Reptile & Amphibian Forums

this one the people who gave him to me told me "oh how neat he is we kept him in a 10 gallon tank for 2 years to keep him from getting big, he eats cat food, hotdogs, cooked chicken....."
i was surprised to see he was living, im not even sure of the sex of this turtle, i know he doesnt look so hot, never had a filter..... he lived in 3 inches of water, that smelled horrible... i told the people they could keep the tank.... for right now i have him set up in a 30 gallon quarantine, this turtle never had any basking spots, or uvb lighting, i put him in the tank its over half full, he went directly the the basking spot and stuck his head out, his shell is a bit domed... and is a bit darkened in color, but is hard, his skin is also dark....from age?? the bottom of the shell is seems to be ok it has a hard feel to it as well....
how long should i quarantine him?? and after the quarantine is over and he gets a clean bill of health from a vet would it be safe to put him with my other yellow belly slider?

quarantine length depends on personal preference. i would do 30 days with a vet visit at the end (or in the middle if necessary). he will be fine with the others if he is healthy and is not more than one inch different in length, even then they may bother him. his coloration should improve with a better diet and setup. why did you quarantine him in the 30, but have the others in a 10? im just curious.

i only have the 2 yellow belly sliders, the small baby turtle was already in the 55..... i didnt want to put the bigger turtle in there with him because the conditions he was living in... so i put him in the 30 i had it on hand.... i plan to buy a bigger tank or maybe even set up a indoor pool, not sure yet.

very good idea to keep them separate for now. sorry bout the 10 gallon thing, i got you confused with someone else. what type of indoor pool were you thinking?

i was thinking something like a preformed pond inside with over head lighting, and basking spots in the center of the pond

that sounds great. it would be a great home for your turtles. i wish all turtles ended up in good homes like that.

i am a sucker for taking in pets that have a hard start..... then i get myself in a mess at first but i always come through it ok, i had a friend that did the turtle pond inside his pet shop several years ago, it really looked nice.

if my new turtle has algea on his shell how would i go about getting it off?

one that i got had algae on top and in the proper setup it quickly went away. it quickly dies from him basking, which should dry it out. if within a week or so you dont see it reducing, then you can worry about it. until then just give him a good basking area.