So, there is a girl that lives near me, and she has a male RES. (according to her he is a male, I have yet to sex it). She no longer wants him, and put a classified ad out saying that he was too dirty, expensive and time consuming for her and she no longer wants him, and he comes with nothing. No one else in our city will take animals from her anymore since she is one of those "impulse" pet buyers...and by the tiem she gets bored of them they are usually sick and dying...well I have hope for this little guy, but here is my dilema. I have a large female, she is about 10 or 11 years old. This male is apparently 3 years old. He has been kept in a 10gal tank (I want to shake her for this) with no filter, no UV, no nothing, and she fed him a goldfish every week... I do not currently have a spare tank, I just used the spare 48gal for a baby chinese water dragon that someone no longer wanted since he lost his whole tail and part of both back legs. Anyways...yeah so no spare tank at the moment, and the biggest at the local pet store is a 20gal tank...they have bigger but they are kits that come with cabinets and all that and sorry, but I do not have 899$ to spend on a tank for a turtle being given to me...I know that sounds mean, but I do not have that much money right now...I know I could go to zellers or walmart or whatever and get a giant tub...but for some reason, I think my cats would be able to get to him... so I am wondering if he would be ok with my female RES...I think I know this will be a big no-no...that is the way it is with most herps...but I am wondering if turtles are any different since I am fairly new with them...so yeah, here is a pic of my female, and a pic of the male that was sent to me. Again I am no turtle expert, but is his shell supposed to hit a peak like this? My female...sorry bad pics...used my camera on my cell. and here is the male...notice the hump? I am wondering if that is normal... [url="http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o164/my_baby_anoles/Farley1.jpg"]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o164/my...les/Farley1.jpg[/url]
Since you're asking, part of you must already know that bump isn't supposed to be there. We've all seen pictures of wild turtles or actual wild turtles ourselves and know they're not supposed to have unsightly deformed shells. Why anyone caring for their turtles can ignore it is beyond me. My guess at that shell, you're looking at what a diet with too much protein does to a RES. He'll never completely lose that bump but you may be able to smooth it out some with future years of proper care and diet. Since he's been kept in poor, likely dirty conditions do not put him in with your other turtle. He could make her very sick. Go for a large tub, then go to the hardware store and ask (or look for) their hardware/hail cloth. This is a somewhat heavy wire mesh. You can simply bend it into a lid shape or find a way modify/attach it to the plastic lid that comes with the tub. I suggest a pair of gloves while you cut and bend it, just in case to keep the wire from scratching you. Good luck if you decide to take the little guy one, he certainly needs the TLC.
