Hi my name is Leonardo,
I am recently taking care of 2 little turtles (i think they both RES), Rocky and Sally although i do not know their gender yet. We have a small 10-gallon tank, which i am planning to upgrade to a 40 gal one in Dec. My family and i are not sure if we are caring for the little one in a correct manner so we decided to say hello and ask a couple of question so we can improve our husbandry.
We don’t really know their ages but suspect that they are just babies; we live in Honduras so no 4-inch rules apply here. We have them in 10-gallon tank with an ATBA so they can have more swimming room while we upgrade. They are fed 2 times a day 5.30 am 3 reptomin pellets each and 7.00 pm 3 pellets more, they have cuttlebone always available on their tank and no greens until yesterday in an improvised veggie clip with lettuce. I tried to feed them in a separate tank but they hate it and get stress and super jumping so we decided to feed on their actual tank. As a temporary thing i have been giving them some dryied shrimp to get them to use the ATBA
They have ATBA made of egg crate and plastic plants with a basking light and the tank is close to a window so they sometime they get natural sunlight as well. They are extremely shy, i have to sneak on them so just to make sure they bask and they do bask! We have installed a 30-gallon filter with pothos to control la nitrates on the tank as well as 30-gallon heater to control the water temperature. Water get 80% change every Friday
1) Can anyone tell if they are female or male?
2) Is the mount and frequency of food given correct?
3) Are cuttlebone o calcium turtles of any use?
4) IS my setup correct, can i hold them in this small tank for 7 months more until I upgrade?
5) I have a 30-gallon filter and 30 gallon heater. Is it enough? Will the pothos help keep the water clean?
6) When do i start feeding live feeder fish? I’ve read that they also like worms is this a must? can i leave the tank with veggies all the time?
7) i know is hard to tell from pictures but do they look healthy?
will they ever get costumed to us? They are really shy and they don’t even beg for food but they do eat very well when no one is around.
9) i know gravel substrate is a nono, is sand the better option ? I don’t want go bare bottom
Much appreciated for the help
regards
- Rocky
- My Tank
- They have real rock and heater
- Sally under the rock
- Sally up close
- Filter and pothos
- ATBA and Light
- More of the ATBA
- ATBA