Habitat - Indoor :: Red Ear Slider Setup

[TexasJagsFan]

I have had a small RES for about 10 months now, I adopted him from a local lake I was fishing at. Currently I have him in a little bowl that holds about 1/4 of a gallon(not my choice, I wanted him in my empty ten gallon aqaurium but my mom didn't want to buy the things needed). After showing her that right now he is too the point of almost crawling out of the bowl, she has decided to buy the things for him.

I need to know what I need, I will provide a list of stuff I have and I'm going to be buying, I'd like to know if I left anything off or I added something not necessary.

Okay I have a 20 gallon aqaurium and a turtle dock, I'm going to by a
UVA/UVB bulb
a clamp for the bulb
a screen top for the 20 gallon tank
submergable heater
submergable filter

Now I also have read that I need a basking bulb(any 50watt bulb will do), would I need to get another clamp for that bulb?

I also would like to know if I need to place the clamps above the aqaurium, I mean another wards where do I place them, I don't want to overheat the water. What's a safe temperature for keeping the water at, like 75?

Thank you.

[bradhart]

what you need to do is go abck to the lake and let him go. There's absolutly no reason to take a perfectly healthy animal out of his natural habitat and stick it in a small bowl simply for your amusement. just let it go. It's not fair to the animal that you take a huge lake, with everything it needs to be healthy and happy and stick it in a small bowl/tank and have it suffer because you don't know how to properly care for it. If you're bent on owning an animal, go buy one that was bred for captivity. Don't disrupt its life to appease you.

[lydia_lady_fla]

not sure if having it in captivity for 10 months that you can just let it go? I do suggest if you are keeping it that you read all the stickys here your questions are already answered in in door habitat and other areas in the forum including water temp. size etc. please read very well before going to town. if it is safe to release it after having it for 10 mths and thats what you decide to do old turtle and the moderators are the ones to help with the transistion, but since that was not your question again please read this forum well it has excellent advice. keep us updated please.the tank will need to provide 10 inches water per 1 inch turtle shell, a screened top will filter out the needed rays as does glass, submersible filter takes up much needed water space, they will grow fast! start with the sticky under indoor habitat, also a good one to read under nutrition and go from there.

[TexasJagsFan]

Thank you for the warm and friendly welcome!

First off I no longer live in that town, and that lake really was a 3 arce pond. I've had him in this bowl for 10-11 months now, Shell is perfectly healthy, eats just fine, gets the amount of sunlight he needs, etc. Just lately we've gotten bigger so we have discovered we can try and get out.

I didn't get this turtle to appease me, I orginally put it in the 10 gallon tank with my fish that day I got it, I decided that I didn't want to drop the water level in my aqaurium that much. If your saying I maltreat this turtle, you are very wrong. I've never maltreated an animal in my life, I'm not Ted Bundy you know. I don't know where you live but I still wouldn't call a 3 acre pond a large lake

[lydia_lady_fla]

hi texasjagfan and welcome'

you really can learn alot of good stuff here, please do not be offended. thanks for trying to better the turts set up, I hope you find the answers you need here.

[TexasJagsFan]

Thank you.

So are you saying that I should not buy a screen top? My question is whether or not I had the necessary supplies and how far should I space the uva/uvb bulb.

Since it's both would I need to get a regular lightbulb, or would that be sufficent? I've had this site bookmarked since I got the turtle, the website provided me a lot about feeding, etc.

[lydia_lady_fla]

ok I hope this helps.... a screen or glass blocks the needed rays so thats not good, I have my lights in a clamp on ceramic fixture over the basking area, to protect from electical shock incase it was to get knocked lose I placed a wire cookie rack just under the light it looks alot like the rack from your oven but on a smaller scale, the wider grid allows the light without it being blocked. the water tempature range needs to be between 72-75 degrees. if its to cold they will not eat well,if its to warm it creates abnormally fast growth. the basking area should be 10 degrees warmer than the water temp. the sun light helps turtles digest food and absorb vitimines for a healthy shell. did I help any here

[TexasJagsFan]

Okay is there something I could use as a cover for the aquarium, This part of the state has every bug know to man kind. I've got to 29 gallon aqaurium with some openings, and I've had to fish out 2 spiders that have crawlen in since I've lived here for almost 6 months.

I noticed they sell those little metal racks next to the ceramic light clamps. I'm cornering the 20 gallon aquarium so where should I clamp the lights, do you but a nail in the wall and hang them on that or something else?

Thanks

[lydia_lady_fla]

I'm in fla. and our bugs are probably bigger and meaner
I hear your concern especially with the spiders, I hear a spider can poison the turt? my friend actually feeds hers spiders, after freezing em? I dont have any really clear answers only suggestions that may or may not work. some bugs are ok to fall into the water and get grabbed as long as they have not been in contact with a bug killing chemical. I can hear my friend old turtle saying turtles eat bugs in the wild everyday so dont worry. but for your question now hmmmmmmmmmm..........there has been pictures of several tanks that has actually built a wooden/plexi-glass box above the tank with a ramp for the turtle to get out of the water easy. this box was the basking area and the lights were fixed into it clamping to the box edges. a two story condo if you will leaving the whole tank for swimming. people have some gr8 ideas and solutions, look at some of the pic. perhaps between their ideas and your own imagination you will construct a cool one too most just leave it open topped and clamp lights to a stand I think. there are many stands for the lights. old turtle has some on stands around his pond and such. you can also use a screen across the tank to stop the bugs exept over the area where they bask? hope this helps?

[TexasJagsFan]

Okay I'll leave it open topped, the cats can't get to it, so thats all I'm concerned about. What do you mean by clamping the lights to a stand? If I get a bulb that is uva/uvb, would I need to get a regular basking one also? I wasn't able to find any pictures of a setup on the internet believe it or not, do you know where I could find some?

Oh is there a way to tell between male and female?

[marisa]

If you get a regular UVB light (which will also provide some UVA rays), it will be flourescent and won't give off much heat (and the package should say that the bulb gives off UVB rays). You want the basking area to be in the high 80's - 90F, so you'll probably need a heat lamp as well. A regular light bulb works fine for this. Use whatever wattage will get the basking area in the temp range suggested (check with a thermometer). Ideally, you want to have both lights over the basking area. The UVB light shouldn't be more than 12 inches from the basking turtle, and 6-8 inches is better. Perhaps L_L_F means to use clamp lamps (you can get them at places like Home Depot, etc.) to clamp them to the side of the tank.

They can be sexed when their shell lengths are about 4 inches. Males will be getting long spiky front claws and the tails will be getting thicker and broad with the anal vent closer to the tip of the tail than the shell.

[TexasJagsFan]

Well since I've named the sex He, I'll stick with that, but I have noticed he does have little needle like claws already, he's only about 1-1/2" though.

Would I also need to buy a clamp for the regular bulb? The bulb I found at Petsmart, is curly like a curly fry. It says uva/uvb on it, so I assumed it gives off uvb light. Since I didn't really look at the clamp, it's got something to kind of jack it up to a certain height?

[lydia_lady_fla]

tex go to the forum index scroll down to the topic picture gallery theres some pictures posted there that show turtles and set ups.

[TexasJagsFan]

Okay I see the photos, some have both bulbs, others have two, now I've got two more questions then I'll stop asking.

I'm going to be next to Petsmart today, if I buy a uva/uvb bulb and a clamp, can I go ahead and set up the aqaurium, I've got a heater that I forgot that I had, and I'm using the old 20 gallon tank, so I found the filter that went with it, so I can use that for the time being until I buy a new filter. Now what about water changes, how much, how often?

Also I noticed every know and then when my turtle is sleeping, he gets bubbles near his mouth or nose? Is that just normal air pockets?

Thanks

[marisa]

The bulb you got a Petsmart is the ESU super UVB coil light, I think, which gives off about 3% UVB (the very minimum you want, and it should be replaced in 6 months), some UVA rays, but not really any heat. You're probably going to need a heat lamp, and you can use a regular lightbulb for this purpose. You'll clamp them to the side of the tank over the basking area. The coil light should be 6-8 inches from your turtle; you'll have to adjust the temp by either moving the heat lamp closer or further away to get the basking area temp 88-90F. BTW, you can get clamp lamps at places like Home Depot, Lowes, hardware stores, etc. as well as pet stores (which are probably more expensive). If possible, get ones with ceramic bases.

How often you have to change the water depends on how big your turtle is, how big your tank is, how much water you put in the tank, how good your filter is, if you feed your turtle in the tank and what else you put in the tank (fish, etc.).

I've on occasion seen a small bubble at the end of my turtle's nose and he's healthy. It's always good to be on the lookout for other symptoms, though, just in case your turtle's developing something.