General Care Discussion :: new turtle questions

[starryxxnight]

Me and my girlfriend just got our first RES from a person that was selling a whole bunch of them near my work. she is a hatchling about a quarter and a half big

we are currently using a drawer from a clear plastic cheap dresser from walmart i had for the aquarium




so far we have had her for 6 days, and she hasn't eaten at all, and she does almost nothing but swim into the corners or try to climb out through the edges all day long, my girlfriend is starting to get worried and so am i, is there something we should change or do? we are feeding her hatchling formula turtle pellets from zoomed. and are we are also trying bits of tuna and soaking the pellets in tuna now. thanks for any help

[Caelestis]

You should get a proper tank, turtles escape all the time, but your turtle might be trying to escape from the intense heat of your lamp heating the water, potentially giving it hypothermia! So get a proper tank and the turtle should be fine and healthy unless bought sick. Also, turtles are stressed out when you get them initially.

Don't be afraid to raise the water level, turtles love to swim, as you can see it has webbed feet, therefore it needs lots of water like fish. Less water you have the easier it is to overheat it.

Temp of water should be 75-80

[steve]

Make sure that the water is around 80F. You need a fully submersible water heater and thermometer now. While you're getting those, pick up some guppies (usually a dozen for $1), dig up some earthworms and get some canned tuna. Pick up a fresh can of baby Reptomin too.

You can put the guppies in the tank but you might have to hold it and let it wiggle in front of the little guys face to get his attention. Ditto with the worm. You can offer him small bits of tuna (the kind packed in water) and you can also soak some of the pellets in tuna water before you offer it him. Don't forget he needs to be in water to be able to swallow. Good luck!

You'd want to take a look at these links:
www.redearslider.com/startup.html

www.redearslider.com/hatchling_tips.html