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I have a small RES hatchling that my brother bought from Chinatown and left at home. He/she is probably about 2 inches long at max, so I'm assuming he's less than a year old. I just recently started looking up how to care for him better.

I know my 'tank' is ridiculously small at the moment, as its the one that the turtle came in (something like 6"x4"x5"). However, the placement of our old fish tank is less than ideal (no sun and near the door to the garage, not to mention out of the way so we kept forgetting about him >>) and I need to work up some time to clear up some room to put it in a better spot. I still need to get a UVB light and my 'heat lamp' is basically one of the old desktop lamps we've had around with a 60 watt incandescent. I clean out his container once a day, since its really small, and feed him at the same time (one pellet, should I give him more?).

I've noticed this off-white flaky material on top of Rushell's shell; I'm wondering if that's just my water quality or is it a fungal problem or something else? He seems to be perfectly fine otherwise, once I realized that his water needed to be warmer. Also I noticed that the back of his shell is very flexible, and I'm not completely sure if that's normal. I'm also wondering how long I can leave my lamp on, since I'm just worried that the water will heat up and cook him >< I keep the water at about 1"-1.5" of the container because I have a limited number of rocks that I could use in stacking them into a basking area.

Thanks for your help in advance!

If it shows up when the shell is dry, then it could just be minerals. There are lots of fungus-type pics on the forum if you search for it. If you're still unsure, you can post your own. The shell of a hatchling will be slightly pliable.

Welcome to the site.

the heat lamp should work fine with the new aquarium as long as it makes the basking area the proper temps. Buying a fancy heating bulb is just a waste of money, regular house hold bulbs are just fine. The UVB bulb is necessary though. If it's warm enough where you live, you can take your turtle outside for some time in the sun until you can buy the UVB bulb.

One pellet is definitely not enough, you should be looking to feed your turtle the amount of pellets that would fit inside its head if it were hollow. Feeding in a separate container can help minimize the mess in its bowl.

and when you do clear out room for the tank, don't put it in the path of direct sunlight or under any vents, you want to be able to have control over all the factors that could alter the temperature of the tank (ie, water temperature/heaters, and bulbs only)

Thanks!

Question: Rushell likes to hang out at the bottom of the water with his eyes shut a lot (sleeping?). I'm just a little paranoid because I don't know how long they can hold their breath and I'd like to know when I should get worried ><

If they're not active, they can hold their breath for a long time. However, he should be more active during the day and have his eyes open. Are there any unusual symptoms?

His sleep cycle might be bit messed up because mine is kinda messed up >< But not really anything unusual that I've noticed. He was pretty active for a good few hours today and he really went at his food. I think I'm up later than he is, so I see him sleeping/attempting to sleep a bunch.