General Care Discussion :: New turtles...

[Ferd]

that food might be to big for him. are your turtles under 4 inches? if so i reccomend Reptomin Baby pellets. i had some of the large ones and my turtles would eat half and give up because the pellets were to hard to eat. I then changed to the baby food and they ate it completely untill it was all gone.

[MITturtle]

They eat the pellet as soon as I put it in...the whole thing! Sometimes in one bite.

So I'm trying to upgrade their system now. In the meantime, I found a 54qt tupperware container and put one of the turtles in for now. It is filled with lukewarm water 4 inches high (the turtles are about 1-1.5 inch long) and put the lid of the other container as a makeshift floating basking area on top of a brick (cleaned of course). I attached a regular desk lamp to the container above the basking area (until I get an actual tank).

How long do baby turtles go without coming up for air? I just put one little guy in and he is just sitting at the bottom of the container...far from the air...and I'm worried...helppp please!

[Ferd]

my turtles do this often. Unless the water is under 70 degrees, they will come up when they need air. If the water temp is too low, thay might be slow to act. When my water was too cold, they spent all their time in th water and wouldnt move a budge. I eventually added a heater to the water and they became active.

[sonyj]

Turtles can hold their breath under water for up to 15 minutes while awake and up to 3 hours while asleep.

[CountryGirl68]

If you haven't already, you need to get a thermometer for the tank. Estimating the water temperature for turtles can lead to the water being cooler than it needs to be. To me, lukewarm doesn't sound like it would be warm enough.

[missibsu]

To me, lukewarm doesn't sound like it would be warm enough.

Actually, I disagree with that comment. When I feel the turtles water at 75F it feels cool to the touch. So my guess is that lukewarm is too warm for the turtles.

EITHER WAY...the correct water temp is important. And as mentioned a themometer would be good.

[CountryGirl68]

When I feel the turtles water at 75F it feels cool to the touch. So my guess is that lukewarm is too warm for the turtles.

Oh, yeah, that's what I meant - feels cooler.

[missibsu]

I didn't know if you just typed it backwards or if you were thinking it backwards, and well, it doesn't really matter...either is bad...just thought I would mention it!