HELP my RES got it arm tied up in string and is swolen!

[NOLAGT]

I have seen your pond and have a few coments. First your basking area that is the peace of cork is way to small and unstable. second your turt is able to climb the pond edge with the very real possibility for her to fall and get lost. 3 your pond lacks a egg laying area, a absolute must have for female turts owners. To fix all at once I sugest this: first of you need to put plastic mesh all around the pond. Second you need to create both a better basking area and a egg laying area. For that you can divide your pond so to create a dry area or you can acoplate a conteiner filled with peat/sand mix along side rocks,logs ,plants,etc to the pond side with bridge for your turt to get into it(I think this is the better option). This will allow you also to grow in it eatble plants like hibiscus in wich your turt can munch. Also I think yor pond is kind of empty. You should ad rocks ,logs, some aquatic plants,etc. By the way thouse kois will grow far to big for your pond, koi is better suitted to lakes. But your pond is more than capable to house confortably several other res, preferably other females. I think res specialy females enjoy the presence of other turts. I see my females frequently interacting with other animals in non agressive ways. This is controversial but I think your turt is kind of lonely. Suitable tank mates include yellow belly sliders, cumberland sliders and big cooters. Try to find recued animals in need of a good home, there are thousands every year

I agree 100% about the basking...she can get on it but not 100% out of the water....im still looking into what im going to do for her to bask properly. Thats just what I had at the time.

She was only able to climb out on the edge like that before I had put the top rim on. I had just put her in the pond and was inside doing stuff when I saw her through the door on the edge like that. Now that the top rim is on she can not get out and there are overflow holes so when it rains hard the water will not get any higher.

Do you NEED a egg laying area if your not trying to breed her? For the first time she laid an egg in the pond (that confirmed shes a her) but I was under the impression if there are no males then its infertial anyway. I am not trying to breed her....

The plan is to put some planter baskets in there for some plants...and now hibiscus since I know now they can eat it. I just have not had time to finish it 100% and now that its starting to get cold I might have to wait on the plants...right? I had some aquatic plants in there from time to time too for the koi and RES to eat on....also heads of romane.

I dont think she likes other turtles really...ever since she was a hatchling ever other turtle she was with got bit...there is a smaller RES in there now that she trimmed the whole back of the shell off. I was thinking about trying a western painted...what do you think about that?

I didnt want to clutter the pond up with a bunch of stuff so it stays clean with the water current I have in there. Junk rarely settls on the bottm and I want just wide opean area since she was cooped in a 58 gal tank for the last year of her life.

As for the koi...I know they get huge and once they get too big they get traded back in for smaller ones. I just gotta have some fish in the pond and koi are fast enough to stay out of the jaws of the queen. Commets are not...I also have about 15 rosey reds in there for a little different action. Every now and then there are nips in the koi and some of the rosey reds end up MIA so she is chasing them down staying active.

I have a filter that is rated for 1500 gal pond with a UV and I do water changes oftin and test the water a lot to make sure the quality is perfect.

Thanks for your input!!! I really need to figgure out what to do about the basking area.

Update on her arm...the vet gave me some Neo-Poly-Bac its a mix of Neomycin and Polymyxin B sulfates and Bacitracin Zinc Ophtalmic. Today was the day I started and there is a big ol flap of skin on the top of her foot. I noticed it once I started applying the ointment. Then when I had her in the tub to stay out the water for an hour like the doc said she pooped in it and im sure it got all in her wound....arrgh come on girl thats no way to get better!

 

[robynsfish]

yes she needs a laying area, they are like chickens, even without a male they will lay eggs. if she doesnt have a proper laygin area, she will hold the eggs inside until they A- get too large to pass B- start to decompose inside of her C-reabsorb them back into her body or D they will harden and calcify until she cant pass them.. possibilities A B and D are much more likely than C, and if she does become egg bound and doesnt make it to a vet for surgery in time, she can die from it.

 

[NOLAGT]

Wow really...I didn't know that. I have had her for 6-7 years now and just reciently I saw an egg in the pond. I found what I thought was part of a egg shell a month or two before that but it was just a piece so I wasn't sure. The last pond she was in had a island in the middle (lowes pre fab 135 gal pond) but I never saw any eggs on it...unless she dug them in. So how large does this area need to be...it needs to be something she can dig into to lay the eggs or just a big dry area like a large basking area.

 

[coura]

yes she needs a laying area, they are like chickens, even without a male they will lay eggs. if she doesnt have a proper laygin area, she will hold the eggs inside until they A- get too large to pass B- start to decompose inside of her C-reabsorb them back into her body or D they will harden and calcify until she cant pass them.. possibilities A B and D are much more likely than C, and if she does become egg bound and doesnt make it to a vet for surgery in time, she can die from it.

Ditto and very well explained In fact the past summer just had one of my females sedated to remove a too big egg. She full recovered from that

 

[coura]

I agree 100% about the basking...she can get on it but not 100% out of the water....im still looking into what im going to do for her to bask properly. Thats just what I had at the time.

She was only able to climb out on the edge like that before I had put the top rim on. I had just put her in the pond and was inside doing stuff when I saw her through the door on the edge like that. Now that the top rim is on she can not get out and there are overflow holes so when it rains hard the water will not get any higher.

Do you NEED a egg laying area if your not trying to breed her? For the first time she laid an egg in the pond (that confirmed shes a her) but I was under the impression if there are no males then its infertial anyway. I am not trying to breed her....

Like it was explained you do need.

The plan is to put some planter baskets in there for some plants...and now hibiscus since I know now they can eat it. I just have not had time to finish it 100% and now that its starting to get cold I might have to wait on the plants...right? I had some aquatic plants in there from time to time too for the koi and RES to eat on....also heads of romane.

Dont abuse on the romaine. Insted insist on other much more calcium rich dark leafys like mustard greens, turnip greens and collard greens

I dont think she likes other turtles really...ever since she was a hatchling ever other turtle she was with got bit...there is a smaller RES in there now that she trimmed the whole back of the shell off. I was thinking about trying a western painted...what do you think about that?

No painteds. Painteds are better to house with maps and chicken turts. They are as agressive eaters as sliders but they are less strong and will get bullied. You need turts that are a mach in size and agressivity to yours, wich can only be met with several other equal size sliders or big cooters

I didnt want to clutter the pond up with a bunch of stuff so it stays clean with the water current I have in there. Junk rarely settls on the bottm and I want just wide opean area since she was cooped in a 58 gal tank for the last year of her life.
Sliders like open water but they also need quieter areas in wich to rest and stuf to turn over, push around ,etc to keep themselfes stimulated. Natural turt habitat it isnt a pristine river, it has fallen logs, mud, rocks,etc. The fact that everithing never setles tells me that you have a too strong corrent wich is unconfortable to turtles. Weaken it and get some logs and find a way to keep them still. For mine I generaly make holes in the logs to conect with some of that really tuff plastic coated wire by the outside of the tank.

As for the koi...I know they get huge and once they get too big they get traded back in for smaller ones. I just gotta have some fish in the pond and koi are fast enough to stay out of the jaws of the queen. Commets are not...I also have about 15 rosey reds in there for a little different action. Every now and then there are nips in the koi and some of the rosey reds end up MIA so she is chasing them down staying active.

Oh thats ok then But you must quarentine any fish before putting it into the tank. The last thing you want is for your turt to cach a bacterial infection by eating a sick fish

I have a filter that is rated for 1500 gal pond with a UV and I do water changes oftin and test the water a lot to make sure the quality is perfect.

You dont really need the uv or to be so picky about the water quality, is just only one turt in a huge tank, but ok

Thanks for your input!!! I really need to figgure out what to do about the basking area. And egg laying area

Update on her arm...the vet gave me some Neo-Poly-Bac its a mix of Neomycin and Polymyxin B sulfates and Bacitracin Zinc Ophtalmic. Today was the day I started and there is a big ol flap of skin on the top of her foot. I noticed it once I started applying the ointment. Then when I had her in the tub to stay out the water for an hour like the doc said she pooped in it and im sure it got all in her wound....arrgh come on girl thats no way to get better!

No worrys that´s what turts do and if you clean it rigth away, nothing bad will happen. Turts are no sissys

 

[NOLAGT]

So what part of Hibiscus do they eat...leaves flower or both? I have two 6' plants in the back yard....I can throw in some to the pond for a snack.

 

[coura]

So what part of Hibiscus do they eat...leaves flower or both? I have two 6' plants in the back yard....I can throw in some to the pond for a snack.

Well tecnicly since its becaming to do a litle cold and their apetite tends to decrease they normaly will concentrate in eating more calory dense foods other than plants to prepare for hibernation(wich your turt must not acomplish this year, keep her inside) so she´s likely to refuse. There are a few points to consider before doing that. The plants must not have been sprayed with fungicides, insectisides, quemical fertilizers,etc. All people in the home must know not to do that. Also the plants must not be grown near a road. Having that in acount you can feed both leafs and flowers, but the flowers tend to be not very apreciated

 

[NOLAGT]

Ahh I sprayed them with a fungaside this year...so scratch that. Romane lettuce is good for them right? Everyone tears into it when I throw a head in there.

 

[coura]

Ahh I sprayed them with a fungaside this year...so scratch that. Romane lettuce is good for them right? Everyone tears into it when I throw a head in there.

Like I said before it isnt, even if this is one of the best letuces,is a mainly water based, too much phosporus and low calcium food sorce, the kind of thing that wouldnt hurt to replace by other more nutricious vegetables like I already told you

 

[NOLAGT]

Ahh I didnt see your replies to all that. I will switch the greens I throw in for everyone then.

As for the current thats not as much as you think. I have a T coming off the main pump on the back left corner of the pond that sends the water to the water return log area. The water coming out of the log pushes the water back to the front left corner where the pump is. There is maaaybe an ever so slight whirlpool effect but hardly anything more than just enough to make a leafe make it to the pump eventualy. With the fish swimming and the turtle swimming it kicks up anything else that might settle. Its really not that strong. How deep the the dirt need to be on this land area?

I have been thinking of ideas on how to build a large land area with out covering the pond. I think I might build a area on the right side of the pond where the water log return is....over the box that covers the filter...might redo the way the filter is hidden buy putting it under a large land area. I can "fence" it in so the only way off the land area is back into the pond.

Questions...is she done laying eggs this season? Can I wait till right before spring to build the land area? She probably wont be in it for this winter anyway.