General Care Discussion :: Questions about Bowser

[Ashley]

Can anybody help me figure out the gender and age of my turtle?
We named him Bowser and just refer to him as a being male until we know for sure.

I bought him a little over 3 weeks ago from Petco, and he's right at 4 inches.

Photo of length:
http://i33.tinypic.com/16ixs13.jpg

Yes, the ruler should be a little higher but I had to take a quick picture or else he'd crawl all over the place.

Claws:

http://i37.tinypic.com/6qe36b.jpg

http://i36.tinypic.com/2liimc7.jpg

No close-up photos of the tail, but you can see it in this photo:

http://i38.tinypic.com/2db78zq.jpg

Any ideas on how often to feed a turtle this size?
I've been feeding twice per day, but am considering once per day.

[marisa]

4 inches you say? Bowser is a lady (the last pic says it all).

The standard guide for feeding pellets is to give an amount that would fit into the head (don't include the neck). At Bowser's size, you can feed that amount every other day. Start offering a variety of plant matter (veggies and aquatic plants---look on the forum for what's good to give); you can give some type of veggie daily. High protein foods (shrimp, worms, etc.) should be occasional treat (and when you give a treat, no pellets). Keeping some cuttlebone in the tank (find in the bird section, take off the hard backing) is good for added calcium. You want Bowser to keep that nice shell.

[Ashley]

Heehee!
My boyfriend has been hoping that Bowser is a female, because females get bigger and he wants Bowser to grow as big as possible.
Right now he...err...she (gonna take a while to break the habit of saying "he") is in a 20 gal long tank and has plenty of room to swim around...seems really happy too.
Will eventually get a 55 gal tank when I can afford it.
Between me, my boyfriend, and my parents, neary $400 has been spent on Bowser.
Well worth it though!

Here are some photos I just took:

Plastron:

http://i38.tinypic.com/8xrhvk.jpg

It was hard to get that photo, because she gets really peeved when I hold her that way, so I only did so to take the photo.
You can see her mouth opening in warning of a possible bite. LOL


Close-up of the tail:

http://i36.tinypic.com/ok0cw9.jpg


After recently seeing another RES at Petco that was smaller than Bowser but had a much longer tail and longer claws, I kind of wondered about Bowser's gender.


Anyway, she likes carrots, blueberries, banana, and is starting to get interested in leafy lettuce.
Good thing I work in a restaurant, so I have easy access to tons of veggies.


So any idea on her age?

[marisa]

It's impossible to know the exact age unless you know when the turtle hatched. I'd guess she could be anywhere from around 8 months to around a year.

Please don't let the fact that your boyfriend wants her to grow as big as possible be an excuse to overfeed her...

When you save up the money, try to go bigger than a 55 gallon---she's going to need it eventually, and you won't have to go through the pain of upgrading again.

Blueberries and carrots are good, but go sparingly on the banana (high in phosphorus, which she gets plenty of in a regular diet). Leafy greens are good (read the lists on the forum), but no spinach or iceberg lettuce. Try dandelion greens if you can get them.

[Listen97]

off-topic, not sure if your still setting things up but if you are using a 20gal now you want to fill it up, looks like right now you only have it 1/4-1/2 way. They like lots of room to swim around. If you don't have a basking platform that would fit in the water at a higher level an ATBA would be your best bet and the forums have a stickie about them. So fill it up and throw in a feeder fish or two and watch her go wild.

[Ashley]

Oh believe me, my boyfriend is more careful about how much to feed than I am...he just wants her to grow up big and strong.
He went shopping for her the other day and came back with a bag full of stuff from various pet stores (filter cartridges, water test kits, more food). LOL
I tend to act like mother hen and feed too much thinking she must still be hungry.

We're both new to turtles, only having cared for his nephew's while he was out of town for a week.

The tank is a long 20gal, wider or as wide as the one she came from at Petco.
She has lots of swimming room, and loves her "cave" that doubles as a basking area.
She even sleeps in the cave in the same spot every night...it's so precious!
The cave is why the water only goes halfway up the tank...too much water makes the cave float or if it sinks it covers the top of it.
I tried having more water last week but she didn't seem to like it. She likes being able to stand with her feet on the bottom and stick her head up out of the water and look around the room. With more water she was having to hold on to the filter or try and grab the glass to do that.
We are looking into getting another rock and basking dock, maybe even building an ATBA.

Oh, and I can get leafy lettuce from work in abundance for her!

[papoopeepoo]

If you can, get one of those floating basking docks. They stay dry at any water level, and the fact that they don't touch the bottom of the tank means there's more room for swimming. It will also be easier for the filter to keep the water clean because there will be a better water flow and less dead spots where debris can collect.

[Ashley]

We had one of the Zoomed floating docks, but removed it because of a chance of her getting stuck in the bars.
She's very curious and will try to wedge herself in the smallest places....perhaps I'm just being a bit overprotective.

I've looked at Petco and Petsmart but can't really find what I'm looking for...going to try online.
As far as water filtration, we have two filters...one that has a waterfall and produces bubbles that Bowser LOVES to play with, and also a Zoomed 318 on the other side.
We also feed outside of the tank in a rubbermaid tub, plus we do partial water changes each week.