Habitat - Indoor :: Bad habitat? :(

[ClaireY]

Hello, all. My family is taking care of our neighbor's turtles while they're on vacation.
When they came to us they were in this little box:

They didn't have a heat lamp, basking area (unless you count the rocks), or filtration system, and I'm not sure how often the owners took them out
I lost one of them when I took it out to the backyard for some exercise. Would it be okay to buy the neighbors a new one, or is this setup poor enough that it would be wrong to subject another little turtle to it?

[steve]

Hi, yes they turtles don't have all of the basic necessities. Both also look that they are growing too fast. I think one turtle is better as most often two or more don't get along well in captivity.

Also keep looking for that other one... just keep looking, even places you searched before or think is too small: http://www.redearslider.com/lost_turtle.html

[ClaireY]

Thanks for responding!
Is there anything I can do to stop them from growing too fast?
I think these two in particular got along well - I never saw them having any problems, at least.
And I have been looking for the lost turtle, but I'm afraid that it might have escaped through a gap in the fence. I'll continue to search, though.

[steve]

They need less protein/pellets. As for getting along, they're usually fine when small, it's just when they start to mature they can be aggressive - especially males.