General Care Discussion :: Some general questions

[xewkija631]

I have a few questions that I would like to know so I do not do the opposite or whatever.

1) The weather is starting to get nice and we will be opening up our pool soon, will I be able to put the turtles in the pool or is this a bad idea?

2) I have two (2) RES in a 50 gallon tank, and i have a basking area for them with a heat lamp, theirs plenty of room for the both of them to be on it but they seem to want to get as close as they can to the light so they keep going on top of another, and sometimes they flip over which is scary cause I'm sure if they stay fliped over they can die, why do they do this?

3) What should i feed them? I have had them for about 6-7 years so their not young.. I assume, I have been giving them turtle pellets and fresh shrimp, they seem to love the shrimp but we need some shrimp for our family too =]

4) I feel like a 50 gallon tank is too small for them but aquariums are so darn expensive, is it possible to build one my self? I want them to have the best habitat they can, so if anyone has any ideas on building a nice big size aquarium, I'll be listening. also what are most tanks made out of? Glass? or something else?

5) Besides when they are fighting for the light, what is happening or what does it mean when one of the turtles is on top of the other one? they just do that for hours in the same position.


6) What is the best thing to have in the tank? For instance, gravel, Sand, or nothing? or something else

I had some other question's but I cant seem to recall them, so as I think of them I will post them here, other then that I will appreciate anyone's help or advice.

Thank You

[BullDog]

1) Is it a pool with chlorine, where people swim? If so, no, do not put your turtle in there. It's not good for your turtle or for the people.
However, some people set up a kiddie pool, just for the turtles. You can put them in their own kiddie pool, but you should supervise them the whole time they're in there. Make sure the water isn't too cool or too warm.

2) They are trying to get closest to the heat. The higher up, the warmer it is. What is the basking temperature?

3) If you haven't already, be sure to check out the feeding page of this site:
http://www.redearslider.com/index_nutrition.html

Shrimp should be considered a treat, and only fed once a month at most. The turtle pellets you can give them the amount of pellets that would fit in their head if it were hollow once every 2 days. Or you can break that into a half-head amount once a day. Also, there is lots of veggies they can eat. Check out the link above and the stickies in the feeding forum for all the good veggies you can feed them.

4) You're right, the 50g is probably pretty tight for the two of them. As far as glass/acrylic aquariums, sometimes you can find a good deal on kijiji or craigslist.

But there are other options. Many people use a stock tank for their turtles. This is a big plastic or metal tub that is meant to hold water for farm animals. You can often find them at a farm supply store. They are very inexpensive compared to fish tanks, and come in sizes from 50 gallons to 500 gallons. For your two RES, a 200g would be great.

I don't think it's recommended to build a big glass tank (100g+) if you've never built one before. But what I've seen recently is plywood tanks. I don't know much about them, but they look like a pretty big undertaking, and unless you have lots of scrap plywood around you might be better off looking at the stock tank option.

5) Are we talking on the basking area or in the water? In the water it might be a show of dominance, but if it's hours they might be sleeping. Do you know the sex of your RES?


Make sure you look around the main site (www.redearslider.com) and check out the stickies, they might answer some of your other questions. And feel free to ask anything else you can't find

[vear]

I think bulldog pretty much covered it.

[xewkija631]

1) Is it a pool with chlorine, where people swim? If so, no, do not put your turtle in there. It's not good for your turtle or for the people.
However, some people set up a kiddie pool, just for the turtles. You can put them in their own kiddie pool, but you should supervise them the whole time they're in there. Make sure the water isn't too cool or too warm.

2) They are trying to get closest to the heat. The higher up, the warmer it is. What is the basking temperature?

3) If you haven't already, be sure to check out the feeding page of this site:
http://www.redearslider.com/index_nutrition.html

Shrimp should be considered a treat, and only fed once a month at most. The turtle pellets you can give them the amount of pellets that would fit in their head if it were hollow once every 2 days. Or you can break that into a half-head amount once a day. Also, there is lots of veggies they can eat. Check out the link above and the stickies in the feeding forum for all the good veggies you can feed them.

4) You're right, the 50g is probably pretty tight for the two of them. As far as glass/acrylic aquariums, sometimes you can find a good deal on kijiji or craigslist.

But there are other options. Many people use a stock tank for their turtles. This is a big plastic or metal tub that is meant to hold water for farm animals. You can often find them at a farm supply store. They are very inexpensive compared to fish tanks, and come in sizes from 50 gallons to 500 gallons. For your two RES, a 200g would be great.

I don't think it's recommended to build a big glass tank (100g+) if you've never built one before. But what I've seen recently is plywood tanks. I don't know much about them, but they look like a pretty big undertaking, and unless you have lots of scrap plywood around you might be better off looking at the stock tank option.

5) Are we talking on the basking area or in the water? In the water it might be a show of dominance, but if it's hours they might be sleeping. Do you know the sex of your RES?


Make sure you look around the main site (www.redearslider.com) and check out the stickies, they might answer some of your other questions. And feel free to ask anything else you can't find

1)Yes it is a pool with chlorine, and now I know not to do that.

2)The basking temp get's up too 70 F

3) I looked at the nutrition page and I wanted to ask, could i give them bamboo? You know the leaves that grow on bamboo? I have a lot of that. And two days ago together they ate 10 shrimps each, I didn't know it should be used as a treat, but I feel like that was a lot for them two... no?

4) I can't seem to find anything on craigslist locally, but the stock tank you mentioned, how much would a 200g tank cost? and wouldn't i need a bad [---] filter...? and I'm sure a filter like that would cost a few bucks =]

5) And I was talking about the basking area, and I do not know their sex I posted up some pictures of them on this site asking what their sex was, I took the guessing of them both being females because of their short claws...


Thanks a lot for you're help

[xewkija631]

1) Is it a pool with chlorine, where people swim? If so, no, do not put your turtle in there. It's not good for your turtle or for the people.
However, some people set up a kiddie pool, just for the turtles. You can put them in their own kiddie pool, but you should supervise them the whole time they're in there. Make sure the water isn't too cool or too warm.

2) They are trying to get closest to the heat. The higher up, the warmer it is. What is the basking temperature?

3) If you haven't already, be sure to check out the feeding page of this site:
http://www.redearslider.com/index_nutrition.html

Shrimp should be considered a treat, and only fed once a month at most. The turtle pellets you can give them the amount of pellets that would fit in their head if it were hollow once every 2 days. Or you can break that into a half-head amount once a day. Also, there is lots of veggies they can eat. Check out the link above and the stickies in the feeding forum for all the good veggies you can feed them.

4) You're right, the 50g is probably pretty tight for the two of them. As far as glass/acrylic aquariums, sometimes you can find a good deal on kijiji or craigslist.

But there are other options. Many people use a stock tank for their turtles. This is a big plastic or metal tub that is meant to hold water for farm animals. You can often find them at a farm supply store. They are very inexpensive compared to fish tanks, and come in sizes from 50 gallons to 500 gallons. For your two RES, a 200g would be great.

I don't think it's recommended to build a big glass tank (100g+) if you've never built one before. But what I've seen recently is plywood tanks. I don't know much about them, but they look like a pretty big undertaking, and unless you have lots of scrap plywood around you might be better off looking at the stock tank option.

5) Are we talking on the basking area or in the water? In the water it might be a show of dominance, but if it's hours they might be sleeping. Do you know the sex of your RES?


Make sure you look around the main site (www.redearslider.com) and check out the stickies, they might answer some of your other questions. And feel free to ask anything else you can't find

1)Yes it is a pool with chlorine, and now I know not to do that.

2)The basking temp get's up too 70 F

3) I looked at the nutrition page and I wanted to ask, could i give them bamboo? You know the leaves that grow on bamboo? I have a lot of that. And two days ago together they ate 10 shrimps each, I didn't know it should be used as a treat, but I feel like that was a lot for them two... no?

4) I can't seem to find anything on craigslist locally, but the stock tank you mentioned, how much would a 200g tank cost? and wouldn't i need a bad [---] filter...? and I'm sure a filter like that would cost a few bucks =]

5) And I was talking about the basking area, and I do not know their sex I posted up some pictures of them on this site asking what their sex was, I took the guessing of them both being females because of their short claws...


6) What is the best thing to have in the tank? For instance, gravel, Sand, or nothing? or something else

Thanks a lot for you're help

[vear]

Basking temperature should be a lot higher... ~90F. What is your water temperature? It should be in the mid 70s. Take a look: http://www.redearslider.com/index_habitat.html

About the bamboo, are you talking about lucky bamboo? or actual bamboo? Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think lucky bamboo is toxic to certain animals, so I wouldn't feed it to my turtle. However if it's regular bamboo it should be ok.

10 shrimp does sound like a lot. But it's fine, just don't feed them a lot of protein for a while. Throw in other greens.

About the basking area, you can definitely build one yourself. There's a a sticky I believe in "indoor" habitat with pictures of members' above tank basking areas.

You should google the stock tank to give you an idea of how much it would be.

About substrate, don't use gravel, RES love to eat it and they might not be able to pass it out. Most people like bare bottoms because it's a breeze to clean. Others use large river rocks, others have sand. There's a sticky on sand as well.

Make sure you read through everything on the main page: http://www.redearslider.com/

[BullDog]

Bamboo leaves are poisonous, so do not feed them to your turtle.

Like Vear mentioned, you'll have to call/google your local farm stores to see how much, but to give you a rough estimate, this place has a 150g for $125
http://www.tractorsupply.com/stock-tank ... al-2229919

And yes, you will need a bit of a monster filter for a tank that big, but you don't want to skimp on filtration.
I personally recommend the Fluval FX5. I've got two. They run $250-300 online and locally. Sometimes you can find them as low as about $220 on eBay.

Like vear said, the basking temp is a bit low. Aim for mid 80's to about 90*F. That might be part of the reason they're stacking. You could try moving the basking bulb a bit closer, or getting a higher wattage bulb.

Substrate - like vear said, gravel is bad. RES can and will eat rocks smaller than their heads.
In my tanks, I've got about 20 large river rocks for them to push around. Adds a bit of interest over a bare bottom tank, but still pretty easy to clean.
Sand also looks cool, but is a little bit more maintenance than a bare bottom tank.

[roseK]

i kinda skimmed everyones facts, but i dont think anyone mentioned it.


if your turtle flips over, it can flip itself back over. proven by wall-e.

[Sir Max]

Dont mean to be rude but 90% of these questions can be answered by searching throughout the forum

they have been asked 100 times