General Care Discussion :: turtles way too scared

[turtlelvr2000]

I have 4 baby red eared sliders (about 4 months old???). They are really scared of me except for one of them. He/She is always following me for food. 2 of them are not that afraid of me, but they go crazy if they see me. The other one is always under my floating dock and almost never comes out. Sometimes he is too scared to even breathe!!!

I have a 15 gallon tank which is about 1/3 full, a fliter, and Uv/Uvb/uva lamp.

Also, when i put them in their feeding tank (which is 2 gallons) they go bezerk. They don't eat a thing and mainly focus on geting the hell out of there. They only like to be fed in their origional tank.

please help.

thanks.......................

[steve]

If they like to be fed in the original tank (and it might be easier on a hatchling), then get a large container and take out the other RES while you feed them. It's a good way to ensure each is getting their share of the food.

[sflemin2]

You need a much much bigger tank. You are most likely going to have to separate them as they get bigger. 1 gallon per inch of shell.

I would feed them in their original tank if they are not eating. They might be getting stressed by being picked up. If you are concerned about the water quality, you could net out whatever they dont eat. With a small tank like that, you should be able to get a good enough filter for pretty cheap that would take care of the water.

[turtlelvr2000]

I am thinking of geting a bigger tank, but I only see 3 turtles eating and the one under the basking dock is not eating. It's as if he thinks that the food is bait or something.

Also, i try to put the tank in a far corner of a room, but even when i try to get as far away as possible, they run/swim like crazy

[Miss Tee]

...er...I believe that's 10 gallons per inch of shell

[sflemin2]

Oh sorry! Typo! 10 gallons! So for one full grown female turtle, you'll need at least 75 gallons..