General Care Discussion :: Help !!

[AquaticLuv]

OK, I know a lot of things have changed since I was a kid with a turtle. My grand kids wanted a turtle. While we were at a Flea Market, they were selling them. I bought 2 plus a lagoon. Now, after reading up on turtles, it's a whole different life for them now. I have had these 2 for about a month now. They are still in their lagoon with a light over the top part where they bask. Just a regular light bulb. I need to know what I need to get to make a better living environment for them. Oh, and they came with a bag of pellet food. The one eats about 4-5 pellets, the other about 2-3. I use RODI water. I fill it so the water is just above there shells. They are about 1 1/4 inches. That's their shell length.

OK, I'm ready to start writing down what I need ...

[steve]

Welcome to the site! Red ear sliders of all sizes and ages need the same essentials. The tricky part of your situation is that you have 2 unsexed sliders. If one of them is a male, it will greatly impact the way you will be able to keep them. Females on the hand are larger than males and will require larger habitats.

[AquaticLuv]

What size aquarium will I need? Do I fill it up all the way? Do turtles swim? I know they need to get out of the water and bask. So I will need a ramp of some sort. What size heat lamp? Oh, how do I sex them?

[kamekichi]

Hello, AquaticLuv, and welcome. I'm still new at this as well, but I'll try to help with what I know. The recommendation for tank size/water fill amount is usually 10 gallons per inch of shell. I have small turtles like you and I use a Turtle Dock, but I'm aware that those can't hold too much weight, so one of the other members might have a more permanent solution.

[sweety10189110]

Welcome AquaticLuv! Not sure if you have checked the basic care page http://www.redearslider.com/index_basic_care.html of redearslider.com but that is good place to start with tons of information. Unfortunately you won't be able to sex your turts until they hit the 4" mark. Also check out the Habitat - Indoor forum viewforum.php?f=6 for examples on set ups / habitats for your little guys/gals.

[AquaticLuv]

Thanks for the info. I have read through out this site. Some nice turtle tanks ! I got a tank, it's a foot high, foot width and 30 inches long. Put a heater in it and am going to get a heat light this weekend. Right now, I am still using the regular light bulb. I built up slate so they can get out of the water. They seem much happier in this tank than the little lagoon they had. What wattage heat light should I get?

[simplehiccup]

Time is money to us, so we use Mercury Vapor Bulbs (MVB). It is an all-in-one bulb that gives off heat and artificial sunlight at the same time-turtles need both. If you go this route, you have to buy a light stand (which is what we did) or suspend the bulb over a portion of the tank using an alternative method- because these bulbs must not be positioned at an angle, so I have read.
Time is money to me, so using these bulbs saves me from having to deal with two different bulbs, two different fixtures-one for heating and one for light. There is great information about this on the heating and lighting portion of this website.
These things can be bought online. Large stores like Petco and Petsmart also usually carry the bulbs and the light stands-but call before you make the trip.

[steve]

Your tank is roughly 18 gallons, which would be too small for a MVB. Once you invest into a larger tank, then it would be a good time to use one. At that point you will know what their genders are and can plan appropriately. Using substrate to build up a basking area looks nice but takes up a lot of space and would trap a lot of waste. Think about a simple acrylic or resin dock.

[camee1991]

Hi.
With a small tank you can use 2 cheap clamp lamps for now, and buy your bulbs a uva/uvb and a heat bulb from a pet store or online petstores like 4littlepets.com , drs foster and smith.com , etc. They sell coil uva/uvb bulbs for "sun" for about 10 bucks and last about a year. And sell heat only bulbs, usually water, splash proof for around 5 bucks each. Then you can also buy a submersible water heater a 50 watt would suffice, cheap too.
Then you can always get a basking ramp from the same online sites too or even Petco, etc. They are nice!
Then you should be able to fill the tank up close to the top and theyll do great!!
Just no ROCKS or gravel. Its pretty, but can impact your turts if eaten. So only larger decorations are normally the best or none.
If your turts are tiny, its hard to sex them at first, the only way to tell in the beginning is the fingernails. Males have long long claws, and longer tails. Females have shorter claws and stubbier tails.
I would buy 2 different set ups if you cannot sex them yet... if they stay together, youre gonna have lotsa babies down the road.... better not to.
Or they could get aggressive with each other. Not good either.
Read up on the basics on this site and youll get there!!
PS. Feeding them Reptomin pellets is good. Only as much as would fit in their heads. Then its always good to give them red leaf lettuce. Just wash a bit off and toss it in. If they dont eat it within a few hours, throw it away and try again later. plus....WASH WASH WASH ur hands and any children who will possibly touch them or the water as to not get a disease. ( for the 1st year) although, much touching when small is not recommended, because the get really nervous.
Good luck!!!!

[AquaticLuv]

They went from this


To this


Not very pretty, but it's better than what they were in. I have a heater in there, it stays at 80*. We will get a heat and UV lamp tonight. There is a guy in our town that has storage places filled with aquarium stuff. I will contact him and pick up some better looking furniture for them and take the slate out. Their tank is right beside my computer desk and they constantly swim over to that side and look at me ... lol They are so cute. I was wandering about floor decor. I was planning on rocks, will not do that now. Is there anything I can put on the floor?

[steve]

I'd try sand for substrate and cork for the basking area.

[apondfortimmy]

Definitely an improvement for them! I'd say you're in the right place and heading the right direction.
It's so cute that they swim over to you... mine doesn't really do that. Ever. Even when I feed him. Maybe one day...

[camee1991]

Sounds and looks GREAT so far!! You can tell they look happier!!
1. The heater, great!!
2. The lights "coming" great!!
3. Basking area...slate is soooo heavy and not all that appealing, but its working for now
4. If you can buy a suction cup basking ramp, it has a nice ramp and nice area for basking, it suctions to the side of the tank. Which is nice because it gives them more swimming space and both lights can be turned toward the side, on the basking area. Then the temp can be lowered a cple degrees.
Lookup turtle basking ramps online. Theyre acrylic with a green cover to make it easy for the turts to climb
5. You can also go to walmart...and get a sticky temperature screen, to stick on the side of the tank. Cheap, small and u can actually keep track of actual water temp at any time.
6. Awesome that you can get "furniture" 4 them!! A couple things are nice so they can perch on them underwater and or hide behind them if they want to.
7, As for substrate....people have varied opionions...from large rocks to sand....but i prefer nothing as do many RES owners. Its wayyy easier to keep clean from food leftovers and poo. x)
8. You will need a water filter, or you will have to do full water changes weekly! The tank will get dirty fast and stink. If you dont have the money for a nice name brand filter ...there are still many nice aquarium filters. Although in the beginning are costly, but worth it. If u go that way...get the largest u can afford . (That way when u have to upgrade the tank, the filter will still be perfect) Too big is better than too small. But...if $$ is a concern...walmart, petco, petsmart etc have decent filters for your size tank at this time.
9. Hang in there!!!! Youre doing great!! It seems overwhelming, but keep reading and youll get it Soon youll become like a lot of us...."constantly perfecting" our tanks, for fun and purpose

Hope this helps!!! And WELCOME!

[AquaticLuv]

We went to Lowes and bought a Mercury Vapor bulb, as soon as I turned it on, it blew the circuit breaker. It was an 80 watt bulb. We had it in a treble lamp. Took it out in the garage and tried it in a different lamp, it blew the breaker out there also. So, we are taking it back and just getting a heat light. Then we'll get a UV light at the pet store. Do we need a air stone in there? I'm going to be looking for a Fluval filter. I have 2 on my freshwater tank. I will look for a basking ramp. This will be a fun and educational for me and the grand kids.
This is a great site, very helpful.

[simplehiccup]

Go Go Grandparents! Nice job on your set-up project!