I am a new RES turtle owner. I did not buy my turtle. My mom found it in her yard and she didn't know what to do with it so I decided to take it in and take care of it. I have researched many many topics on red eared sliders but there is still so much I don't know. This turtle is small. He's a baby. I've only had him for 5 days. I'm worried he is sick. He does eat but won't come out of the water (I've never seen him bask) and this morning he was sleeping hanging on to the fake plants I have in there and he was somewhat sideways with his head just a little above the water. Is that normal for him to sleep that way? Like I said he is eating and I don't notice any sneezing or eyes swelling. He does have some skin shedding from his little neck but that's it. I have seen him swim and he doesn't swim lopsided or anything. He's very shy and when I come around he just hides in between the plants. I'm worried my tank water is too cold. I do have both the basking lamp and the UVB lamp sitting on top of the aquarium (on top of a metal cover). I turn the lights on for 12 hours during the day and turn them off for 12 hour during the night. So this morning when I went in there to turn the lights back on, according to my thermometer that I have in the tank, it said it was 70 degrees. I'm worried he's too cold. I don't want him to get sick. I don't know much about reptiles or turtles but I am a responsible pet owner and am trying to do what I can to take care of him properly.
Can anyone give me any advice? I would much appreciate it. By the way, my turtle's name is Crush, like in Finding Nemo
