On Saturday I bought a Red-eared terrapin, It has a part, little triangle no more then 1 cm deep missing from the left side of its shell, Should I be worried about this? also from what I’ve been reading they like to bask, but over the last 2 days I haven’t seen it leave the water (I have stones stacked in the left of the tank just about water level that it can easily get onto) Should I also be concerned about this?

Going to need a little more info and a pic if possible. How old is the terrapin? Do you have the water heated and a heat lamp over the basking spot? Has it eaten yet? Without pics I have no idea what the missing part of shell is, could be shell rot, old injury, shell deformity...may be best for a vet to check it out if you're worried. If all the above are in place and the temps are correct and its just a baby, it could be being shy, with regards to the basking. Thats all I can think of at the moment really.

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Will post a Pic soon, But its the left edge looks like its been broken Off

I have a UV Light (Tube) for the tank and that gives off Good heat and keeps the water over room Temp'

Not sure on the ages because the pet shop owner wasnt but its 6 Inches in Length and yes its been eating Locust since the shop didnt have any dried food, Given it 6 over the last 2 days.

Welcome To Terrapin Rescue theres a care sheet and other info on my website including safe foods.

the shell sounds like where a bigger terrapin has bit him i have a few with similar wounds here.

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Are you sure it's a Red Ear? They are quite hard to find these days and shops are not supposed to sell them.

What size tank do you have it in, and what is the water depth and volume? What filter do you have?


A UV tube doesn't give enough heat for basking, the basking spot needs to be around 32°C and a UV (other than a Mercury Vapour Lamp) won't provide this, that may be why it's not basking.

A turt of that size doesn't need heated water, in fact heated water and a too cool basking spot will deter it from basking, it will prefer to stay in the warm water.

Did you ask the shop owner about this injury, as it was obviously there on Saturday when you got it? What did he say about it?

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Very Sure its a Red Eared was just £20 So I guess from the price not that hard to get hold off, Was in a Smallish tank with a Tree Turtle anywas..

My Tank is 3ft Long bye 1.2ft high by 1ft wide an its just under half full, Filter is a Fluval 3 Plus. UV Tube is 2ft long Set in the middle,

Sorry to say but that tank is far too small for a 6" turt! Using the rule of thumb of 40 litres of water per inch of turt minimum, you need at least 240 litres of water, your tank half-full holds about 100 litres, not even enough for a turt half the size.

If it really is a RES they are great swimmers and need a lot of water, a few inches just isn't sufficient, also a Fluval 3 is nowhere near enough filtration, especially in such a small volume of water it won't be able to keep it clean enough, you'll get potentially fatal bacteria and ammonia levels in no time at all.

You need a very large capacity extenal cannister filter, an internal will just move the water around as it doesn't have anything like the media capacity required.

If your turt has an injury as it sounds, this coupled with poor water quality could be very bad news, bacteria in the water will build up and keep reinfecting the wound and it'll never get better.

Can you post a picture of the turt and its injury?

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I dont have a digital Cam, Waiting to get hold of one in the Next few Days

This is How its Under Belly and Under Shell look

Photo One





Photo Two




Tank its In

I personally would very strongly suggest the following changes

1) Larger Land area
2) Basking spot over the land area immediately
3) Larger tank!

I can't help with the injury but i would suggest getting it seen by a vet as it looks quite nasty to me, and looks like the type of injury that could easily become infected or lead to rot.

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