release of wild animals. in certain areas you must release them as near where you retrieved them with restrictions. good luck to nursing him back to health. he is beautiful!! we inherited a red ear slider and have had him for 4 yrs now. we as a family have grown more attached to him than i thought would be possible and he is a handful to keep up with!! again best of luck to you, and it was incredibly sweet of you to take this on...

 

[loraxchick]

as for his leg dont add anything to hte water. a dab of hydrogen peroxide with a cotton ball or qtip if it looks sore would be fine. likely he will heal on his own. turltes are notoriously slow to heal from injury so just keep an eye on it and keep his water clean (even feed him in a separate container so as not to foul his water. freezedried shrimp will be fine if thats what youve got. just keep trying different things til you find one he eats.
good luck!

 

[NinjaSmurf]

You may want to try some live food, such as earthworms, small minnows and the like, I don't think it would be a good thing to get him too used to being fed things that aren't as natural to him, and you want him to be able to cope once you release him. Plus that movement from live foods will make these things much more attractive to him and he's much more likely to eat.

 

[Faythee]

That's what we found out. Husband went to the pond and scooped up some mud and there was a bunch of worms in it. Squirtle will only eat if its moving ! He is doing well. Too cute

 

[bae1994]

huh have that exact tank for my hamster

 

[nessar]

Be careful you don't get him used to human interaction, or as seeing humans as the givers of food. That will get him killed in the wild. In a lot of Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres they use gloves when they have any interaction with the animal. This prevents familiarity with human hands and smell.