General Care Discussion :: Caring for my 11 year old turtle

[Totetsu]

I will be honest when I say this, I havent been a very good owner so far. I got a western painted turtle ( thanks for the info ) when i was very young, but information and such regarding her care has been very hard to find until just recently.

She/he is 11 years old, has never gotten

My second worry is the diet i have given him/her. I got good tips on trying to give her vegetables, which i tried today. with varying results. She just ran away when i tried to feed her carrots, and fast.

Is there a way to train it to eat the carrots and lettuce from my hands, or at least outside of the aquarium?

She has never had any signs of illness.

The water level is too low, ill try to fix that tomorrow. i filled in a little more today, just gotta find better rocks for her to bask on.

I dont think ill remove the gravel, ive seen her eat it at times, but she isnt actually bothered by it. not in the 11 years ive had her has she ever stopped eating normally. except sometimes on the winter.

[vear]

Can you post a few pictures?

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

Some red ear sliders have there red patches missing or they have just faded over the years. Here's a link to the main website talking about the turtles sex and how to find it out.
Since your res is a adult your going to need to feed him mainly vegetables, there's a post about the vegetables you can and cannot feed your turtle in the feeding section.

[Marcus.85]

Well, how can we tell you if he's a res or not if you don't post any pic? There are several species similar in appearance to red ear sliders. For instance, if the spot is yellow, he could be a YBS.
Where are you keeping him? How big is his tank? The main website has some great tips on housing/heating/filtering/feeding.
Btw 15 cm would be an ok size for a res adult male, some don't grow over 13 cm.

[Totetsu]

Well, how can we tell you if he's a res or not if you don't post any pic? There are several species similar in appearance to red ear sliders. For instance, if the spot is yellow, he could be a YBS.
Where are you keeping him? How big is his tank? The main website has some great tips on housing/heating/filtering/feeding.
Btw 15 cm would be an ok size for a res adult male, some don't grow over 13 cm.

I added a photo of him in order to make things easier. He actually has no spot at all, i think.

the aquarium is rather okay i think, he can move around without hitting the edges and if hed like he can also move his wooden log around to get more space. there is also a rock which i made a bit softer on the edges since i noticed it liked to dive headlong into the water, somethimes hitting the shell lol ( if i understood it correctly this is also a very normal behaviour )

ooh, i see o.o then its all good i guess. i got a bit worried when i saw a few huge ones in the stores xD

[vear]

Hmm... looks like a painted turtle... western painted maybe. I only own a RES so I'm not sure, but perhaps somebody else can help me out. The nails also look rather short to be a male, but males are usually smaller in size, so I would think 15cm is on the smaller side if it is a female, so I don't know. I assume you've never seen it lay eggs since you think it's a male?

Maybe someone else can take a look.

By the way, from your picture it looks like your water level is really low, also gravel has never been a turtle's best friend. he/she is a cutie though!

[Totetsu]

Hmm... looks like a painted turtle... western painted maybe. I only own a RES so I'm not sure, but perhaps somebody else can help me out. The nails also look rather short to be a male, but males are usually smaller in size, so I would think 15cm is on the smaller side if it is a female, so I don't know. I assume you've never seen it lay eggs since you think it's a male?

Maybe someone else can take a look.

By the way, from your picture it looks like your water level is really low, also gravel has never been a turtle's best friend. he/she is a cutie though!

I see, thank you. i hope more can help even if its isnt actually a res, sorry xD And about the sex, yes, i have owned it since it was a hatchling and i have never seen an egg. I did make sure to provide a good place for it when it was around 5 years just in case though, i heard they can hold them in at times D':

yup, the water level is usually a bit higher. it was taken this summer when it was quite warm and everything evaporated even if i tried to cool it a bit, so i had to fill in new water all the time lol. though i am thinking of giving her perhaps 15 cm water so he can swim a bit more o.o

Ive always used gravel for her, but i also noticed that he sometimes eats a few, though he mostly spits it out again....should i change it?

thank you n__n

[Marcus.85]

Yer it looks she may be either a chrysemis picta (belli or marginata), but the picture isn't clear enough to make an educated guesss.
As for water level and housing, yes, you should remove the gravel (since you even say she eats some) and raise the water level to at least 25-30 cm (10-12 inches), but more would be even better.
As for housing, you need a heater, uvb lamp, heat lamp, and a damn good filter.
Painted turtles require basically the same stuff as res, they're only a tad smaller. 15 cm for a female is ok, since the maximum shell lenght is 25 cm but most specimens don't reach 20 (or so I read).
Cheers.

[hill]

It appears your turtle is a painted slider. If you are concerned about size and growth I would suggest that you stick to the rules of the turtle road when it comes to size of tank, filtration, lighting, temp and diet. With only that photo I thing she is a female. The claws are short as a female.

[Totetsu]

Yer it looks she may be either a chrysemis picta (belli or marginata), but the picture isn't clear enough to make an educated guesss.
As for water level and housing, yes, you should remove the gravel (since you even say she eats some) and raise the water level to at least 25-30 cm (10-12 inches), but more would be even better.
As for housing, you need a heater, uvb lamp, heat lamp, and a damn good filter.
Painted turtles require basically the same stuff as res, they're only a tad smaller. 15 cm for a female is ok, since the maximum shell lenght is 25 cm but most specimens don't reach 20 (or so I read).
Cheers.

thank you very much, this was very informing. I cannot take any more pictures as it is now but i will try later. is it still okay for me to stay at this forum even if she happens not to be a red eared slider? xD

Okies, ill remove it. She doesnt really seem to be worried about it though o.o Hmm...but then how will i place her wooden thing? D: on top of a rock?

She has a heater and all that :') i clean it regulary nowdays as well since i ( or rather my mother ) noticed very early on that she is messy xD Though we didnt know until later she could actually make the heater explode by using violence ( happened 2 or 3 times, we have a new one which we had to ask especially for x.x i think she really hated the noise the others made though )

I see. But then, since shes 11 and all....how come ive seen no traces of eggs? She hasnt been showing any signs in particular of being stessed and uhm....egg laying? xD perhaps i should start making some kind of extra place for her.

thank god she is a female though, she has a female name lol....Sköldan. ( = a swedish name for shield, said as a girls name, rather fancy eh? )

[Marcus.85]

Okies, ill remove it. She doesnt really seem to be worried about it though o.o Hmm...but then how will i place her wooden thing? D: on top of a rock?

I see. But then, since shes 11 and all....how come ive seen no traces of eggs? She hasnt been showing any signs in particular of being stessed and uhm....egg laying? xD perhaps i should start making some kind of extra place for her.

thank god she is a female though, she has a female name lol....Sköldan. ( = a swedish name for shield, said as a girls name, rather fancy eh? )

1-gravel is harmful if ingested because it may lead to intestinal occlusion. 2-The wooden thing i take is the basking area/platform: you could either buy one with suction cups or use corkbar stuck between the front and back glass of the tank.
3-She may have laid eggs and eaten them..or it might be a male.

[Totetsu]

1-gravel is harmful if ingested because it may lead to intestinal occlusion. 2-The wooden thing i take is the basking area/platform: you could either buy one with suction cups or use corkbar stuck between the front and back glass of the tank.
3-She may have laid eggs and eaten them..or it might be a male.

Thanks a bunch. ill go and try some of the tings ive learned here so far o.o

yup it is o.o and she seems awfully attached to it. ive moved her 2 times into a new place and ive been about to throw it away but she just doesnt like to bask on anything else ( she moves it right back where it was if i try to put rocks there for her instead, or doesnt wanna bask as often if i remove it completely ), i didnt want to push my luck lol xD but i think it should float good enough to carry her when i fill the aquarium more, maybe. ill fix that.

D: oh my, i guess it is reasonable that she might have eaten them then....i have to give her a proper egglaying place then. just to see if it actually works.
Is there any signs i should be aware of, if she was gonna lay eggs? i have a hard time reading her x.x shes usually either basking, begging or moving everything around. or playing with the little water stream from the water pump filter thing. not much change in her behaviour since i bought her...

[steve]

She might not have laid any eggs. Would this pic be of any help?

[Totetsu]

She might not have laid any eggs. Would this pic be of any help?

then she is definitely a she. thanks a lot. oh my god i gotta get ger someplace to lay her eggs if she ever needed to D:

[Spike 7.62]

Without a male, her eggs will not be fertile and they are essentially waste. She can lay them in the water fine, just make sure to scoop them out and throw them away asap. Some owners say their females will be hesitant to lay eggs without an area for it, but from my understanding, they will most often lay them in water.

-spike