Habitat - Indoor :: Help. New turtle, thought it would be easy!

[mcoffman]

I went to a fair yesterday and got my 3 year old a cute little 2 inch turtle. The people selling them said all you have to do is keep them in this little plastic container and feed it one pellet of food a day. It will not grow to big for this housing, and they are so easy to maintain.
I thought something might have been fishy about that so I came to this site to find that they were lying to make a sale. I'm very frustrated because I don't have the $ for a nice home for it, but I want to do whats best for it(while keeping it).
I would like to start getting the most important items first and buy the other necessities here and there. Is that possible? Will this cute little turtle survive long enough if I don't go out and get everything now?

Please help!

[Tenodera]

Yes, have you read the care guides on this website?

Well the FIRST thing you should get is a big enclosure for them. Maybe you have a big plastic rubber maid lying around? Those are fine to house turtles in.

Where do you live? Depending on where will depend whether you need a water heater or not.

After you get a big place for them to live in, you should start saving money up for a filter.

[Starchick]

At the absolute bare minimum, you need a tank or rubbermaid big enough for plenty of swimming room (fill a tank with as much water as possible without the turtle being able to climb out, fill a rubbermaid about halfway), something so it can climb out of the water and dry off (most people use zoomed floating turtle docks, about 10 bucks for a small one), and a clamp lamp with a regular household bulb for basking. Also, like Tenodera said, it depends on your climate whether a heater is absolutely essential but if it's cool there that will be probably the most important thing up front.

UVB light is also important. If it's still warm where you are, you can take the turtle outside for 15-20 minutes a day and let it get natural uvb light from the sun (it has to be direct sunlight, if it comes through a window or screen the uvb gets filtered out). If you can't take it outside, you'll need a uvb bulb. Petsmart sells the reptiglo 5.0 compact fluorescent for about 15 dollars, and clamp lamps are 5 or 6 bucks at home depot.

Filtration isn't a huge issue if you change the water often enough, which does become a chore, but a filter is something you can wait on and save up for, as Tenodera said.

Your main concern for the immediate future is probably water temperature. If you live somewhere where your room temperature is dipping below 70 at night, you'll want to get a heater right away. Respiratory infections are common in turtles, and having water that's too cool is a big health risk. You ideally want to keep it around 78-80 degrees for a hatchling. I think as far as keeping it alive until your setup is complete, having the right temperatures and some kind of a basking spot will go a long way, so long as your turtle is healthy to begin with. So many little turtles succumb to respiratory infections. Check out the health section on this site and keep an eye out for any symptoms.

Sorry to barrage you with all this, I hope it was helpful. I'm glad you found us, and really happy that you're taking your new responsibility seriously! If you have questions about anything I've mentioned feel free to message me. I remember how confusing everything was at first!

[mcoffman]

Thank you all so much for the info. I told my husband last night what I had read about it and he agreed that we should do what we can to keep "Sarah" (my daughter named it) alive. He said I can purchase an aquarium, but I think that with the heater, light, water heater, and other items I need, I will just start with the rubbermaid and upgrade later to an aquarium.

I do live in KY, so it's warm right now but will cool off pretty soon. The temp's this week are in the 70's. How warm should it be if I take her outside?

[Starchick]

To be safe, I'd say 75, but definitely not lower than 70.

[Tenodera]

LOL My turtle was formerly called Serra (pronounced as Sarah) before I found out he was a GUY!

[oobie58]

Get as big of a tank that you can or if you don't have the money for it get a plastic container. (20gallons at the least)
ubv uva light bulbs
2 dome lights
basking dock (I would say medium because that would last a while)
Filter

Johnny

[industrial_girl_2000]

I will warn you that UVB lighting is expensive. I encourage you to shop online and comparison shop. I have saved money by buying UVB lamps online. Check out Petco.com & petsmart.com as well as the "Dr. Fosters & Smith" reptile supply website.

[octpusgirl8]

You will frequently find that Petsmart sells things online for a lot less than they do in the store. If you print out the page with the item and price on it and bring it to the store, they wil sell it to you for the online price. That way you get it right away, and you save money. I do this for all the more expensive things i buy there.

[industrial_girl_2000]

You will frequently find that Petsmart sells things online for a lot less than they do in the store. If you print out the page with the item and price on it and bring it to the store, they wil sell it to you for the online price. That way you get it right away, and you save money. I do this for all the more expensive things i buy there.

Yup, that's been my experience as well!

[mcoffman]

I'm not understanding the uva-uvb lights. Do I need one of each? If so, do I point both of them at the basking area?
I'm going to PetSmart shortly and want to pick up the correct lighting.

[megcornell]

Yes, you need both UVA and UVB. UVA is the heat source for the basking area, you can use a regular household light bulb for that. UVB bulbs help your turtle utilize vit. D3 to break down calcium which is important for healthy shells and bones. When you buy the UVB bulb make sure the package specifically says UVB, there are a lot of confusing packages out there that say "UV" or full spectrum but don't offer UVB so it will not be effective.

[oobie58]

reptilesupply.com has ubv lights for like $20.00!! That is freakin cheap for me.

[kermitzaqd]

I suggest www.petmountain.com for cheap online buys, like your uvb bulb. Also, if you're going the rubbermaid tub, you can always use a regular heating pad underneath it for the time being until you can afford a submersible heater. There's tons of stuff just lying around the house that you can use for your turtle set up until you have the money to invest in more specific turtle housing supplies.

[mcoffman]

Okay, I think I'm on the right track thanks to all of the reply's I've gotten. Since my turtle is only about 2 inches long I just got a 10 gallon aquarium for now. (Hope thats okay) As soon as he/she grows some I will upgrade and just use the smaller one for something else.
I also bought a water heater, uvb bulb, regular bulb, and a basking area. When I put the little turtle in there he started to immediately swim around. It was so cute how he would just float in the water with his head sticking up there. I can tell he's much happier already!!

*I only have one more concern though, that is the water heater. I haven't seen anything about the heater being put behind something so that he doesn't get on it. Couldn't that be dangerous if he touches it? It's kinda warm.