General Care Discussion :: newwwbiee, help!

[sammajolynn]

alrighty, so my old middle school teacher quit due to illness.
she had many animals...&& needed to get rid of them so she left me with one red eared slider.

i dont know much about where he used to be or anything.

he was given to me with a tank, a floating dock, a rock && a 2 oz. bottle of reptomin floating food sticks.

he/she idk? is about 6 inches from head to tail.

he was barely ewating the pellets so i went and got him a dozen guppies and put them in the tank.
he has eaten all but 4 in the last 2 weeks.

he stays under the floating dock and never comes up from the water.

help would be nice!

[SpotsMama]

Wow! Where to begin!

First of all, it's very good of you to adopt the little slider. Right now he needs a good friend.

You've got a lot of reading to do. A turtle habitat has to be set up a certain way of the turtle won't stay healthy. Nuitrition too is very important. Here's some info to get started:

http://www.redearslider.com/index_basic_care.html

After you've read through this, then look at the info on this site on nuitrition, basking and lighting, water quality and habitat. There are links to these sections at the top of this page or you can use the drop down menu at the top right corner of the page where it says "quick site jump"

Good luck! Let us know as you have specific questions - because you will have them.

[sammajolynn]

thank you, i have read all that but where do i start?

what do i do?

[sammajolynn]

so i got him a uvb light but i putt it up and he swam away. im getting a rubbermaid tank for him. is that good enough?

i try to give him veggies and he just looks at it them swims away. i tried putting him in a seperate container and he just looks at it then aain, turms away.

and i took the 4 guppies he has left and putt them in a diffrent container, he seems to only want to eat them, not even pellets.

[steve]

How big is the tank? Can you post a picture of what the setup looks like?

[sammajolynn]

um, hes in an old one with like 2inches of water, the one she gave me has a crack.
i basically saved him, but im getting a rubbermaid tank like thing tomorrow.

[mikee]

Sam-lynn -- After you get the tank you will want to get the water conditioned, filtered and heated to 78 degrees. Buy you filter that has at least 5 times the water volume (gph) Next would be a basking area with uvb light and a heat source tha will provide 90 temp for good basking. The uvb and the 90 degrees as they need this to metobolize their food properly.

[TheComputerGremlin]

You said the turtle was 6 inches, which means you'll need about 60 gallons of water. I'd recommend trying to find an aquarium or stock tank since a rubbermaid container probably won't be great for long term. Look on Craigslist or the local want ads.

[Dein211]

I agree with ComputerGremlin. My little Rolo is almost four and a half inches and i feel like she's out growing her 45 gallon rubbermaid container. besides, while they make great temporaries, they bow out when you fill them with water. i have mine up in a corner with a book shelf set up against part ofit and stuff set inbetween the open gaps to keep it from bowing out. with my next paycheck i'm getting her the biggest house she'sever seen. a 110 gal stock tank! another sweet thing about stock tanks is they are relativly cheaper than glass tanks, will probably outlast them and most have a drain plug for easy cleaning. the downside to them though is you won't be able to see through the sides. I personally think that (especially with new and "scaredy turtles" like mine) it will help them feel more at ease.

[marisa]

You start with basics---a tank/container that's big enough for him, a submersible water heater to keep the water at a constant temp, a UVB light (which you said you got; what kind is it?), a HEAT LIGHT (the UVB light is flourescent and doesn't give off enough heat to make him want to bask); a regular incandescent lightbulb is fine to make the temp 88-90F, basking area (you said you have that) that's easy for him to get on and go from there. Just checking, but if you have a "UVB" light that's giving off heat, it's not a UVB light and he'll still need one.

It sounds like he's gone through a pretty big change and will probably take a little while to adjust, which means he may not bask or eat for a bit. Give him some privacy when you feed him. Putting up a barrier around the outside of the container on the end where he basks to give him privacy would be good as well.

[sammajolynn]

alright. thanks for everything. ill give you feedback asap.