General Care Discussion :: New turtles...

[MITturtle]

Hey,

I am brand new to this board. Somehow ended up with two baby turtles today. One is about 1.2" in wide and 1.4" long and the other is 1" wide and 1.2" long. They came in these little 4"x6.5"x4" rectangular containers. We have a box of food and the guy said to give "one pellet every three days" (we fed them today). We haven't gotten to buying a tank and such yet, so one is in the original container (the slightly bigger one) and the other is in a pizza slice sized dimensioned container. We put about 1" deep bottled water in each. We found two rocks on the street (we live in Boston) and washed them off and put them in the containers. We put a really warm 75W lightbulb over both rocks in the corners of each respective container.

Here's a few issues I was wondering about:
1) We tried putting them together in the pizza container but we saw the slightly bigger one nipped at the smaller one's foot once so we moved them apart. Was this the right thing to do?
2) How long can they stay in these conditions?
3) I live in a frat house and people can from time to time go in and out of the room. Is this a huge disturbance and will watching TV really disturb the turtles?
4) What suggestions would you have in buying equipment?

Thanks,
Hope to get you guys pictures soon!

Akash
MIT '09

[N4784N R4613]

I am no where near as smart as some as the other people here but I can say that you need to get a proper set up AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!! Use the links on the top of the home page ( http://www.redearslider.com/index.html ) to set it up right. But read this first http://www.redearslider.com/index_habitat.html if there is anything in that that you don't think you can do (or afford) then please do the RES and yourself a favor and take them to a pet store that can give them a good home. I don't mean to be mean but I don't want those little guys to die on you.

[sonyj]

Oh man... I suggest reading up on the main site as well as here on the forum for the basic care needs for your turtles. These conditions are very inadequate and I will say they need their correct habitat ASAP. You can find the link to the main site care sections at the top of the page.

Moving them apart was good... aggression can happen if they are in inadequate living conditions and usually it's the smaller one being picked on by the larger more aggressive one. After getting the correct habitat for their size going you may try placing them back together if you are going to be able to supervise them to see if they get along for a while. If not, they both need complete set-ups.

The basic set-up is as follows:

At least 10 gallons per inch of turtle. So in this case they need a tank that can hold around 25 gallons of water if you keep them together. The larger the tank/water the better since they will be growing and will eventually need between 90-120 gallons a piece when full grown.

They need a basking area that will not take up valuable swimming room such as the floating docks you can buy at a pet store or a homemade one (there's some good examples throughout the forum if you do a search).

Above the basking area they need two lights, 1 that is a heat bulb (can be a regular household bulb) and a UVB bulb that emits between 7-10% UVB rays. There should be nothing between the bulbs and the basking area that can filter out the beneficial rays such as screen, plastic, glass.

You need a water heater to keep the water temp at a constant 78F for hatchlings (72-75 for older turtles) and the basking temp needs to be around 88-90F. Buy a couple of thermometers to keep on hand. If the temps are wrong it can cause several health related issues either way -- too cold or too hot.

Your filter needs to be rated for at least 3x's the size of tank since turtles are messier than fish. Investing in a good filter is a must to maintain good water quality which will keep your turtles healthy.

No substrate is needed in the bottom of the tank. Definitely do not use small rocks or gravel that the turtles can ingest and become impacted. Some owners have a handful of larger river rocks so they can have something to push around. Substrate on the bottom also contributes to poor water quality which is another good reason not to have any.

It is generally recommended not to keep RES in a busy room. They can be timid and often will not bask or eat if they fill threatened by a lot of activity in the room. After they adjust to their new/ correct habitat, they may be able to be kept in a slightly busier open place, but for now it's not a good idea.

This seems like a lot but really just begins to scratch the surface on keeping & raising healthy turtles. After doing some reading if you have more questions please ask.

[MITturtle]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Will they be alright overnight and through the day tomorrow if I leave them like this? Or will it be too late by that point to have changed things...

[sonyj]

As long as they don't catch a chill (from A/C) they should be ok for a short time.

[MITturtle]

came home from shopping for tanks and ONE IS MISSING! must have crawled out of the temp container i had him in (weird cuz he spent the whole night in there without coming out). the door of the room was shut tight and theres no way he could have left it. i've looked EVERYWHERE...poor guy, lost him on my first day. i'm a bad turtle parent . the other one is still chillin out. i'm going to try leaving a saucer of water out tonight with light over it in hopes he'll go to it. i'm afraid of leaving food out because we have a mouse problem in the back bay of boston and i dont want the mice to go get the food (or the turtle)...hopefully they havent gotten him yet... any other suggestions?

[MITturtle]

wow what a scare. we found him behind shoes (which someone else who was looking said they searched - never trusting her again)... amazing he's alright. he must have fell 4 feet down to the area he was. he must be hurt right? we put him back in with food, but he wont eat and is pretty frantic. is this normal?

thank god i have him back

[missibsu]

Check him over for any signs of shell damage, and external body damage. If you are getting your set up soon, you can raise the water temp to about 80F. That will help boost the immune system. Keep an eye on signs of lathargy and other illnesses. You'd be amazed at the number of escape and falling stories we've heard, and I don't recall anyone losing a turtle because of it...and by all means, fix the temp. habitat so he can't do it again! Even if it means a large bucket...just make sure it's clean.

[Pokey's Grandpa]

Yes, turtles love to fall over as much as possible and scare their owners but luckily they usually chicken out and duck and roll lol so the shells take the damage and hopefully his didn't crack or anything! That is a bit scary and remember even when you get a tank to make sure they can't get out, sometimes people think they can't but turtles are creative escape artists and will stand straight up and pull with their front arms and make a break for it!

Just try not to under estimate them: there are alot of people out there whose turtles are named Houdini lol

Good luck, glad you found the little fella! I once lost a pet snake and never found him again! I assume he slipped under the door!

[Boogerbutt02]

I just want to put in my 2 cents worth, that nobody else has said...

Eating: turtles can only eat in water due to the lack of saliva... I just wanted to make that clear..


You stated: " live in a frat house and people can from time to time go in and out of the room." --- If this room is the only place for you to keep then I suggest that you put a sign up in the room above their tank(s) that states that everyone can LOOK but NOT TOUCH!!!

Make sure that everyone knows that they are not to put ANYTHING in the tank(s)... Only one person should be in charge of the feeding of these turtles... My large turtle will hide if anyone other than me enters the room, and if another person puts food in the tank she will wait until that person is gone before she eats... This might help them adjust to their new environment better...

I just keep thinking that one of your "friends" is going to put something bad in the tank... Anything that is put into a turtle tank is potential food; weather it is good for them or not they will eat it.

I hope this helps

[MITturtle]

thanks for your help so far everyone.

to boogerbutt, yeah i live in a frat house, but it's an MIT frat, not your typical "animal house" frat. i'll be sure to put a sign up when everyone moves in for the term. my room will be on the 4th floor so that shouldnt be a problem (as per random people coming around during parties).

question: the turtle that fell gets scared and hides in his shell everytime i come by. is this going to change???

thanks

[Ferd]

I read earlier that you only feed them one pellet every three days? That is NOT enough! They need at least enough to fill up their heads if they were empty! That man that told you that needs to be fired cause that is definitly MIS information!!!

[missibsu]

question: the turtle that fell gets scared and hides in his shell everytime i come by. is this going to change???

thanks

It could change with time, but it might not. Spending time in the room with him might help him get used to you. Do you know if he had a tendancy to do this before the fall? He might still be traumatized from the fall. Give him a chance and see what happens. My guess is he will warm back up some, although it doesn't mean he'll be ready to cuddle with you

[MITturtle]

That's what the guy said, but I've been feeding them each a pellet a day (each is about the size of the head)

[sonyj]

That's good... since they are hatchlings feed them daily but after a year old it will go to every other day and maintain the "amount that fits inside their head if it were hollow" estimate.