Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, we found the tiniest res near my dad's office bldg. we looked around to see where he might have come from, since there really isn't anywhere like a pond or something even remotely close to the bldg., and all that was there was a ditch with litter and oil and other nasty things in it. so we decided that we'd like to keep him and make him as happy as possible. Are there any websites you guys can direct me too in the meantime? I've owned different kinds of Herps before, from leos to newts, so I'm kinda farmiliar, but want to get it as close as we can for the little res. He's really tiny, smaller than what you can find in the pet stores around here (New Orleans, Louisiana). I've used this website's forums before and found them to be a great help in the past, so i'm givin it another try.
When we first found him we put him into a shallow fishbowl for lack of anything better, he can wade in the water and there are rocks for him to get out. He was kinda sluggish, so we put him under a lamp and he's gotten to be a tad more active. We also have some of those turtle food sticks which he is not touching at all. So any info on set-ups or food would be awesome. Also, we've noticed that the edge of his shell near his head, as well as other tiny spots in the middle are discolored (kind of yellowy-white) is this some kind of disease he might have? I hope it isn't, but any help or suggestions would be awesome!

Thanks alot for anything you guys can help me with!!!!

http://www.resoasis.com/
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/

It's a great thing that you rescued the baby turt! The 2 websites (which are related somehow) should give you enough info to get you started! These turtles like to swim and also a complete dry area under a heat lamp to bask and dry themselves. As for the shell conditions you described, you might be able to find some info under the medical section of the websites. A picture would help tremendously to let more experienced turtle keepers on this forum diagnose the potential problem. Hope this helps!

Hello, on the food, when I first got my turt, she wouldn't eat much in the way of pellets, but some things she hardley ever refused were- freeze dried turtle treat shrimp, canned meal worms by ZOO MED, and this is really weird but, the pedigree dog food with the meat chunks in it that look kind of like liver, I would tak out a peice of that meat every time i fed it to my dog and cut it up into little strips, she would eat them right out of my fingers, anyway, those are just some hints. As gor the spots on its shell, When I first got my turt form a pet shop, I noticed some discolored spots on her shell that were slightly soft, if that is the case with your turtle it may be shell rot, the shell will smell kind of bad, I know its gross smelling a stinky shell, but it is a tell-tale sign, also if the rot is not under a layerof unshed scoot as some of my turts spots were, you can lightly scrape off the wet chalky stuff, with your fingernail to clean some of the fungus. ther is more about shell rot i am sure on this website, or if you find that to be the case than post another message and you will find plenty of help.