Injured Slider

Question
Tonight, we rescued a large, badly injured slider from the middle of a three lane 40 MPH road. He was bleeding from the top of his shell and a bit on the bottom, (although the 1/4" crack on his tummy is all the way over on the very far side.) He has a large crack across the top of his, ("he's" not yet sexed, I'm guessing here...) shell. It goes from one side all the way across his "waistline" and another 3" past his spine, and then it craters, like someone hit him with a hammer. We feel pretty sure it was the work of a car. How they didn't see him escapes us, since he's larger than a basketball! (Maybe text messaging or dialing a cell phone...) Anyway, I brought him in and put him in our (dry)jacuzzi tub. I gently put, (by hand,) handfuls of warm water over the top of his shell to wash away the blood and dirt. Then I used one or two DROPS of Pivodone Iodine diluted in 2 cups of warm water, and very gently and slowly poured this onto his cracked shell. Afterward, I very slightly tilted him to one side and then the other to get as much of the solution to run off as possible. Then, after patting him dry, I wrapped the crack, (all the way around his shell but out of the way of his back feet,) with dry gauze, and then wrapped the gauze with Vet tape, (tape that sticks to itself.) He can move his front and back legs, and as soon as no one's in the room, he pops his head out, seeming interested in the dark leafy and red lettuce, romaine, iceberg and strawberry, that I put in the tub with him...although as far as I can tell, he hasn't yet eaten. Once I felt he was stabilized, we found a Vet who does exotics, so we placed him in a Styrafoam cooler, (NO LID,) on top of a soft towel and covered the top with a another large towel for the  car ride to a city about 1 hour away. Finally, at 1AM, the vet checked him out. He gave him a pain killer and an antibiotic shot, one in one front let and one in the other. He didn't have the right stuff to repair his shell, so I will take him to a local vet today, once they are open. In the meantime, now that it's 4AM and we just got back and got him situated, I am wondering how long he can remain without water? Also, the vet said I should continue keeping him inside, to prevent nasty flies, ants, etc...from finding him.  Our A/C is set at 75 degrees. Is that too cold for him? Should I put a heating pad under a few towels for him to lay on to keep warm? I can't get to the pet store or vets office for hours, and I don't want him to catch pneumonia or get sicker than the poor thing already is. Any advice? Thanks so much...
Joy

Answer
This is a common scenario, and I appreciate your heart in this matter.

Water is calming to turtles- it is where they find refuge but they do not NEED water except to eat (they will always hunt and eat in the water.)

75F is a bit cool for an ill turtle, but not too far from the 80-85F range we would look for. The bigger issue is dehydration. Try to keep the humidity in the area higher.

Don't worry about feeding it right now.

One thing to think about... being kept captive is a major stress event for a wild turtle. You have it past the initial shock, so it actually would have a good shot at healing in its home habitat. You can release it with a clear conscience knowing that its chance for recovery is actually usually higher in the wild than in captivity unless the vet is very experienced in shell repair and rehab.

Release would be my recommendation, but I know it can be a hard choice. Do what your conscience tells you, and good luck!