General Care Discussion :: Baby res lost his buddy

[jpit008]

I had 2 baby res about 2 inches in shell size. One died the other day and the one that is still alive looks to be in good health. He started acting different after his buddy passed away. He seems to stay in the water more and looks like he is trying to dig underneath a colosium model in his tank. Also I have a 26w Repti Glo bulb for his basking needs but from what i see he never really gets up on his platform to often to bask. Any help would be great.... Thanks.

[marisa]

Sorry to hear you lost one. Was he ill? If so, it would be good to clean out the tank well in case whatever he had was contagious.

He only has the Repti-Glo bulb to bask under? This a UVB bulb and is flourescent, right? It will not give off enough heat---he needs another bulb for a heat source as well, and it can be a regular lightbulb. You want the basking area temp to be 88-90F (checked with a thermometer), so use whatever wattage will get the basking area temp in that range. The heat light should be positioned next to the UVB light over the basking area.

Perhaps the water temp is too cool as well. What is it? If it's too cool your turtle will become inactive and not be able to eat (and may try to hide under objects like yours is doing). Is your turtle eating? You want the water temp for a healthy hatchling to be about 78F (checked with a thermometer). If you don't have one, you need to get a submersible water heater to keep the water at a constant temp (78F).

[jpit008]

The guy at the pet store said that bulb would be enough but i guess he was wrong. And the water temp is at 78 degrees and he is eating like a champ. Can I use a regular 75 watt bulb? Thanks for the help.

[TheComputerGremlin]

You should be able to, just watch the temperatures for the first couple days.

[mikee]

Jp-08 -- The water temp at 78 is fine. You will want to make sure that his basking temp is 90 or 91. They like the difference. Also, you will need some uvb lighting also.

[LOBO]

The guy at the pet store said that bulb would be enough but i guess he was wrong. And the water temp is at 78 degrees and he is eating like a champ. Can I use a regular 75 watt bulb? Thanks for the help.

95% of the time pet stores dont knwo what the heck they r talkin about. specially when it comes to exotics.

[marisa]

Like I said above, use whatever wattage will get the basking area to 88-90F. You need to check the temp with a thermometer. If a 75-watt bulb does the trick, fine. If not, either adjust the wattage or adjust the distance of the basking area from the light (but not so close the turtle could touch the light).

[daniella]

I had two baby res, and one passed away in January. When I realized the one was sick, I seperated them. For the first few week or two, my one turtle seemed a little out of character. But eventually he snapped out of it and probably forgot about the other one. I still want to get another baby res because I loved watching them interact with eachother..but there is also the possibility they won't get along.