General Care Discussion :: Question about albino turtles

[madmax1]

does any one own or ever kept an albino RES? I was wondering about there eyesight, my albino seems to be bumping into things in the tank she is only about 2" just a baby. she also seems to have a hard time finding her food. she will smell it and when she goes to bite it she always misses it. is this normal with albinos when they are young? and does there eyesight get better as they get older? if there is even a problem ..she basks . she seems to be eating because she has grown since i got her and she is active, i have some fake plants in the tank she is always trying to eat them , i have her with my caramel turtle right now they get along fine , just worried about her she seems so fragile my albino, or it could just be me ! a little paranoid with her. she really loves being in the plants, i think she really feels secure in and around them. Any one with knowledge or experience with albinos I would love to hear from you Thanks MadMax1.

[steve]

Yes, albino RES are known to have poor eye sight. She should get better as she gets older, but I'm not sure how much... it's probably different for each albino. I would probably separate her from the caramel, at least until she's a little bigger.

[madmax1]

Yes, albino RES are known to have poor eye sight. She should get better as she gets older, but I'm not sure how much... it's probably different for each albino. I would probably separate her from the caramel, at least until she's a little bigger.

they love to really be together here are a couple of pics of them i just took

[megcornell]

Such oddly adorable turtles The caramel seems so inquisitive about the albino.

A question though- doesn't the albino have different lighting requirements than the caramel? I'm not familiar with these "different'' (no offense) turtle phenotypes.
I would think the caramel would need more light than the albino can handle.

[madmax1]

Such oddly adorable turtles The caramel seems so inquisitive about the albino.

A question though- doesn't the albino have different lighting requirements than the caramel? I'm not familiar with these "different'' (no offense) turtle phenotypes.
I would think the caramel would need more light than the albino can handle.

I was told so many different things about lighting and such so i decided to call the breeder that i bought the turtle from, the albino that is. i was told that they need the same light requirements as any other RES, they need there UVA and UVB. And a heat lamp. and i was told that they do have poor eyesight as hatchlings, and should get a little better as they become a little older,as STEVE said in his post, we will see what happens, in the meantime I am still trying to see if anybody that has an albino or had an albino what there experience was.will check around the internet also,Thanks for your post though, I thought the same thing,I still have a lot to learn.