Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I found a male res in a river here too, which really surprised me because the river is not your typical res habitat. I plucked it out of the river, luckily, to see if it would be a good keeper and since it is ferral added it to my collection in my pond. i caught another female this way in this river too, and want to eventually get them to mate.

Well anyway, the male res turned out to have a crack in its shell which occured after a terrible storm rocked South Korea. A typhoon, actually. I'm now taking it to the vet but wondering if any of you have any experience as to what to do after the visit to the vet to give this turtle more convalescence time?

What should I do to help it heal more effeciently, speedily, and healthily? The Koreans, I don't think, aren't really up on turtles, so I need some sound advice. So far the res has been eatomg and sunning himself, but after this vet visit I'm wondering if he'll be all right, as I asked the vets to seal the wound.

sorry, i don't have any help, but i just wanted to ask, how were you able to get the turtle from the river? wouldn't he dive into the water when you approached him?

Just the standard stuff.
High temps.
Keep inside.
Clean water daily if not more often.
A few hours of dry dock.
Clean the shell with an antiseptic (don't go overboard as you Can kill lots of new growth cells that way).
Can you get Nolvasan (chlorhexidine) there?
If not can you get 5 percent sodium hypochlorite solution (laundry bleach in the States)?
Dilute it to about 1 part bleach 30 parts water and use that.
Expect months for recovery.
and if you don;t mind me asking,
since you know freal turtles are aproblem and sliders are reproducing all over the world out of their "natural" range, why do you want these to mate?

Thanks for the info. To answer your question, it's kind of an accomplishment, I guess, for turtle lovers and hobbyist alike to be able to create a healthy and realistic enough of an environment to get res's to breed. I raised a female for five years once and this was my objective, to breed more res's and create kind of a sanctuary, of sorts, but it fell through. She's now gone.

Anyway, I just like them, I guess. I'd take extra precautions to make sure the hatchlings were well taken care of. The populations of res's I know here are actually doing quite well, and that in man-made ponds.

Took the res to the vet and giving it dry dock time. Thanks.

I applaud your desire to make aturtle sanctuary and i undertsand your interest in breeding ( i have breed several species myself) but i think there are more than enough, more than too many RES in the world. It is one of the only species of turtles that i think shouldn't be bred. I ma sorry you lost your girl. Maybe consider adopting new ones as there are man many that are in need of a good home.

Well I'll tell you, I'm kind of into rehabilitating turtles here, or the anti-cruelty of animals, as many I've found here have been neglected and mistreated; some dumped in dirty and unlivable rivers; and some just raised by me "because they are ubiquitious here."

My objective is to treat them well, that's all. But the bigger ones I'd like to breed, because I'd like to start a kind of colony of my own or something.

Why not try to breed some of the native, or at least regionally naitve, turtles that are in so much trouble, rather than red-eared sliders? There are thousands of sliders around the world that need new homes, yet many of the Asian species are on the brink of extinction from over-harvesting. I, too, wouldn't mind breeding turtles, but refuse to breed sliders due to the huge number that are given up for adoption every year.

I know that hatchling sliders are sold as pets in Korea, as I was asked to find homes for four that a US soldier purchased when he was stationed in Korea and brought back with him when he PCSed back to the States. He said that other soldiers buy them regularly, and then just release them when they are ready to return to the US. Perhaps, rather than trying to breed, you could turn your efforts to educating those that might be buying the sliders, or offer your services to those that have already purchased them. You'll have your sanctuary full all too soon if you follow that path!

Katrina

I'm a little experienced at catching turtles, but in a clear river you can see where they go, and then, sneak up on them and grab them by hand.

That's what I did to this one. He was sunbathing, I saw him dive in, but he only went so far, as sliders and painters are apt to do. They won't swim away for miles. They'll hide by a rock, tree, or in this case, under some algae and plants. I waded through the water, scooped away some algae, and there he was!