Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: New RES caregiver

[pinorious]

Hi All,

Great site, thanks for all the info.

We just got a 6month old RES from a turtle rescue lady, here in New Zealand (his names Turbo). Bought the little fellow home and spent all night up, turning off and on the broken water heater to keep the temp at about 26C ; got a new one today however.... spent the whole day cleaning and sorting out his new tank.... it's all go. Prob is we went to feed him (in a seperate big bowl, with 26C water in it) and he is not eating anything. We got proper turtle food, pellets, and lettuce but he won't touch it. Is it because he's a bit freaked at his new surroundings? We gave up and put him back in his own tank with no dinner; should we drop pellets in his tank, or try again to feed him tomorrow with some salmon (crushed pellets mixed in) or get him some live food as your site suggests?

Please help.... We have only had this turtle for 24hrs and he's already part of the family.

Cheers Trent and Ruby

[steve]

Welcome! Since he's new, just feed him in his regular tank. He needs to get used to his surroundings and keepers first. If he's a hatchling he might not be interested in lettuce/veggies, so stick with live prey, treats and pellets.

[pinorious]

Hi Steve,

Thank you for that; turbo's eating just fine in his own tank. (Turbo is 6mths old)

We went out and got a UVB light and are using it together with an incandescent 75w clear bulb in a desk lamp; we have the UVB light positioned right above, and in the middle of the tank, with the incandescent 75w bulb just over the basking area. We moved the 75W bulb around until we got a constant temp on the basking platform of 30C (86f). Turbo spends all his time in the water and doesn't bask. What can we do? We have had him now for 4days; we take him out of the tank everyday and put him in a spot (in a big Plastic tray) where he has access to sun or shade, but still are not seeing him do any basking.

Please help

[steve]

Try to get it a little warmer and move it closer to the edge. It's not unusual for them to not bask right away, but you also need to give him a bit of space/privacy.

[pinorious]

Thank you very much Steve.

Will give that a go; we'll bait him with heat to get him up that ramp.

Cheers.

It's very cool to have your help, and your sites advice, with getting our turtle happy. We can't believe how much personality this little guy has. Your help is very much appreciated

[steve]

Glad to have you here! I know what you mean about personality, each one is different.

Speaking of bait, you can leave bits of food up there so you would at least know if he's climbing up there.

[pinorious]

Hi Steve,

Great idea, we'll leave some food on the basking platform to see if he's having private basking sessions. 'We have caught him up the ramp halfway out under the lights; I think he's just building up the courage, and inching his way onto the platform. We are going to give him as much privacy as we can, to get him sunbathing!

Cheers Steve

[steve]

I'm sure it won't be much longer

[pinorious]

Hi Steve,

All going ok with our Turtle friend.... got him basking.... got him eating a good variety of turtle food; our latest problem is a bit weird.. he's eating his own crap? is that normal? we try to get to it and clean it out of the tank before he gets to it... but he seems to eat it right away.

Please help.

Cheers

[steve]

Thats normal. Try to figure out if he poops on schedule (i.e. a few minutes after eating) and scoop it out before he finds it.

[pinorious]

Thanks Steve,

One more quickie, a small white spot on the back of the shell very near the edge right at the back.... anything to worry about? no sign of a hole or depression, its about the size of a small pinhead.

Cheers,

Trent

[steve]

Can you post a picture of it? Does it look like it's getting bigger? Can you scratch it off with your nail? Try swabbing it with white vinegar too.