~ Hello ~
About 2 weeks ago I rescued 2 red eared slider hatchlings that some (really unfortunate person) left in an open tupperware tub, with half an inch of water, just in the middle of a large park behind my and my roommates' condo in the hot Arizona sun. We took them in and fell in love with them.
I have extensively researched RES for almost the entirety of the past 2 weeks, and have learned a lot, including about things to look for in hatchlings whose prior conditions are unknown at best. Dino is smaller than Tattoo, but both are just the size of a quarter. Is there any way to tell approx. how old that makes them?
Also, they both are very shy of me and often swim rapidly against the glass of their tank when I arrive to feed them. Their water is kept at a measured 82 degrees F, and their basking rocks are kept at 91 degrees F. They eat, sleep, and have normal excretion, so the water is fine. I just don't want them to injure themselves swimming against the glass like that :/
The smaller of the two, Dino, exhibits the TINIEST lopsidedness in the water when he/she is floating at the top. I don't want it to be an RI but that's what everything says. I have been looking up turtle vets. Are there other symptoms? because otherwise Dino is fine- basks- sinks/rises-eats and swims straight, and even floats straight sometimes. I might just being paranoid from my crash course of Turtle 101, but still. Also, Dino will continue to fervently swim against the tank even after Tattoo has realized it's mealtime and calms down. Dino will swimswimswim, look up to see if I'm there, and then back down to swimswimswim and I am beginning to think he/she might just be a spazz, or think its clear water and be a scaredy-turt. Either way I'm just hoping from some insight on the whole thing.
Lastly, should I quarantine Dino from Tattoo? in the off chance of an RI? Even if everything else is normal I don't want to needlessly endanger Tattoo.
Thank you in advance for anyone's advice~
