General Care Discussion :: Hi new user :) - few general questions

[joker]

This page and forum has an incredible collection of knowledge for these little fellas. I really couldn't find anything before finding this site...thanks.

My Terrapin (Sushi...) is only a few months old, she looks like an RES but has no red marks...so is she the same species?Looks just like one minus the red really. I've set her up in a tank thats approx. 12 1/2" in height, and 7 1/2" width and depth. There's also a dock that goes round the tank, some plastic plants and shells. (before this she was in a small shallow tank btw)

She seems to be enjoying the water and Isnt't really coming up to the dock that much. I read in an early post that this is normal considering her size, and that she'll eventually get accustomed to it, and it seems slowly she is. The water level is about 4 1/2" up the tank.

In her old tank she didn't seem as happy and seemed to be sleeping a lot, under shells and stuff, where's now she is a little bit more active or usually on the surface getting air. She seems to be getting accustomed to feeding and I usually use a cotton bud stick to move the prawn near here, and she comes for it...although she's still a bit of a scary cat and swims away when i come close to the tank sometimes....

I also read up how it's not a good idea to try and place a second res in the tank now. It's a bit of a shame as i would've liked giving her some company...but if she's happy then..let it be...i guess

I haven't bought her a UVB lamp yet, it's pretty hot all year round, but i'd like to invest in one. Maybe then she'll also bask a little bit more.

Keep this page and forum going!

some image links:

http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos- ... 7_2459.jpg

http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos- ... 9_9946.jpg

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[Tenodera]

lol she's a YBS, yellow bellied slider. You should take out the gravel since turtles can eat it and they'll get intestinal impaction will result in heavy vet bills and death.

yea, a UVB bulb is to provide UVB rays which helps them grow their shell.

[joker]

Of course...YBS...instead of their gravel, will some moss, or slightly rocks do?
Also i was thinking of swapping the large dock for a small wooden log or something similar...any suggestions?


thanks

[Tenodera]

moss?? Yea, you should use a few big rocks, big enough so he can't swallow them.

Wood can make your water dirty.

You should save up money for a big tank with a Zoomed basking dock, filter, and basing lights.

[SpotsMama]

What a lovely turtle! I can't see her very well in the photos but I'd say she is not a red eared slider. The stripes don't look right. She's probably from a related group of basking turtles, perhaps some type of cooter. If you'll post a picture of her where we can see all of her clearly, and also a picture of her plastron (bottom of her shell) probably someone on here will be able to identify her for you.

The tank she's in is very colorful and is probably an upgrade from her previous home but it's missing a lot of things that make for a good turtle home. Light, filter, space, for example. Diet also needs work. Why don't you read through the general info on this site and then you'll probably have some questions. Little Sushi may be doing fine for now but she won't make it over the long run without some adjustments. If healthy these types of turtles can live for decades and be real friends but they do require certain things in their setup.

On an immediate note - the blue gravel looks dangerous. Unfortunately, turtles will eat gravel if they can and it stops them up inside and kills them. Lot's of people on here have had very sad experiences with gravel. Can you take it out? Just a few large rocks on the bottom of the tank will suffice to make the tank interesting and give Sushi something to fool around with. Perhaps you can use the gravel in a fish tank.

[joker]

Yeah, I'm working on taking the gravel out, after having read what's on here. In fact the only reason is, due to having some from the left overs in my fish tank. I'll replace them with large rocks, pebbles that can't be swallowed...also I'm getting a UVB light some time this week so that will accommodate her. The tank is bigger than the photo seems to give credit to, I'm just not too happy with the long dock, so I'm gonna get something else to give her some more swimming space, as well as basking space....i also have a feeling she's a female...but I'll try and get some close ups.

Thanks.