General Care Discussion :: So I Saved a Couple O Turtles..

[zekni]

.. from being dumped in our local lake while I was at the petstore buying fish food last week. The petstore wouldn't take them back, and I offered to take them when the lady said she was just going to dump them then.

I've never had turtles before, but I'm an experienced aquarist and know a good bit about water chemistry, so here's the setup I threw together before I found you guys.
I donated the dog's 5' kiddie pool, used sand and yard rock for a basking area in the middle so they couldn't escape, added a Fluval 304 I had cycling on a tank for just such an occasion (ok, my occasions are usually fish related, but this is close), swung by home depot for a clamp lamp, and petsmart for a 60 watt Sun Glo UVB bulb, and some rosie red minnows and viola. Instant turtle habitat. The water level is currently 7" high (which I'm sure I'll raise eventually when I add more rock to raise the basking area), and the lamp is 7" over the basking area. I don't have anyway to measure temp, but it's toasty without being hot. They only mistake I think I made was in not heating the water, but I've since corrected that with a spare submersible heater since reading this site, and the pool is slowly coming up to 78.

One turtle is four inches, and the other is five inches. I think they're both females as they have short claws.

Any other mistakes you guys notice? Will this likely be enough habitat to house these guys for awhile? I really don't want to donate a big tank to them . Also, I live in las vegas, which during the summer can reach temps of over 120F outside, meaning the tanks in the garage will heat up to about 90F.. is that going to bother the little guys?

Foodwise I'd been giving them cichlid gold pellets, when compared to turtle pellets was virtually the same, and having read up a bit, will start introducing some veggies.

Oh yeah.. and they are MEAN! Hissing and trying to bite.. will that calm down with handling? How much does it hurt to get bit by a turtle?

[Bumby's Mom]

Water being at 90 degrees is going to be bad for them. Also I don't believe Sun Glo bulbs are UVB as 60 watts of UVB sounds like way too much. UVB bulbs are usually fluorescent bulbs so the wattage should be 26. You might want to get a floating dock or a piece of cork bark so you dont have all of the rocks and sand taking up swimming space.

[N4784N R4613]

Wow, good job saving them!!! And welcome to the forum!!! As stated above, I don't think 90 degrees would be so comfortable, but you can worry about that when it comes(there are a number of ways to bring the water temp. down. From filling soda bottles with ice, to blowing a fan acrossed the water surface.). And yes, I looked up the bulb, and it only produces UVA(virtually all bulbs produce this, even the stander light bulb you use in all your lamps around your house does.) , instead of the UVB. It is very misleading with all the "Basking bulbs", and so on. I made the same mistake when I started out too. All you need now is to buy another lamp for the UVB. One lamp for heat(you already have this one!), and one lamp for UVB. And it would be nice to have more swimming space, but that is not a need right now.

So to cap it all off, you did a grate job saving them, you have a grate starter set-up, and you are just missing a few minor details!

All you need to do as of right NOW. Is get another lamp, and make sure you get a bulb that says "UVB" on the box!

[Dein211]

if your turtles are aggressive i would keep an eye on them. they might be fine with each other for now but they might turn on each other and then you'll have to seperate them in different tanks and stuff. i'm not saying it will happen but its a possibility.

[industrial_girl_2000]

I agree with what others already said here. Good job in saving them! I also admire that you came onto the board to ask questions. There's a ton of great info here that I know will help you!

I can offer one tip: sand tends to mucky-up the water over time so you don't necessarily need that.

In terms of turtle bites, they pinch really hard, but rarely break skin. It's not too bad & you get used to it once it happens a few times.

Also, in terms of them hissing & being aggressive, that should lessen a bit over time. Hand-feeding their food goes a long way in them understanding that you are the wonderful "giver of tasty treats." Give it at least 6 months, and they should calm down.

[zekni]

Hm.. okay.. new light.

As for swimming space, they have more than what it looks like in the pics, at the sand slopes up. At they get bigger, I'll just add more water for extra gallonage.
Sand is also actually very clean, and I often use it for my exotic fish that need pristine water, as waste sits on top rather than getting caught up in rocks and is easy to syphon off. It does however shorten the lifespan of filter motors, but that's fixable by adding a sponge or nylon over the intake.

When it heats up a bit, would the turtles enjoy swimming in my pool if I wash them off afterward?

[N4784N R4613]

No, there is far to much chlorine in a swimming pool for a RES to swim in it. The chlorine would irritate the turtles eyes. Turtles don't need water depth, as much as they do water surface area(as in length x width). So it would be better to take out most of the sand, and rocks, and find, or make some kind of a floating island, rather then raising the water level.

[BullDog]

Good for you for rescuing those RES!
In addition to what everyone else has mentioned, I think the 304 will have a hard time keeping up with that much water.
If my calculations are correct, a 5' pool with 7" of water is about 342 gallons. Mind you, half of the area is filled up with the island in the center, but you're still looking at 150 gal+. For that much water, and two turtles, you're looking at a Rena xp4 or fluval fx5. Alternatively, you can go with two filters (say xp3's), which would probably work well in a pool since you'll get better circulation.
Also, make sure the rocks in the gravel are bigger than the turtle's heads. Any smaller and they can eat them and become impacted.

Expanding on what Nathan said, I think a pvc doc would really well! They're cheap, adjustable to any height, and free up a lot of swimming space! If you search the forum, you should be able to see what others have done with pvc.

Welcome to the world of RES, and good luck!

[mackadocious]

turtle bites---no, they don't hurt that bad, just a bad pinch.....i've only gotten one from when i was applying medicine a year ago now and i still have the scar to prove it....she didn't break the skin, but it was pretty ugly for a while...i've been very careful ever since

[TheComputerGremlin]

Yay on saving turtles! I think they'll love a kiddie pool, so much space! I agree with the others, when you get a chance, change the sand/rocks out for either a PVC/plexiglass platform or floating dock or cork bark. Oh, and you mentioned the nails being short, check for other signs of them being female, I think you can post pictures on here of their tails and front legs, some pet stores trim the males' nails so it's possible that it could be mistaken gender.