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I have decided to take in a turtle, named Squirtle. Basically, she was unwanted and the owner was going to kill her. My aunt came in and rescued her 3~4 years ago. I just found out about this now, and decided to take Squirtle from her because she is living in the cold basement with inadequate housing. I know I won't be able to provide her the best care, but it will be considerably better than what she's getting now. The problem is I am CLUELESS as to how I'm supposed to take care of this turtle.

It has the red/orangish stripe on her head so that's why I've decided she's an RES. Her nails and tail are also short which leads me to believe she is female. I have no idea how old she is. My guess is more than 5 years.

I've read through the various pages on this site and have found them very informative but I still feel like I need some help. There's a lot of information there and I feel very lost! I'm going to try to stop by the pet store tomorrow to look at products, ask questions, etc.

Currently, Squirtle is living in a 20 gallon tank and she is about 5~6 inches long. I know enough to realize that the tank is way too small!!! I would like to get a bigger tank for her (I believe I would need something bigger than 50 gallons?) but the problem is MONEY. Those tanks can get really expensive... I'm going to look for something used. Any suggestions to finding a cheaper alternative would be great. I feel a little bad putting her in a giant Tupperware container...

I believe she is being fed every 2~3 days. I think the only thing she's getting is little turtle pellets. What should I be feeding her? What are good brands? What foods should I stay away from? Should I be feeding her live food? Do I have to feed her live food (I'd prefer to stick with pellets/plants)?

And now for where I'm really lost: Habitat. I see that she will need a mixture of water and land. How much water and how much land? Currently she has a giant rock that she can easily get on/off, is this good enough? There isn't enough water for swimming, I feel like she needs more but I'm not sure how much. 5 inches deep, more/less? Are plants/pebbles/logs/etc needed to make her habitat more welcoming? If so, what sort of things will I need to buy?

Then there is the whole heating thing. I understand I will need a UVA/UVB light but I know nothing else about that matter. Then I will need a heat lamp. What about keeping the water warm? Is room temperature good (the tank is inside)? We already have a filter so that is good.

What about keeping her home clean? How often do I have to clean it? Is there anything special I have to do or just change out the water periodically?

I am sorry for such an extensive post but as you may see, I'm really lost here. I just want to help this poor turtle out and give her a nice home! I really, really appreciate all the replies and the patience!

If you have any other tips and information to add, please feel free!

Thank you so much!

you should probably get a minimum 75 gallon tank. but bc she is a girl in the end you will need a 120 gallon tank. to save money id suggest buying a 150 or more gallon stock tank. you say you would feel bad but you could compare that to putting them in a pond or even being in the wild if you dress it up nice enoug. as for land she needs somethign easily accesible than can hold her weight. most ppl build something or use some sort of turtle dock sold at pet stores. you will need to lamps for ur tutrle. u need a heat bulb, you can use a regular house hold bulb, and a UVB bulb. plants and other decorations are nice for turtles. it gives them something to play with aswell as use to hide.

for food just look at the main site page.

Instead of reading through the posts on the forum, read through the main site, [url]redearslider.com[/url]

Here's a quick rundown:
housing: the basic rule of thumb is ten gallons per inch of shell, so for a 5-6 incher, you'll want something in the 50-75 gallon minimum. The cheapest ways to set this up are to get a used aquarium off craigslist, buy a rubbermaid tub and enforce the siding, or get what is called a stock tank. Stock tanks are meant to be used as watering troughs so they're cheap, large, and meant to hold water. I did a search the other day and very easily found a 150 gallon one for under $100. Something like that will provide you with a permanent home for the turt until you want to and/or are capable of putting her in some sort of display tank. Note: a display tank is in no way necessary but some people like the look of aquariums better than large plastic tubs.

Filtration: look for a filter that is rated for around 3x the size of the tank you'll be using. You're best bet will be to get what is called a canister filter. It consists of an external case that houses all the filtration media that has tubes running into and out of the tank. For larger tanks, the internal filters and the filters that hang off the back of the tank are just not powerful enough.

Lighting: you're right about the lights. You need either one uva (regular house bulb, just for heating up the basking area) and one uvb (special bulb purchased from pet stores) or one mvb (mercury vapor bulb, provides heat and UVB all in one bulb, but they're more expensive). Once you have the bulbs, go to your local hardware store and purchase the domes to screw them into, its much cheaper than paying for the ones at the petstore. Just make sure that the base is ceramic and not metal or plastic, you don't want anything melting or overheating. These lights need to be placed over the basking area, the UVB will have to be a certain distance away to prevent damaging the turtles eyes (usually about 12'' away, it'll say on the package). Once you have it set up, plug them into a timer and set the timer to go on for twelve hours and off for twelve hours, this is called the day/night cycle.

basking: you want the basking area to be big enough for the turtle to climb completely out of the water and dry off. It's best if the basking area is fixed and not allowed to float freely throughout the tank. The reason is because you need the lighting on it at all times. You want to provide as much water as possible, so don't bother turning half of your tank into a land area. There are turtle floating docks which suction to the wall of the tank that a lot of people use (I used them for years and they work great), there's also something called an ATBA (above tank basking area) there's a sticky post about them in the indoor habitat forum, basically its a custom made basking area (by you) that sits on top of the tank with walls around that the turtle cannot climb out of. This allows you to fill the tank up completely providing the most swimming room. Make sure that whatever one you use, it isn't too rough or your turtles shell will get scratched.

Decorations: substrate (gravel, sand, rocks, etc at the bottom of the tank) is not necessary at all. The easiest way to maintain a clean tank is if the tank is bare bottomed. That being said, gravel can be ingested by the turtle which can lead to impaction and death so do not use it. Quite a few people have had success with sand, there's a sticky thread about that as well for any questions. A layer of large river rocks will work just fine, but again, waste will collect between the rocks dirtying up your water and you won't even see it until it's too late. I keep a handful of larger rocks on the bottom of my tank to give my turtle something to push around and it works great. Plastic plants are great, they add color to the tank and provide the turtle something to play with, swim through, and rest on. Caves, floating logs, etc are nice too, just make sure the turtle has no way of getting stuck in it (meaning its way too small for it to fit in or big enough for the turtle to turn around in). Bubble sticks, wands, discs, etc are great for movement, giving the turtle something to play with, and it breaks up the surface of the water preventing water stains from accumulating on the sides of your tank. Decoration is really based on your taste, if you want to go the whole nine and make the tank look realistic, go for it, if not that's fine too. As long as everything is turtle safe (they love to rip things apart and rearrange decorations) you're fine.

Water heater: yes you need one. Especially for the winter months. We turn our heaters off in the summer because we live in Texas and our summers are ridiculous. Just find a heater that is rated for your tank size and have it on to maintain the necessary temps.

Thermometers: you need a thermometer in the water and one on the basking area, check them daily to make sure nothing is going wrong and your turtle is getting the right temps.

Food: due to the size of your turtle, she should be eating veggies and pellets as opposed to only pellets. There's a list of acceptable greens on the main site and other treats. Make sure not to feed too much protein as that can lead to pyramiding of the shell. We feed Mikey turnip greens about 4 days a week, pellets 2-3 days a week, and he gets occasional fruits or bugs as treats. You don't have to feed anything live if you don't want. Rosy red minnows are a great treat though that don't require any handling on your part, outside of dropping them in.

I think that's everything. Again, look through the main site, it has everything you need to know there.

Ouch... 120 gallons? That's a lot of money. I was hoping I could get away with 80 for her life time. How much do 120 gallons go for? Is it possible to find something around $200 or less? I know that aquariums are expensive but I don't know, generally how much they go for, what's a good cost, etc.

Would 100 gallons be good enough? How much would one of those cost?

I'd prefer an aquarium over a stock tank just for the reason of appearance and they are easy to simply store in a corner or unobtrusively next to a wall.

untsmurf: Wow, thanks for such an extensive post!! I was looking at the main site but some of the information was a little confusing. You've certainly cleared up a lot of my concerns!

No problemo. I know how overwhelming it can be in the beginning.

An 80 gallon should be good for a few years if she's only 5-6 inches. So if you want to only have aquariums, you could start with that and know to save for the big one. The reason it's better to get a larger tank is because usually females run about 10-12 inches full grown. It does take some time to get to that point, but if your turtle is healthy, she should reach that size. It's recommended to buy as a big of a tank as you can for that reason, so you don't have to spend more to upgrade later.

New aquariums can be very expensive, when we upgraded to our big tank (125 gallon) it ran us just under $1000. But we bought it new because I didn't know about stock tanks and all that.

I would recommend getting a stock tank first, because that would be well within your price range ($200) and then watch craigslist until someone puts up a big aquarium for sale. That way, you'll already have all the filters, heating, decorations, etc that you'll need for a larger tank. Stock tanks can be kept inside just like aquariums, there have even been a few people on here that built cases for them so they would look better. The size of the stock tank is going to be very similar to that of an aquarium so you're going to need about the same amount of room either way.

Look on Craigslist. We found our 125gal with stand for $200. He even threw in some filters for free. Sometimes local pet stores may have a bulletin board where people post aquariums for sale- check that out. Good luck!

I can tell you that the people at the pet store will know little to nothing about the specifics of turtle care.. unless they are members here, that is. www.redearslider.com is the best source of info, follow it's guidelines and you will do well.

-Spike

At PetsMart, I found a 120 gallon tank, new, for $430. This was the cheapest I could find in the shops. Is it a good price?
EDIT: I was looking on the petsmart website and found the same tank for $360... I wonder if they will offer this price in store.

FILTERS: I was looking on PetsMart for some filters. I found an EHEIM Classic External Canister model 2117 (for 159Gals) for $160. Good or bad?


Melvira: I live in a small town, I'm not even close to a big town where I could go pick up a tank from someone selling on Craigslist. I already searched craigslist for tanks in my area... not even 1 showed up. The only thing I found on a popular website we use here (Kijiji) is an 80 gallon tank with filter and stand for $200. I don't have a lot of hope for finding a 120 gallon tank, used, for a good price. Great find on your tank though!! I wish something like that could come along for me... hahaha

Spike: I went to the pet shop and they did have a lot of stuff to tell me about what I'll need to set up my aquarium. Not all pet store owners are useless. It's the chains (like PetsMart) that are dumb. They didn't have any piece of advice for me.

I understand the problems of a small town. I grew up in one and we were literally two hours from everywhere. It was also a farming community. I'm not kidding you when I say that I saw a Craigslist posting from there titled "poop, poop, poop"... It was a farmer selling manure.

You could call PetSmart and ask if they will offer you the internet price. If not, you could see how much shipping would cost through their website. Or try Amazon.com- sometimes if you spend over a certain amount the shipping is free.

Make sure that the tank is an aquarium and not a terrarium. Terrariums aren't built to hold water and will eventually burst.

The filter seems overpriced for something that size. The rena XP3 off of [url]bigalsonline.com[/url] is $135. It's rated for 175 gallons and has 350 GPH flow rate. I've been able to find it even cheaper than that before.

untsmurf wrote:Make sure that the tank is an aquarium and not a terrarium. Terrariums aren't built to hold water and will eventually burst.

The filter seems overpriced for something that size. The rena XP3 off of [url]bigalsonline.com[/url] is $135. It's rated for 175 gallons and has 350 GPH flow rate. I've been able to find it even cheaper than that before.

I got a rena xp3 off bigalsonline 2 1/2 years back. It only cost $90. I wonder why they raised the price so much?

That's what I was thinking too. We got the same deal, twice.

Yep, it's an aquarium. Shipping on PetsMart is $6 if you spend $60 or more... what a great deal! If only they shipped the thing... it's only offered in store.

I checked amazon.ca but didn't didn't find any aquariums.

So should I look for a rena xp3? What's a good filter for a 120 gallon tank (quality and price)?

Also.. water heaters. What are good brands/prices?

I really like Ebo Jager for heaters, though the Visitherm Stealth are OK too. Should be in the $15-20 range.

XP3 is a good filter, the price will vary where you look. The price is listed in a post above, but as noted the price has gone up.

Ahh I thought the heaters would be another $100 item. Glad to hear they are relatively cheap!

I will search around for an XP3... I will probably have to buy it online though, I didn't see a wide selection at the stores.

This turtle hasn't been in a "swimming" habitat for god knows how long. At my aunts, she has about 3 inches of water which she can't even swim in. She's been there for around 3 years. At her previous location, I don't know how she was taken care of...

I have concerns on how she will adapt to a new cage. Will she be okay with lots of water? It might be silly but I'm afraid she will drown!! I also know that you are supposed to put the food in the water... but I doubt she has been fed this way. Should I still put the food in the water, right off the bat?

Should I be trying to ease her into her new habitat? If so, how? Also, for those Zoo Med turtle docks, do I need a ramp or are they able to get on them without one?

EDIT: Free shipping on big als + 10% discount made it $120. Unfortunately, this is for the US site (and I live in Canada). Luckily I live an hour away from the states so I'd be able to ship it there and pick it up.

Is $120 a good price for a Rena XP3? I've been looking around but couldn't find anything cheaper. Not only that, but the shipping was ridiculous...