Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: Meet Myrtle

[myrtletheturtle]

Hi my name is Jade!! Im sure you will be hearing from me alot!! I ask alot of questions and i worry alot about my little myrtle.ok enough about me!!
I want you to meet my little myrtle!Myrtle is indeed from myrtle beach thats how he got his name! Hes very shy but he will warm up to you very quickly and he loves to be hand fed also!!(bad habit i know) He loves to swim against the water current of his filter, he also loves to play hide and seek hence the picture below!! He also loves chicken yum yum!! Myrtle loves basking and napping also!! Below are some pictures of him!!!




Here he is hiding under the rocks??








and heres is mrytles home

[Safdar]

Welcome to the forums

You should really raise the water level

[myrtletheturtle]

I dont know if thats such a good idea he stands on his tippy toes to poke his head out of the water when hes in it! im scared he will drown!!

[Safdar]

Haha so your saying he cant swim...

He sticks his head out to get air
And if hes not used to high water
Raise the water slowly everyday ( start with half an inch everyday, if you are cautious)
So he can get used to it

Plus i see you have plants and stuff which he can easily use to get out of the water

Usually turtles drown when they get stuck underwater and cant come up

But in your case he has support to reach the top just in case he cant swim
Which is most likely incorrect

[myrtletheturtle]

Im not saying he cant swim, he spends almost all day in water.I have risen it a couple days ago but I will raise it some more and see what happens. Also im thinking im gonna take the gravel out to since everyone thinks he can eat it which the gravel is the same size as his head so maybe ill get bigger rocks.

[Safdar]

Get River Rocks
Alot of people have those
And it makes your filter more efficient in sucking up poop and leftover food

[untsmurf]

Good thinking

Your turtle should be just fine with higher water, as long as they have something to latch onto and a dock to get out onto. They are aquatic turtles, so they actually do better with more water.

[myrtletheturtle]

OK well im cleaning the tank tomorro so il have to get some rocks im sure i can find some somwhere petsmart sells them to expensive so maybe il try homedepot and il deff up the water some more. Also he likes to burrow himself he wont hurt himsself if the rocks are bigger will he??

[untsmurf]

If he can't lift them, he can't hurt himself. But if you give him some hides like a log or something he might not feel the need to burrow in the rocks for protection.

[myrtletheturtle]

he has a log and ive yet to see him go in it lol

[untsmurf]

Some turtles are picky, maybe he would prefer a cave of some sort.

[DavidY]

That's pretty funny, I've never seen a res hide under the gravel like that. It's cute the way he leaves an opening for his head so he can still see out.

Welcome to the forum! Don't worry about the water being too high. In the wild these guys will swim around the bottom of the pond looking for food and then float up to the surface. They are excellent swimmers when given the chance. But you do need to provide a basking platform where he can climb out of the water completely to dry off for a few hours. Otherwise he can get shell rot or fungus.

[untsmurf]

And the lights, both UV and heat, should be on that spot that David mentioned.

[Tenodera]

Wow how did he get under those rocks?

Its not a bad habit to handfeed him, it actually gets him used to you!

Welcome!

[DavidY]

...except for when they start drooling at the sight of your fingers.