Habitat - Indoor :: Cosmo and Saucy's owner has Q's

[tY2i]

I have two RES... cosmo (2.5 in) and saucy jack (4 in). Saucy Jack is growing pretty rapidly (2 inches in the past 4 months). So I take it they are still babies. I bought them both from PetLand last December (both were a quarter in size). They are spolied to the bone, but they're owner (me) is having difficulties understanding many things. They are living in a tank, but is how I'm raising them the right way to go? How would someone who is capable and willing to go that extra mile raise two RES (tank/filter/rock size/decor/diet wise)? Help is much appreciated and thanks for your time. I am looking to be a regular here at turtle talk, since we have much in common!

[sonyj]

Well, first off, what's your setup like? Size of tank, filter, kind of lighting, basking area etc. And what type of food have they been getting and how much? Are they both getting the same amount of food or is the larger one eating both turtles portion? That's the only thing that comes to mind why one would be that much bigger. But I'm sure someone else will have some input as well. Have you checked out the main site yet?

www.redearslider.com

It has some great info in there that might answer some of your questions. Welcome to the forum...

[tY2i]

Thanks Sonja. And about the bigger one, she (I presume) eats both portions. She hardly ever chews her food like before, or even like my other one. The small one takes it's time in eating and by the time it goes up to find another piece all the sticks are gone. Why is this?

As far as the setup, I don't want to guess. I'm currently not at home right now, but will be in 3 days. I feel like such an irresponsible idiot by not knowing these things. I WILL update the setup in a few days. In the mean time I apologize for that.

PS
My sister is taking care of my turts. So don't think I left them home alone, lol. I'd never do that. Be back ASAP!

[sonyj]

Turtles are very opportunistic eaters by nature. They will eat anything at any time even if they have had too much. Because in the wild they don't have the opportunity to eat everyday, they tend to eat all they can when they can. It may be a good idea to feed them separate. What is their feeding schedule like and how much do they get? You mentioned pellets above, but do they get veggies/plant matter? Veggies should be an intricate part of their diet and this will help cut back on their fast growing. Usually an inch a year is a good growth rate.

Let us know if we can help any more...

[cam722]

If one turtle is getting a larger portion of the food, you may want to consider feeding them separately or hand feeding the smaller one. I have to do that myself. It use to be the female was the pig and no one else got their share.. now they've switched around and the male who is smaller is all over the food and gulps it down before she even sees it. I try to feed them at opposite ends of the tank.. or hand feed them the sticks. Veggies certainly help too.. I keep them floating in the tank all the time.

You may want to keep an eye on their growth.. the larger one is growing pretty rapidly. From what I've read and things that have been posted on here.. an inch a year is good. How much and how often and what are you feeding them?

[tY2i]

Ok I'm home now and just finished reading the responses. Thanks for the info.

About the feeding, they are currently getting Wardley Reptile Premium Sticks. I give them both about 15-20 sticks 3 times daily. About the setup, filter is a Millenium 1000 with a 10 gallon tank. About basking area, I use a small ZooMed turtle dock (5" x 11 1/4"). About lighting, I use an ExoTerra SunGlo (120V 50W). The lighting is on for about 12 hours each day. And in the tank comes a fiber material type plant, a small tree trunk decoration, and large rocks. When I completely clean the tank I put in about 35 drops of ExoTerra Aquatize (terrarium water conditioner).

[sonyj]

The amount of food your giving them seems extravagant. Turtles around a year old should be feed sticks every other day, one time a day, the amount that will fit into their heads. A variety a veggies/plant matter can be fed every day. Overfeeding the sticks(or foods high in protien) can lead to health problems.

Did you say a ten gallon tank? They really need an upgrade soon. The minimum size tank/container that they need is 10gallons per inch of shell. For your turtles right now if they are housed together they are in need of at least a 60+ gallon tank. When full grown you will need at least a 140 - 240 gallon enclosure for them. Adult males can be 7-9 inches and females can get up to 10-12inches, so it will just depend on their sex how big you will eventually have to upgrade to.

The lighting being on 12 hours is fine. I try to follow daylight hours so more in summer less in winter. You didn't mention a UVB did you, just a heat bulb? They really need a UVB bulb unless you take them out side for unfiltered sunlight 3-4 times a week for a few hours each time.

Sorry this is so long. I wanted to touch on all the points that I feel needs tweaking in your setup/routine seeing how you asked whether the way you were raising them was the right way in your first post. I know it's so easy to give in to them when they beg for food, but you will be doing them more harm than good in the long run if you keep this up. My turtle, Koopa gets 5 sticks a day and all the veggies he wants to eat. I try not to give in when I see him beg (which is about everytime he sees us). I know he will be better off for it. Occasionally I'll give an extra veggie or peice of fruit(like half of a grape) if he keeps up. But I know these aren't so bad for him as things high in protien that will cause fast growth.

Let me know if you have anymore ?'s. I'm sure others will have some great input for you as well.

[cam722]

About the feeding, they are currently getting Wardley Reptile Premium Sticks. I give them both about 15-20 sticks 3 times daily.

Ok, am I understanding this correctly.. you feed them 45-60 sticks a day? That is way too much food for turtles that size. I have a 4" turtle and I give them either 5 a day or so.. sometimes I do the 10 a day or every 3rd day.. (just started the 3 times a week.. but its tough ) They also have veggies daily. If you feed them too much protien it can cause a myriad of health problems from pyramiding to kidney and liver damage and I'm sure there are others as well. It will also have them growing way too fast which would explain why your one turtle grew 2" in the past 4 months.

As sonyj said, 10 gallons just isn't sufficient. They should have 10 gallons per INCH of SCL (http://www.redearslider.com/index_basic_info_1.html) which means at this point, if you've measured them correctly, they need a minimum of a 65 gallon tank.

Please do some reading on habitats in the forum and on the main site.

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8
http://www.redearslider.com/index_habitat.html

Our goal as turtle keepers is to help our pets thrive.. not merely survive.

[tY2i]

Oh wow! So I am feeding them way too much. The big one (Cosmo) eats both portions at times. Should I be feeding them seperately? If so, how would I be able to do this? How much and what should I be feeding my baby RES right now? And yes, the SunGlo light is UVB related.

Thanks alot Sonja and cam for all the input you've been giving me. I don't think a PetSmart rep could be giving me this type of info.

[sonyj]

Thank you for taking our comments in the way they were intended - not to criticize - just to help you and your turtles live happy lives together.

I'm not exactly sure how others feed their multiple turtles seperately with me only having the one. I know some have a seperate feeding container (such as a large rubbermaid container from Walmart etc) that they use all the time anyways. So they would just put one turtle at a time in to feed him, then switch. I've heard others feed one turtle one side of the tank and the other turtle on the other side - I guess like playing referee to make sure they only eat their own food. The veggies I would just float in the tank until they are all gone making sure there was plenty for both turtles.

Just give your turtles the amount of sticks that will fit inside their heads (estimate but don't be generous). You might try to find a schedule that works for you. Like every other day for both or just the big one for right now. If you have a hard time feeding just once a day try this: divide the number of pellets they should get in their one feeding in half and feed morning and night (they are getting the same amount but in two meals) OR Feed pellets in the morning and veggies at night so they are getting fed twice a day.

Hope this helps...

[tY2i]

Yes it does help. Thank you again for all this. It seems that I came to the right place. Well I'm glad to say that I am feeding them right, but I was wondering on what you might insist concerning the food sticks: Wardley or ReptoMin?

[sonyj]

I use ReptoMin. Not for a particular reason but just that it was the one I picked when I first got Koopa. I haven't heard anything bad about it yet. Maybe others will be able to tell you something more about each of these.

[tY2i]

I've heard alot of good things about ReptoMin, seeing how it's been around for over 20 years and all. How old is your turtle BTW? Does he still enjoy it?

I've used both RM and Wardley and one thing for sure is that Wardley is way too messy. They'll start eating away at a piece and debris just flies out of their mouth. Leaves a hell of a mess. But they really seem to enjoy the RM, they even dash towards the fallen pieces. So I guess I'll stick with RM.

Oh and BTW, again, there are different sizes of RM right? Like the baby size and mature size?

[sonyj]

We've had Koopa three months and I estimate he was just about two weeks old when we got him. There are two sizes of ReptoMin. He eats the Baby ReptoMin, since the size is easier for him. I've never had a problem with it being messy, but then again it's never in there that long He's a little piggy, and I've had to threaten everyone in the house not to give in to him. (My hubsbands the worse, the kids want him to stay "healthy")

I think I heard that Baby ReptoMin has more calcium than the larger sticks, but don't quote me on that. It just seems like I read that on here once.

[cam722]

You're right sonyj .. the baby reptomin do have more calcium. I happen to have a container of both here..

Well I tried to make a table out of it but the darn thing won't let me space them.. so the first numbers are for the baby reptomin and the 2nd for the larger floating sticks.

min crude protein 39.0/42.5
min crude fat 4.5 /8.5
max crude fiber 2.0/2.0
min phosphorus 1.2/1.8
min calicium 3.0/2.0
max calcium 3.5/n.a
min ascorbic acid 100/mg -100/mg
(vit c)

For those that were curious ..