General Care Discussion :: Spiny Soft Shell turtle

[slider_keeper]

I picked up my new spiny soft shell turtle today, his name is Boba because of the spots on his skin and carapace. He is super active and not afrad of us at all. When I picked him up he was basking. I think I'm gonna take the 10 gal he is currently be temporarily housed in till we go home tomorrow with me and will set it up to house him for the first couple of months then put him in the 40 gal breeder tank Toku used to live in. He is so cool and his neck is super long. My wife was cooking pepper steak I cut a small piece of unmarinated steak and cooked it then cut small pieces and gave it to Boba. I gave him about 5 tiny pieces, he came right away to eat them! I don't think Toku ate on his first hour being in the house. This little guy is showing very good signs of excellent health. Of course, only time will tell but I'm very excited about the new addition to the turtle family in our house. Once he out grows the 40 gal I will put him in with Toku in the 150 gal. And watch them closely to make sure they can cohabitate. I will take better pics of him and the tank when I set it up back home. Yay, this little guy is way awesome already!

[steve]

That would make a great looking and unique habitat. Looking forward to more pics! The ATP care sheet seems pretty decent: http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/c ... tshell.htm

[penelope]

Congratulations on getting your little dream turtle!!!!

[slider_keeper]

Thanks Penelope, he is very different looking compared to all our hard shell friends. Steve, I read the ATP care sheet and have talked to a couple softy owners there. They had good info for softies. I tried to feed him Omega one pellets but he didn't take. I broke them into very tiny pieces. He seems to like meat, go figure lol. I'm gonna go get some blood worms and small feeder fish. I will continue to offer the pellets, maybe I will try the good old tough love approach once he gets stabilized in the new setup. He has established a favorite spot in that corner of the tank where the sand is raised to just below the water surface. He has only moved to readjust. I expect to see just his head and neck for a while till he gets comfortable. He slept in that spot all night. I'm curious to see if he will come out with all the lights on now, time will tell. I will update more as I see more.

On an other note the new addition has got my attention but I still give love to Toku. He is doing fine, he went crazy when I got home yesterday. I spent 2 weeks in Vegas for the Holidays. His tank is doing good, He ate more pellets then I like to feed him because of the auto feeders when I'm away. So no pellets for a couple of days for him. He will get the greens instead, which I figure he will be glad for because he loves lettuce.