Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: New

[geriwokurka]

Hi!! My name is Geri. I'm very new to this. I have had my sons painted turtle for about 3 months. He is in the military and we have him (lol told us it was a her) until he gets back. And my daughter(animal lover ) just brought us a RES 2 weeks ago because of the way we treat Don(formerly known as Ave). It was in very poor conditions. Very little, unchanged,unfiltered water(My daughter said it looked oily?). Only feed pellets. I am very worried about her. She eats great. Loves having more then pellets(Worms, shrimp, veggies....). But she has been shedding her shell and skin. Her skin is fine now but her shell isn't releasing. And she won't bask. We have two basking spots, but she seems like she doesn't know how to get up on them. They are not floating, the one has stairs up, the other is a large rock with a smaller rock step up. I take her out everyday to dry her out. When the weather is good, we take them outside. But her shell doesn't seem right to me. But like I said, I'm new to this. I do know not to force it off. Is her shell and her not basking related?? What can I do to help her? She is a beautiful turtle. And from what I have read I think she might have the beginnings of pyramiding. I really want to make her healthy and happy. Any help would be greatly appreciated. And FYI we named her Abby!

[geriwokurka]

And yes we put her in the tank with Don right away, because we had no other option. And he has had no signs of being sick. Other then love sick. lol No shedding or shell problems. But will share his food, and loves rubbing his head against her neck. If this is bad let me know. Like I said I'm very new to this. And they are about the same size. Abby is a little bit bigger, but not by much. There has not been any fighting. Even tho the tank is to small the the two of them. We are trying to find a larger tank. Just don't have the money right now. The tank is big enough for them to swim one on there others back. Sorta cute to watch.

[steve]

Hi, welcome to the site!

What are the sizes of the turtles? Can you post a picture of the shells?

[geriwokurka]

About 4 and 5 inches. And I will try to post pics tomorrow.

[geriwokurka]

My painted has a smooth shell, the RES has a bumpy shell.

[steve]

So they're all females? It can take awhile for them to adjust to new surroundings. The best thing to do is offer the correct temperatures for water and basking and offer some privacy.

[geriwokurka]

No, the painted is a male. Just found that out. And the RES is female. And they have their own space. Just usually want to be together. And we don't have a vet around us that does turtles. Small town USA. Mostly cats, dogs, horses, cows,.... I want to keep her healthy. Just don't have the funds to take her to a vet an hour away. She seems to be getting better. Just very worrier about her shell. If it doesn't come free on its own, can she get an infection??

[steve]

Scutes that are retained a long time can develop infections since there is water and debris trapped in there for long periods of time. It doesn't come to that often, but I can't be certain without a close examination.

[penelope]

Welcome to the site!
I'm sure you will get a lot of support here!

As Steve mentioned, pictures are a great! They help to answer questions, because a lot of things on these RES are so subtle.

You can also check out the General Care forum, or use the search on the top right of this page...just type in "pyramiding" or any other topic of interest/concern. Then you can see how others have handled similar things in the the past, see picture examples, etc.
There is a lot of history on site - I hope it helps!!

Again, Welcome!