I'd like to toss in a suggestion on housing. If you don't want to run out & buy a big expensive glass tank just yet, clear Rubbermaid storage boxes make great tanks for aquatic turtles. They're light weight, easier to keep clean, & have a lot of room for a growing turtle.

You don't need anything on the bottom for a substrate either. Gravel can be injested which is bad, big river rocks they can't swallow make too much work for you to keep them clean. Turtles don't care if the bottom is bare.

You can hook the filter & the submersible heater up to a big plastic box too, no problem. We suspended the UV/B fluorescent full spectrum reptile light fixture for ours from the ceiling like a swag lamp.

When they have the right water temps, clean water, and a basking spot so that they feel comfortable they're more likely to eat.

Our western painted was a little one like yours when we got him, all set up in a warm tank, he ate just about anything we'd toss in. I think he did because he was comfortable, we put him in a room of his own where it was quiet so he wasn't disturbed a lot. We did have to harm the live fish for him though.
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PHRatz

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• please help, turtle wont eat and I worry about him - pinkalixious, Sun Oct 2 19:04:52 2005
• RE: please help, turtle wont eat and I worry about him - nekot076, Mon Oct 3 09:04:48 2005
• Eating question - nekot076, Mon Oct 3 09:07:15 2005
• RE: please help, turtle wont eat and I worry about him - Andrew_Myers, Mon Oct 3 13:13:59 2005
• RE: please help, turtle wont eat and I worry about him - erico, Mon Oct 3 15:42:57 2005
• RE: please help, turtle wont eat and I worry about him - ntothed89, Mon Oct 3 17:23:16 2005
• RE: please help, turtle wont eat and I worry about him - PHRatz, Tue Oct 4 09:48:21 2005