General Care Discussion :: "Tired of Caring For Him"

[puppylovejewelry]

Once again thank you everyone for the great thoughts! Rain ate for the first time yesterday- very cute, very messy. The next thing I get will be the stronger filter and thanks for the recommendation. She ate about a teaspoon of turtle pellets and dehydrated little shrimp. I tried lots of fresh fruit and veg but no luck so far. My guess is that she wasn't fed much more than turtle food in her last home so it will take time for her to discover fresh food.

I will post a full shell pic in a day or two when I'm not so buried under work- i'm behind in everything right now. Just wanted to stop in and say she is doing great- now eating, swimming and basking normally She is very sweet- not shy at all. She seems to like it when I walk over and talk to her while she is out basking- she doesn't run.

[puppylovejewelry]

OMG is she hungry! Now she asks for food. she swims all over and bangs stuff around to say "I'm hungry!" I fed her again tonight...i know its normally every 2 or 3 days but she went a whole week++ without anything. She still won't eat fresh romaine lettuce but man does she love the boiled tilapia I gave her. She is so hungry right now that she goes and cleans up all the messy crumbs from her open mouth chewing, which is great! She's like a little vacuum cleaner. She's doing really well I'm so glad what she went through didn't kill her. We had a cold snap recently- even got snow! Its crazy cold for Arizona. I think I was meant to come across her when I did. She is different from any other pet I've ever had but I really like her!

Here is a picture of her shell for those who were trying to figure out what exactly she is:

[n00bEmpty]

She looks like a painted turtle/RES mix. I uploaded this just for you. Keep in mind, these are male map turtles which means they're a lot shyer than RES.

External links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZhaoM-DCdI

[Mo Milazzo]

OMG is she hungry! Now she asks for food. she swims all over and bangs stuff around to say "I'm hungry!" I fed her again tonight...i know its normally every 2 or 3 days but she went a whole week++ without anything.

Ok, NEVER double up on missed feedings. It is a huge no-no. Nevertheless, I'm soo happy everything is going smooth! Keep us updated!

[puppylovejewelry]

Awwww! Your little babies let you hand feed them! I want to start doing that with Rain....its so cute! thanks for posting the video. They are beautiful.

Yeah, she has def figured out that I am the food source. As soon as I woke today she started banging around frantically and acting hungry. I started boiling an egg for her then read your warning before I gave it to her.

Well, I don't want a fat turtle (although they are probably very cute). I just am worried for her, don't want her to be hungry.

I couldn't find online anywhere why it is bad to feed two days in a row like that...I'm guessing it messes up digestion? I want to feed her so badly....there she goes- BANG BANG BANG! I will be stoic and ignore her. I'm sure you guys know better

Does everyone agree that she is likely an RES-painted hybrid? If so that means she has some genes that could keep her a bit smaller than the average RES size instead of bigger like I was worried about if she is part Belize.

[sophie anne]

She looks like a painted turtle/RES mix.

I have no idea if this is right. I just find it really cool if this is possible... have there been RES x Painted offspring documented before??

[n00bEmpty]

Here's a eastern painted turtle shell. The outer rim of the shell looks similar to your picture. I believe it is possible for painted/RES to be breed as they are very similar in structure/genes.

[puppylovejewelry]

Interesting pic of the painted- thanks for posting. She does have a few of those red-orange spots at the very periphery of her shell, not exactly as in the pic but similar.

Today Rain's water looked like total cloudy crap to me- it happened overnight and was unacceptable so I cleaned out the entire home. Then because today is a feeding day, I put her in a large bowl on my lap with some water in it and fed her whitefish, turtle pellets, dehydrated shrimp and romaine (but she will not yet take the romaine). I talked to her the whole time and pet her head. I'm trying to build a relationship with her, so I'm going to feed her this way from now on. When I put her back into her freshly cleaned home, she looked very content. She bobbed around for awhile and then I caught her doing this:







See how the fat little hind legs are both sticking straight out in back? Was she trying to do a yoga pose? It cracked me up. She stayed like that for quite awhile. Does anyone else's turtle do this?

[penelope]

That is funny!
Penelope does that all the time!
Wait until they she lifts her front and hind legs like a little yaga guru
Yes. they are quite the little contortionists
Wait awhile and you will see all kinds of poses.

People do deliberately try to breed turtles of similar, but different species. I feel it is wrong, but you aren't the breeder so what to do? well, she has so many RES traits that if she were mine, I'd just call her a RES...and not let her breed.
Personal opinion, of course.

[ljapa]

I think the popular name for that pose is the yoga pose or the superman one.

She's exposing herself to the UVB rays from the basking lamp. Reptiles need the UVB to metabolize vitamin D. They only do it on skin, not shell. The fact that you were able to take pictures of it means she already trusts you.

Cleaning the tank when you saw the cloudiness may have been a mistake, but just one that set you back a bit. With an aquarium, your turtle produces ammonia waste. If that builds too high, it can be dangerous. However, beneficial bacteria builds up in the filter and on all the surfaces. One type converts this to nitrites. Another converts the nitrites to nitrates. Water changes remove the nitrates. Google "aquarium cycle" for much more.

Your cloudy water was likely a bacterial bloom as a part of that cycle establishing. I did not see it with my aquariums, but it's apparently a common part of the cycle. I'm told it clears in a day or two. You do want to establish these beneficial bacteria. If you get another cloudy aquarium, resist the urge to clean for a bit.

It sounds like you are establishing a great rapport with Rain. Well done!

Like others here, I'm intrigued with the shell patterns. The red/orange on the shell is not something I've seen on a RES. the lines on the shell look nothing like a Belize, but the colors don't look like a normal RES. You have a special turtle, but it sounds like you already know that.

[n00bEmpty]

The cloudy water is a common stage of beneficial bacteria forming within your tank/filter. It usually means the stage is starting and is within the ammonia stage. Something that filters usually come with is activated carbon which removes the cloudiness and smell of that. If it happens again then just keep running your filter and it'll clear up within 1-3 days. I personally have only had it once when I just started my tank.
And that pose is when they are trying to "maximize" UVA/UVB exposure because I doubt she had any access to a good amount of UVA/UVB in a while. My turtles would sometimes fall asleep on each other on the basking area.

[ataraxiamb]

That's so neat that you can feed her out of a bowl on your lap! And perfect, because you're not hand-feeding, so you can still pet her head without her biting your fingers off because she associates them with food!

I love the superman pose. They look so relaxed.

[ataraxiamb]

How is Rain doing?

[apondfortimmy]

Yeah! How's everything going?

[Kansasslider]

All stretched out to bask. mine do that and are almost 10 months old. I think its funny when they stick all their legs out at the same time?