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I'm going to my parents' home for Thanksgiving this week, and I am unsure of what to do with my turtle. I've read that turtles over a year old don't need fed everyday, so I was wondering if it would be better to leave my turtle in his 25 gallon tank for a day or two without food, but with his normal lighting and surroundings, or take him to my parents' house and put him in a 5 gallon tank that my Mom found and set up? He's only a little guy with a shell length of an inch to 2 inches, but he is well over a year old. I'd like to take him with me, so I can watch after him and feed him, but I feel like the 5 gallon tank could be small for him since he's gotten used to his 25 gallon tank. Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks.

You're only going to be gone for a day or two? If you've got a good set-up for your turtle, he should be fine during the time you've gone. Traveling and new surroundings would be stressful for your turt, so I think he would be happier in surroundings he knows. Plus, since it's getting colder where you are, I wouldn't want to risk him getting exposed to cold air, even briefly.

Before you go, you could feed him a little extra. Some people put feeder fish in the tank,and you could do this if you want. It would be good to leave an aquatic plant like anachris in the tank for him to nibble on as well as some pieces of cuttlebone.

Put your lights on timers if you haven't done so already. Check your other equipment to make sure everything's working OK. Have a nice holiday.

IDEA! I bought an automatic fish feeder from wal-mart for 8 bucks, feeds twice a day, if you want, you can go run out and grab one.

Yes, some people have used them as well. For a longer trip, as long as it accurately can dispense pellets and not flakes, it could be useful. For a day or two, though, to me it doesn't seem necessary.

Thanks for the advise everyone. I do have a nice setup for my turtle, so he should be happy while I'm gone. I put in some new plants yesterday that he seems to enjoy, and he does have a feeder fish in there if he gets hungry enough. He ate one of the two fish that I put in there originally, but he hasn't had all that much interest in this one recently. What is this cuttlebone that you refer to? I haven't heard of before. I'm new to the turtle scene. I just rescued my little guy about 3 weeks ago from a neglectful owner.
The automatic feeder sounds fascinating. Although I don't have enough time to pick it up before I leave this week, I'm definitely going to look into it for Christmas time.

Does anyone know where I can get timers for my lights? How do they work?

check the bird section in any pet store, just peel off the hard backing when you stick it in there.

You can get a timer from most any department store or hardware store.. like Home Depot. You just set the time on it for when you want it to turn on and off.. it will come with instructions

Jen182 wrote:Does anyone know where I can get timers for my lights? How do they work?

Radio shack is where we got ours. Here's a link to what one looks like so you'll know when you go hunting for one.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... age=search

Thanks! I was just looking online and the cheapest one I saw (that I could get quickly before going out of town) was $30. I'll be making a trip to radioshack today!

You can also get them cheaply at Walmart (about $5.00), which is about what Home Depot sells them for.

I put a link in the Online deals section for a surge protector with multiple outlets that has a timer. Its pretty good if you have more than one devices that need the timer.

Wish I had seen that sooner. lol. I don't have time to go back out and the only one I found only has one outlet. Will she be okay without her UVB lamp for two days?

Two days shouldn't be a problem. My painteds had to go a few weeks without a UVB light (the light I ordered was out of stock and it took that long before I received it), and they didn't have a problem. They're quite healthy, though, and if your turtle is as well, he'll be fine for two days.