Habitat - Indoor :: New RES owner, need help!

[toomuch9992001]

Hi everyone! We bought a RES from a petstore a couple of days ago, and of course we were not told what we needed to know. I have looked online and over this wonderful site to find out as much as possible. Today I saw another RES on craigslist that needed a new home and we went to get it. The lady was SOOOO wonderful and gave me lots more info. She wanted to make sure we could and would take care of our RES. She even told me about this site! I am still feeling a little like Im in over my head. We have 2 dogs, 2 cats, 55gal with fish and 29 gal with fish, and they are ALL part of our family. Now for what I need lol. We have a 55gal tank for our RESs one is about 4-5 in male named Flipper Turtle Fish, and the other is about 6 in female named Lucky Lou Lou Did I mention we also have 4 very creative kids lol. When we brought the first one home, we only had about 6 inches of water on one side and the other side was sloped up to a basking area with a log. We have the heater and 2 filters in the tank. When I seen the ladies set up today, I figured out fast ours was not good, so we went to the petstore and bought a floating dock and filled it up as far as we could and put tops on it. I am now working on getting the gravel out, but the lady at the petstore said sand was not good either because they would eat that also. Im not sure what to put down. I have to get a UVB light tomorrow, the one I bought tonight wont fit the top we have. I do have a basking light, but Im wondering how much time they really need to bask. The first little one we bought, I have only seen bask once. The one we got today seems to try to climb up the side of the dock instead of the sloped end, so I put a Roman looking thing next to it to help them climb up. Flipper seems SOOO much happier now that the tank has lots of water in it, he wasnt really eating before, we were trying to take him out of the tank and put him in a water filled rubber tank, now he is eating and swimming like you wouldnt believe, but Im worried about him not basking. Also, do I leave the basking light on all the time or turn it off when I turn off the UVB light?

Any answers to these questions would be greatly appreciated and any other advice for new RES owners! They already seem like part of the family and are so much fun to watch! I just want to take the best care of them possible.
Thanks!

[jozzep]

Seems like you did a double post here.One was all you needed
This one will get deleted by a mod soon.

[untsmurf]

Get a timer for your lights and use that to set up a day/night cycle. Don't buy the fancy ones at the pet store, you can get the same thing at target for $2. You want the lights on for 10-12 hours then off the rest. And make sure your UVB light shines on the basking area. The rays don't really penetrate the water, so you don't need one of the tub ones. Just get the compact one, I think they're cheaper anyways.

My turtle, for some reason, refuses to use his ramp, he'll climb up from every other side, but not the easy one. Some turtles are just ornery like that.

Don't worry if the new turtles don't eat right away, some of them take a little while to settle in. Keep offering food, but don't worry until its been a few weeks. Once they start eating, though, you want to make sure that both turtles are getting a chance to eat. RES are very aggressive and territorial and don't like sharing. If you notice any food aggression, take the lesser aggressive turtle out and feed him in a tub to ensure he gets his food. If you don't, the more aggressive turtle will stress out the lesser one to the point of starvation and he can die. I've had personal experience with this so it is possible and definitely something you want to avoid.

The turtles will bask as much as they need to, just make sure and offer at least 10 hours of warmth and UVB, and they'll do it. Sometimes newer turtles are shy about basking in front of their owners, so just try and give them some privacy until they get used to you. Or you can put some fake plants around the side of your basking area to provide security. It took my turtle about six months before I could be in the same room while he was basking.

You don't actually need a substrate in your tank. I recommend not putting one down until you get the hang of cleaning your tank and seeing how much waste they produce. Substrate tend to make tanks look cleaner because the waste gets trapped in it, but that's not good for your water quality. If you do decide to go with something, make sure it's not gravel. If you want a rocky substrate, make sure the rocks are bigger than your turtles' heads so they have no chance of eating them. If you like sand, read over the Sand FAQ post first. Most people use bare bottomed tanks, or they put in just a few large rocks for the turtles to play with.

[toomuch9992001]

Thank you all so much! I finally have all the gravel out(who knew how hard it is to get ALL those little rocks out! lol) I am very thankful too, when I fed this morning Lucky Lou Lou went to the bathroom and had some very small rocks in it. The lady I got her from said she rescued her from someone on craigslist that wasnt carrying for her right and thats why she thinks she wont get much bigger, but I hope with good care she can grow to her full potinal, whatever that may be for her. I havent decided yet if Im going to put sand in or not, I have been up all night, and too tired to think about washing and adding all that sand right now I know everyone says they dont need company but these two seem to just love each other, the little male Flipper follows Lucky everywhere she goes, and she seems to nuzzle him, I havent seen any agression at all, and he seems sooo much happier with her, more water, and now he is eating!
In a little while Im going to get the UVB light to replace the one that didnt fit last night, and some jello so I can make the jello shots for them, Flipper doesnt want to eat his veggies lol.
I have looked at all the really cool ATBA and the nesting boxes. We bought the sand last night because we knew she was a female, and I will buy peatmoss or such. I have talked with hubby about helping me build a ATBA and nesting area, so they can have access to it all times. I checked her this morning and no signs of eggs and no nesting signs that I can see yet, but I really dont know whats normal for her yet either. If I notice any signs of needing to nest I have a large plastic bin I can set up for her.

Again, thank you all so much! I want our new family additions to be as happy and healthy as possible!