General Care Discussion :: New to turtles and a tad bit worried. x.x

[Mr. Grimsly]

Well, I just got my RES about oh.. three days ago. It is about 4 1/2 to 5 inches long, and a male. His name is Mr. Grimsly.
He is in what I believe to be a 20-25 gallon tank, I am positive it is at least 20 gal. He's got a good powerful filter, aquatic plants, minnows, some medium sized gravel substrate at the bottom, a bowl for occassional treats, and a good heat lamp. I also put in a water heater early for when winter rolls around, and a good digital thermometer.

Well, Mr. Grimsly doesn't seem to be unhappy. He's very skittish when I enter the room, and will sometimes swim off to the corner of his tank and start digging into the gravel. He seemed perfectly normal to me, but a few hours after I got him I was a bit weirded out by how much he swam into the wall. He seems to possibly be trying to escape or something, I am not sure.. He seems to swim fine, no floating or mucous or film anywhere. But on a couple separate occasions a few tiny bubbles came out of his nose after he submerged his head underwater. He also opens and closes his mouth practically non-stop, but it seems like he's tasting the water or something, I don't think he breathes with his mouth.

His water temperature is around 81 degrees f, and his basking area is 91 degrees f. I followed every piece of advice given to me by the shop that sold me him, but I really have no idea if he's alright or not.
Maybe I am just paranoid? I really want him to live a long life, and the last thing I want is for him to develop a RI days into his new life! He also hasn't eaten yet, but I can understand how he may be a bit scared. Any recommended size for his feeding tub? Right now I just have the minnows swimming around in his tank, he watched them but never goes after them.

Anything other information needed, please post!

[myrtletheturtle]

Well from what I have learned from this site is tht your turtle needs to be in a bout 50gal tank its 10gal per inch of turtle!! Filter and heater sounds great!If the gravel is smaller than his head i suggest taking it out and putting larger river rocks in or nothing at all because they can eat it and it will cost u expensive vet visits and possible death..Myrtle was very unsure at first to, Im sure he is just stressed out to be in a new habitat! He will eat soon what are you feeding him??

[Starchick]

What your turtle's doing sounds like what my turtles do when they're begging..swim up against the wall and sort of bite over and over underwater. Could that be what he's doing? Does he follow you around the tank?

[Mr. Grimsly]

Myrtle: Yeah, maybe a larger tank is necessary. I thought it was at least 5 gal per inch, I guess I was wrong. x.x
Yeah they are a bit smaller, he chewed on one once but he spit it out, I guess it tasted gross. XD
I tried to feed him Reptomin, a dead cricket, tuna, carrot tops, and he has minnows. I soaked the Reptomin in salmon juice and he still didn't want it! Right now he has aquatic plants and minnows in his tank at all times.

Starchick: He never follows me, I've only had him for three days, he kinda just watches me warily and if I make any sudden movements he bolts. D:

[myrtletheturtle]

myrtle didnt eat the first 4 or 5 days after i brought him home! Put some romaine lettuce in the water he might munch on that! Also I cut the tops off strawberries and let them float around on top of the water and he munch on them!! I gave him cooked skinless chicken he liked that to haha...Trust me he will warm up to u, try not to stand over the tank to much it makes them nervous for a huge giant to stand over them he will warm up to you and you will deffiently know!

[SpotsMama]

Mr. Grimsly is just getting used to his new digs. It can take as much as a week for them to get started eating. It will probably be longer than that before he really settles down and doesn't panic whenever you walk in the room. For the next few days give him peace and quiet and privacy so he can adjust. When he gets calm enough to eat and realizes that you are the source of his food, then he will love you and instead of running away from you, he'll run towards you.

Keep in mind too that different turtles have different personalities. Some are shy and some are outgoing. It can take some of them a long time to learn to trust their person and some catch on almost immediately.

On the gravel, you really should take it out. It's dangerous as the turtles can eat it and if they get completely stopped up and the vet can't get them going with laxitives, well.....you can imagine the rest. An extra added bonus of not having gravel on the bottom is that the tank will be much easier to keep clean.

And the recommendation to get him a bigger tank is a good one too. He'll be happier in a larger tank and, again, it is much easier to keep a big tank clean. The general rule of thumb is 10 gallons of tank (that's tank, not water) per inch of turtle.

You should lower the water temperature to around 75 degrees, 81 degrees is ok for a sick turtle but too warm for a healthy one.

Good luck to you! I know it's kind of scary at first when you get a new turtle - it seems there's so much to learn. No one gets it all perfect the first time. Eventually though you'll get the habitat down and then you can enjoy your turtle for decades to come!

[Safdar]

Hes basicly brand new

Your gunna need atleast a 40-50 Gallon
New turtles take atleast 2 weeks to adapt to thier new invironement
In this time you should refrain yourself from picking him up alot(exception is when cleaning the tank)
Give him peace and quite to adujust
Its normal that they get startled when you come in, soon hell get used to you and start recognizing you

The esacping and stuff and borrowing, is just because hes startled and scared

See if he eats in a couple of day
They usually dont eat in the beggining because of the stress of moving and that they are unsure of safety
Just give him peace and quiet until he settles

What do you feed him
He should get Pellets for a staple
And vegatables, like romain lettuce
http://www.redearslider.com/plants.html

Check out the nutrition area of the site for more info

And again hes brand new
Give him a week or so
To see if theres really anything wrong with him

[untsmurf]

And you said you had a bowl for treats, but you know they can only eat in the water right? They need the water to swallow. Otherwise, I think everyone has just about covered it.

[RunninWideOpen]

get the gravel out of the tank.....they eat it! plus, it makes the tank much harder to clean. I only put in a few large river rocks now, but I make sure it's bigger than my turtles' heads.

your fella sounds like he's acting normal to me. with that small tank he's not going to have much room to move around, and you're going to have a really hard time keeping the water clean. you'll need to change the water every week or so.