General Care Discussion :: changing a 14 year old turtles life style

[beforemyway]

My turtle Solomon is at least 14 years old, and from what i've been reading I've been doing a LOT of things wrong!!! So, I'm wondering how I can change these things without tramatizing my turtle!

1. The hight of his water has always been so that he could reach the top of the water simply by stretching... over the past 5 years his water has been so that he can reach it simply by holding his neck all the way out. Now i'm reading that it should be higher than his shell, I'm not sure i've ever had it that way! So, at pressent, he doesn't have to swim and he's a fat turtle. How can I change this in such a way that I wont drown him? I'm assuming that it would be bad to just increase the water level right away? Since his mucles aren't in practice?

2. another issue with the water level is his size. He is 8" long, 6" wide, and over 3" tall. He's heavy, and way too big for most of the sunning options they have in the stores. Currently I'm using a big rock, but increasing the water level means the rock will be submerged and I'll need to find something else to use. Are there other options that would be strong enough to hold him?

3. Currently i'm using a rubber made tank, it's 15" wide, 26" long, and 16 " high. According to the site, that's way too small for my turtle, however I am at a loss how to provide a tank that is big enough. That would be about, 80 gallons? they don't sell anything like that in the pet stores! When getting a new tank, how drastically different should the environment be from his current one? His tank currently holds just him and his 3 rocks, the filter and the heater. Should I make sure the new tank has nothing besides those things till he gets use to that, or would it be better for him when making the drastic change to get it all done at once?

4. His diet has always consisted of just cat food. Is that even an exceptable food suply for him? I noticed he should be eating vegitables and fruits as well as the "meat". Does the diet need changed very slowly? do i start adding new things a little bit before taking away his current diet?

I want to do the right thing for my turtle, but I don't want to change everything so quickly that it harms him mently! So those are my basic questions. I'm sure i'll have more. Thank you so much! for your help

~Becky

[N4784N R4613]

Wow, 14 years!! Good job!!! I am happy that you want to give him the best life possible!!!

1.Well, after 14 years of no swimming it might take some time for him to adjust to a high water level. I would suggest raising the water level 1 to 3 inches a week until he can't get air by standing on his back legs. As soon as it reaches this level, watch him to make sure he is not struggling to swim and get air. Also get him some plastic plants, so he can rest/float and breath.

2. You should look into getting a "Turtle Ramp." It sticks to the side of a tank, and can hold allot!! Although it might not stick to the side of a RubberMaid. If it can hold industrial_girl_2000's Sheba, it can hold your turtle...


http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... catid=8809

3. RubberMaids are fine turtle houses. Your sounds about 30 gallons. If you can't find a tank in a pet store near you, you could just get the biggest RubberMaid you can find, and use that. Or you can check if there is a delivery near you from www.glasscages.com . They have VERY GOOD prices. Here is there delivery list. http://glasscages.com/?sAction=Deliv Turtles get very stressed from any amount of change. So I think it is best to get it all over with, rather then prolonging it. lol, like a band-aid. One thing to keep in mind, you don't have to go right to 80 gallons. Just start with as big a tank as you can afford.

4. No, you should not feed him cat food. You should try to slowly introduce new foods, along with his cat food. Starting with a good brand of turtle pellets, like Reptomin. Variety is the key to a healthy turtle diet. After you have weened him off of his cat food, you should be feeding him the amount of pellets that would fit in his head, if it where hollow. Don't include his long neck, just the head. Every other day. Along with a good variety of leafy greens, like red, and green leaf lettuce. You can feed him as much leafy greens as he wants, until he gets the "runs." Then you have to cut back.

One thing at a time. I think you should start with trying to fix his diet, and then worry about the other things.

Good luck!!!

[megcornell]

Hello! It's great that you're realizing some changes will improve (and lengthen) Solomon's life.
As for your questions:
1) How large is his tank? You should fill it up as high as you can without him having the possiblity of escape. Observe to see if he can handle that. At first it may be a shock to him to have so much water, if that's the case and he looks to be struggling, you can gradually raise the water level a few inches at a time.
Red ear sliders are natural born swimmers- so he does know how to swim, and so long as he cannot get stuck under something underwater- he won't drown.

2) Basking docks can seem flimsy. One idea is to reinforce it with additional floatation sources. One person on here reinforces the side support with magnets and it works great for her 9 inch long turtle. You can also make a basking area out of PVC pipe and tile. I'd suggest doing a search and seeing what others use for their turtles.

3) You're right, the current tank is much too small. Where are you from? Most places carry tanks of all sizes- from tiny 10 gallons to giant 120 gallon tanks. Ideally you would follow the 10 gallon/inch rule. If that's not feasible, still buy the largest tank you can- wide tanks are better than long tanks because that leaves more room to turn around- tall tanks can be narrow. I'm not sure what you'd plan on adding that would be drastic besides more space... his tank should have two basking lamps, basking area, water heater, and a filter rated for a tank 2-3x (a canister filter would be a good option for you i think). Do not add anything small like gravel that can be ingested.
Here's a link to setting up a RES tank: http://www.redearslider.com/index_habitat.html

4) Cat food is not a good diet. You should try and start Solomon on healthy foods ASAP. Since he's used to cat food he'll probably resist new foods at first. An option would be to dip the pellets and veggies in cat food to bribe him and then wean away from using the cat food at all. In the long run he'll be much healthier this way.
Here's a guide to feeding: http://www.redearslider.com/index_nutrition.html
at his size he should get pellets (feed how many would fit in his hollow head) every other day and veggies everyday.

Read through the main site- there are a lot of good tips and guides. And ask questions as you come across things you're unsure about-- it's better to find out before you buy something and realize it's the wrong product.

Good luck!

[N4784N R4613]

Oh I just thought of this!! A piece of Cork bark would be perfect for you guy! It is VERY buoyant, and if you get a big enough piece, if should hold him fine!! Here is where you can but a piece...
http://www.blackjungle.com/Merchant2/me ... ry_Code=C3

And also a Heat bulb, and a UVB bulb over the basking spot are VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!

[windowskiller987]

Because your turtle is fat, you should put him on a diet. I adopted a fat turtle & this was my strategy. Give reptomin pellets one day. Green leaf lettuce the next day. then nothing on the third day. keep repeating this until the fat goes away.