General Care Discussion :: What to do?

[quader94]

Hey everyone, well today I was at a flea market and saw a bunch of baby baby, like an inch to 2 inch head to tail, turtles. I felt bad and bought one for $5. I took it home and put it in an extra 10 gallon i have laying around with some slate rock . I have a bulb on the tank over the place out of the water so the turtle can bask and have 3 guppies in it. Im guessing i need a bigger tank, filtration, uvb bulb, and plants. help please i dont want the little guy to die or be un happy

[quader94]

oh and i dont go to flea markets often so dont think im like a redneck or something lol

[jozzep]

Welcome to the site,
You just became a happy turtle owner the same way 95% of the people here did.
Go to the main site http://www.redearslider.com/ and you will find all the info you need.
Good luck

[theartbook35]

Lol, like Joz said, my turtles came from a flea market, too.

Flea markets are awesome. Nothing redneck about them at all.

Anyways, welcome to the forum/site. Enjoy your stay

Hatchlings do have a high mortality rate, just to warn you ahead of time, but, mine are well over a year old, healthy, and still alive obviously, so, if I can do it, you can do it. The 10 gallon will last you a little while until you can get a bigger tank.

Also, flea market turtles tend to get hibernated excessively to keep them small. Smaller turtles are more marketable than full grown turtles. It's okay if your turtle doesn't reach four inches in the first year, turtles grow very slowly anyways, so having their natural growth screwed around with isn't a huge, dramatic difference. Don't pump your little one with extra food, or tons of protein to try to fix it, stick to a normal diet, okay?

I hope that helps.

[mikee]

qu-94 Rednecks like turtles too. In fact, some of the best keepers are rednecks. Turtles don't know the difference! m.

[quader94]

Hey, guys for the welcome

I skimmed through the sight, I picked up a floating log, a filter, a heat bulb, a heater, and some food.

When I bought everything, instead of giving the turtle a water change, i took the 20 long i had sitting around and put the turtle in that instead. I want the turtle to be as happy as i can get it, I'm half tempted to buy a kiddie pool and put the turtle in that lol. I have a huge koi pond but im to afraid that the turtle would walk "not run lol" away or bite or irrate my koi.

They get hibernated? How do they get forced to? What is a normal diet? i want the little guy to be healthy and happy, not fat and bloated.

Haha good point Mike, they wouldnt know the difference redneck or not!


Also, i was wondering i have an ro/di water system in my house for my reef tank. it makes water as pure as it can be. I could use this on my turtle but its bad for people to drink since it doesnt have minerals so I'm going to assume it would be bad for them? Should i just use tap water with declourinating drops?

Sorry I ask so many questions, I love all my pets and try to keep them all happy. So hopefully this turtle will be happy once im done setting its tank all up