General Care Discussion :: newts and turtles?

[jamalhoratiosanz]

i recently adopted two newts and wanted to know if i could put them in my aquarium with my red eared slider turtle? my turtle--jamal--is about a year old and still pretty small (about 2 inches in diameter), and the newts are also pretty young and small. the aquarium holds 10 gallons. do newts and turtles get along? would they fight or kill each other? would they develop any health problems? is a 10 gallon tank big enough? thanks alot!

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Nope,bad idea all around.Anything you put in that tank is going to become your turtles dinner sooner or later.

Also,by now your turtle should be atleast 4 inches,what are you feeding him and what is your setup like?

Another thing,redearsliders need 10 gallons of water per inch,so your turtle needs atleast a 20 gallon tank so technically your tank isnt big enough BUT your turtle would be fine in it until you get him something bigger (in a couple of weeks or so).

[megcornell]

I'm curious as to your set-up. Most newts that I can think of live mainly in moist wooded habitats. Your turtle's tank should be mostly aquatic- as in the tank should be filled up as high as you can, with some sort of basking dock on the water for the turtle.
If you can place newts in this set up as well, I would think it's not the best set up for a turtle and you should look around the site to see what other people have for their RES's.

Also, as saturday pointed out, anything that you put in with the turtle is likely going to become the turtle's snack.

[jamalhoratiosanz]

the set up for my tank is on average 2 inches of pebble stacked at different heights throughout the aquarium. on top of this there is about 2.5 inches of water in most parts (so, about 5-6 inches of water). the pebbles make it seem deeper than this in some areas, and also create a bank in parts. it looks nice, and since my res is alone and still pretty small it seems big enough, although i guess it might not be. he seems happy.

[megcornell]

You're going to want to make sure the pebble isn't small enough to fit in the turtle's mouth, anything that can be eaten will be eaten, and can cause a deadly impaction.
Also, you're going to want to review the site's suggestions for starter turtle tanks, you can find this on the basic RES care part- you'll want to fill your tank with as much water as possible, provide a basking perch, UVA and UVB lights, and monitor the water temp via a thermometer and water heater. You also didn't mention a filter, that is going to be a must- turtles are very dirty and without a filter the water will be festering within a day. Once you add more water you're really going to need filtration to ensure a proper environment.