General Care Discussion :: New turtles to care for

[animal_lady]

I adopted 2 red sliders because the old owners did not want them anymore. They lived for 5 years in a tupperware shell (don't know what that means) with about 3 inches of water. I got them and put them in my pond but I got worried about it getting cold. I just found out that the old owner brought them in for the winter.I live in maryland and it is starting to get cold already and the winters are really cold.
I bought a huge plastic container and put rocks in it for them to hide under. Right now there is enough water to cover them and they can stick there heads out of the water. I have a UVB lamp that I purchased for my living room - is there a difference between this bulb and the one you buy in the pet store ? How much water should be in the container.
I am making an outdoor pond for them for next summer. They have never had a heater in their water and have now gone from 3 inches of water to 18 inches of water back to 3 inches of water - poor turtles !
Because of where they came from I am puzzled on what to do for them.
Any ideas or help is appreciated. I am starting from scratch with turtles.

[megcornell]

Take a look at the main site, there is a ton of good information about the care and requirements of turtles.
A few basics you'll need to cover in your indoor set up are ample room, adequate filtration, correct water temp, and a good basking area.
How large is the container and how large are the turtles? Ideally you want 10 gallons per inch of turtle shell, or as close to that as you can get. Some cheap alternatives to tanks are rubbermaid storage bins and stock tanks.
Fill up their tank as high as you can without compromising the strength of the container they're in and without the water being so high the turtles can crawl out-- they are excellent climbers.
The water should be a constant temperature around 75. If it's too cold the turtles won't eat and their appetites will be suppressed. If it's too warm they'll have excessive shedding and won't be enticed to bask. Their basking area should allow them to completely dry off their shells and should have UVB and UVA light. Can you describe the UVB light you have?
As for filters, buy one that is rated for 2-3x the size of your tank.

[animal_lady]

Ok thanks - I don't have enough water. water temp is fine for now.
I guess I need a UVA light - is that a heat lamp ?


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[megcornell]

A UVA bulb is just a common light bulb, the wattage depends on how big the tank is and how far away the light is, you want the basking area to be around 90 so place it accordingly.
I was more wondering what the % UVB is and what the wattage is. Most people use a 5.0 or 10.0 UVB bulb on here.