General Care Discussion :: Desperate need of help!

[brtmon123]

today i just got back from vacation and find out one of my red ear sliders are dead. I was devastated and began crying my eyes out. I promised myself i would take care of this turtle because in the past i have killed several red ear sliders and i swore i would not kill this one and now it has died. I asked my father what happened and he responds that the stupid heater killed him and that the water was smelly. He said all a turtle needs is water and a basking area and thats it u dont need the heater. He also said that the heater was too hot. Too hot? i had it at 78 degrees and i cleaned the water a day before i left. Now i dont know what to do and my dam father wont listen to me. This has really made me think of having turtles as pets. I'm really angry and dont know what to do and my stupid dad wont listen to me. so the question is what am i gonna do about my last turtle? He refuses to leave the neccessities the turtles need in the tank. plz help me i have no clue what to do now.

[mikee]

brt-123 It sounds like it is his home. You cannot rehome him. I suggest that you read up on the needs of your turtle and the next trip take him with you or have someone else take care of him. --- You were not very clear about how it died. Turtles are hardy and can take a lot of abuse. I think if you follow the rules of the road with proper size tank, filter gph, etc. you should be ok. There is a lot of help here. m.

[tammi]

Maybe you should pull up the care sheet and show your dad.

[TurtleKeeper48]

First of all - sorry for your loss.

The water might have been too hot. Dad's do tend to know stuff.

Was the water temp checked with a thermomter? You said the heater was "set at 78" - the temp the heater is set at means almost nothing. If you don't use a simple aquarium thermomter, you have know idea what temperature your water is.

How old and how big are the turt's? I'm assuming they're little guys (hatchlings) less than a year old and way under 4 inches? If they're older than that, then 78 is too warm for them.

For the record - we have three red eared sliders at my house and not a tank heater in sight. All seem happy, healthy, and active. Room temps are monitered closely (never really dip below 70) and the water temp ranges from 72 - 74 on a normal day, and only reaches 76 on the hottest of days. I think we're fine.

When you say Dad "refuses to leave the neccessities the turtles need in the tank" are you just talking about the heater, or is it something else too?

Don't rule out the idea that dad might know something... but if we're talking about little baby turtles and 78 is the actual water temerature, then maybe dad needs to study up. Either way - good luck with the turtle and the dad!

[theartbook35]

Can I ask how old you are, and how old your father is? Is this a situation where you are living at home because you are a minor, or because you are over eighteen and taking care of him?

I have a hunch that, your father either hates the fact that his child knows more than him, or is showing the kind of irritating stubbornness that very old people have. You obviously know him better than me, but, I think you need to put your foot down regardless, and you may have to tell him he can't look after the turtles anymore.

I still live with my mother, because she's kind of lonely right now. She loves our turtles a lot, and I let her look after them too, but, anytime she's done something wrong, I've gotten very huffy about it, and she's since corrected herself.