General Care Discussion :: New owner questions.

[Captain Rotundo]

I am new, Hi everybody.

I recently got two very small sliders, maybe 1.5 to 2 inches, I got them on Canal Street in NYC, and have recently learned this is too small to be selling.

Any way I have them in an about 65 gallon tank, maybe half full with water. They have a heater and are at a steady 78 degrees (at first I had them at 84 degree because I read that young turtles should be kept 84-86, but have seen many people here say 78 so I lowered it at the last tank cleaning. I have a UVB flouresent bulb, and a nice basking area that keeps them dry and at a good temp. I have been feeding them baby turtle pellets, leafy greens (they seem to love romaine) and put some small minnows in which they diminished from 18 to 5 or 6 now over the course of about two weeks. anyway on to the questions.

1. one of the turtles is always out and about chasing fish or pushing rocks, but the other always seems to be sleeping or just sitting still on some rocks in shallower water. is this normal? I never saw them basking so I set up a camera durring the day and took snap shots every 10 or 15 minutes, they both basked for several hours but the active one seemed to change position every so often and the quiet one just sat in the same spot for three hours (of course he may have moved in between snapshots I suppose). It's not like he never moves, I have seen him swim and eat. Also the more active turtle appears to be growing (he is noticably a little bigger and over the last day has been noticably shedding, not so for the quiet one)

2. Since I got the turtle for the enjoyment on my 5 year old son I decided that instead of buying a standard aquarium background to cover the back of the tank we would draw on togther on a large piece of drawing paper, is the majority of the tank being surrounded by a light colored paper (off white, with some colorful drawings on it) in anyway detrimental to the turtles? This didnt occur to me to be a problem, but after putting up the backdrop I notice that it is probably considerably lighter and brighter than a natural habitat.

3. I originally got a ZooMed 501 "Turtle Filter", and originally had about 15 gallons of water, now I've had maybe 25-30 gallons for almost two weeks, and the filter doesnt seem to be keeping up quite as well. I am thinking of picking up an XP3 in the next few days, but every setup I see for this filter says that it should be placed below the bottom of the tank, I would have to put it tank level next to the tank, would this be a problem?

4. I've added this waste removing bacteria additive to the water, but am now wondering if this stuff is worth it since I've not seen any mention of it on this site, what are your thoughts? Also I have a coworker that had turtles for a while and says I should use the Vitamin A eye drops preemtively, is this needed?

5. Until now all the water I've added to the tank has been RO Filtered or distilled, if I start using TAP water can I get any aquarium tap water treater, or should I buy a reptile/turtle specific one, also will there be a noticable difference in water quality?

6. A lot of things I have read have said I should add a "quality reptile vitamin" to the diet, should I? and which is recomended?

7. The UVB light I have is a flouresent tube that runs half the length of the tank, I have it possitioned ov by the side with the basking heat lamp, is this going to provide adaquite UVB or should I get a UVB spot light? (Right now I would say both lights are about 12-15 inches from the basking site, although I hope to increase the water depth again soon, once I figure out what I am going to do for the basing site.

8. Right now I have a stack of flat stone for the basking area, and a small on on the other side of the tank as the turtles seem to enjoy having an area of shallower water. Is this because I started with a shallower tank and they were used to it? should I not provide a shallower area? (They seem to like to sleep on it at night)


Thank you in advance for your advice.

[missibsu]

First off, welcome!

1) Some turtles are more outgoing than others. Since the turtle basks and swims I wouldn't worry too much. Does he eat his fair share as well? The other turtle could just be more outgoing.

2) I don't see any problem with the backdrop. How the tank is decorated isn't going to matter to the turtles, it's more about what you want.

3) While the xp3 should be placed below the tank, there are some people on here who have them sitting next to the tank. You may have a harder time getting it started, but I don't think there have been any significant problems with it set up that way.

4) I don't use a waste remover. I try not to add anything to the water if I don't have to. The only thing I add is the water conditioner.

As for the eye drops. I would say not to use it unless you feel there is a real need. Some things turtles, like humans, can build a tolerance to. I know that with vit. A shots that the vet gives, they shouldn't be given too often because it can be over done.

5) I use regular tap water and use a basic water conditioner. The best thing you can do is call your water supplier and see what kinds of things are added to the water to make it safe for drinking. Then you will want to find a conditioner that treats them. Just follow the directions on the bottle.

6) I don't offer vitamins, although I have given it some thought. Right now I am just doing my best with a varied diet...covering the basics that way.

7) I have a 75 gallon tank and use a tube style bulb that covers have the tank. I placed the basking area under the half with the UVB and put a regular bulb in the other half. I also save my old UVB bulbs and use them when needed, since they still give off light. It's my understanding that the UVB should be 6-12 inches away, so raising the water temp a little should help.

8.) Zoo Med makes floating basking docks for turtles. They are wonderful because they don't take up swimming space. Another thing that you have to be careful about is that your stack of rocks could shift and fall. You don't want to injure a turtle.

[Shavannah]

Welcome! It looks like you've read up on the care of your turtles nicely. I can't think of anything to add to Missibsu's reply. She's a big help on here!

[Captain Rotundo]

Thanks for the answers. I wouldnt worry about the rocks, if the turtles could move them then I would need a *much* larger tank.

One more question: I want to fix my user name, my profile page says to contact "the site administrator" the faq says "access@redearslider.com" but mail to that address bounces. Who do I contact?

[steve]

Hi, PM me or email me. Thanks.

[amazingcc]

Wow - a first-time turtle owner who actually did research! Wish there were more of you around!