General Care Discussion :: Worried about my Slider getting Soft-Shell

[abNormal]

Hello everyone, so I've recently adopted my 3-4 month old red eared slider, Kunkka. I've had him (I'm assuming it's a male for now) for a week now and I've decided that he has a very shy and skittish temperament. Although this isn't too much of a problem, what I'm worried about it that this is causes him to not come out of his water (he feels safe in his water) and into his basking area and I'm starting to get very worried that he will get soft-shell or some other kind of illness associated with being in water constantly over an extremely long period of time. I've tried handling him gently every day to try and get him used to human contact and activity but still as soon as I walk into the room he ducks his head and makes a run for the nearest alcove of rocks.

How long does it take for a slider to get soft shell?
What other types of illnesses could they possibly get from the behavior I have described?

Can anyone advise me in any way as to how I can remedy the situation? I'm sorta in love with Kunkka and want to give him the best life possible!

I think that's all, thanks in advance to anyone who replies!

[Jeremiah]

Welcome to the forum!

You can try moving the enclosure to a low-traffic room. Almost all RES are skittish by nature (like mine), and therefore need more time to adjust to their surroundings. As long as you have a basking area around 90F and a source of UVB light, its instincts will inevitably drive it out of the water. Try to keep the water no higher than 75F, so it encourages him to warm up on dry land.

Soft shell comes from lack of Vitamin D3, not sitting in water for too long. The only problem from excessive swimming is shell fungus/rot, which even then should take time to set in unless you have inadequate filtration.

If you're using a stock tank, you could either lower the water or build some kind of barrier around the rim (I did the latter).

One more thing--the frequent handling is actually more hurtful than helpful. Turtles don't adjust to interaction via tactile methods. They only "like" us as food providers, not giants that stick their hands in the tank and hold them. That's just scaring them, and reinforces hiding behavior.

[abNormal]

Thanks for replying Jeremiah!
All this information is really helpful and I appreciate the reply! I was obviously a bit misinformed as I thought that staying in the water too long would cause soft-shell!

Could you tell me something else though; will my RES get used to us humans walking passed the tank eventually? And if so, can you say how long it would take? The tank is in my bedroom so it's not like the tank is in the hallway or anything like that and people generally don't frequent my bedroom other than myself too often.

What is your opinion on moving the slider to a medium sized bowl for feeding every day? I have small Zebra fish in the tank with him and they get to his food faster than he does and I don't want to OVER feed the tank as this will cause excessive algae and is generally considered unhygienic.

Again, thank you for replying!

[Jeremiah]

I wouldn't say you were misinformed, since technically a turtle that never leaves the water never basks to begin with.

Some RES are bolder than others, some are downright skittish. It really depends on the individual, so it's hard to give you a firm answer regarding its future comfort level with humans. I have one turtle that will bask in the middle of a rock concert, and another one that won't bask with others around unless you tie him to the platform.

That being said, if the tank is in your room it should be okay. Like you said, you won't have tons of people running through the area which should give it ample time throughout the day to bask in peace. Steve, the forum owner, actually just informed me of a useful tip: When the turtle sees you and heads for the hills, don't react--no running over to the tank, don't even look in its direction. If you just act like "another piece of furniture", the RES will see you as less of a threat, and will hopefully stay out longer when you're around.

Lots of us here are advocates of the "feeding tub" method you describe--it cuts down on tank maintenance, which the RES will be grateful for.

Just out of curiosity, what are you feeding the turtle? I can't think of any pellets or other turtle foods that a zebra fish could get to and eat before the turtle itself does.

[abNormal]

Well at the moment I'm trying to find out what Kunkka likes so I'm trying blood-worms (which the fish go crazy for) and these little tubular pellets that I got from the person I who I got Kunkka from. She said they're specifically for terrapins but I'm not sure if they have a specific name; I have seen him eat these before so I know he likes these. I'm also trying out a frozen mixture of calcium powder, peas, spinach and a little water.

[abNormal]

I would appreciate it if anyone else had anything to add to this thread. Any more information on how to get my RES used to human activity and how to get it to "come out of it's shell", what feeding methods are good etc would be much appreciated!

[Jeremiah]

You might want to cut back on blood worms, especially if you're using pellets too. They have a lot of protein, but not much else in the way of nutrition. The tubular pellets you're talking about sound like Reptomin, which is okay to use but not the best like Mazuri, Omega One, or Saki-Hikari. With pellets, variety is key--there is no "perfect" brand, so offering a rotation of 3-4 is preferable. You have a baby RES, so it can eat every day (the amount that will fit into at least 1/2 of its head).

The frozen mix you're making has too many purines (from the peas), and spinach is a forbidden food for reptiles (it interferes with calcium pathways). Red leaf lettuce and red bell pepper are much better vegetable choices.

Look up a recipe for "Turtle Jell-O Shots"; those are a more nutritious version of what you have, but it's all the same process.

[steve]

Keep in mind that RES personalities vary, not all of them are very social. Sometimes it just takes time to get used to everything. Remember, to him you're a giant thing keeping him in a glass cage. Recheck your temperatures and make sure he has all the privacy he needs. I like to feed my RES lettuce/veggies in the morning and pellets at night. I feel they are better at digesting when basking.

I think Jeremiah is correct with your questions regarding everything else. Good luck!