Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Greetings,

My RES is now about a month old, so, I am far from an expert on the subject. I thought I would pass on some of my experience on equipment I purchased.

My son received our RES as a gift - Yes, the number one problem with RES' - it was stuffed into a small 3x5 box. After some quick “net” reading we went out to purchase stuff to help our little one survive.

Tank - From most of my reading I thought it was best to pick up a 20-gallon tank. I went with one that was long and narrow (30"Lx 12"W x18D”). It also had the glass at one end cut in about the middle, so a regular filter would touch the bottom of the tank. It provides about 3"-6" of water max. It sounded good, but if my RES survives it's first year I'll have to upgrade the tank. (My suggestion is to buy a tank without the special cut and purchase a long hose/tube to get the filter to the bottom of the tank.) Cost $39.99.

Filter - I bought an external filter that clips onto the tank. This one was rated for a 15-20 gallon tank. If I would have shopped around more, I could have gotten one a little larger for the same price. It is a dual filter, foam & carbon. It seems to do a good job. Be careful it doesn’t suck up the turtle. You may need to place a rock near by. Cost $22.99.

Heater - I started with a mat that sticks, with tape, under the bottom of the tank. After several hours, it did not seem to heat the water. After a week, I went to clean the tank and felt the pad. Lukewarm. I took it back. DO NOT buy a under tank heater. I then purchased a submersible glass heater. This model has a thermostat and a light that comes on when heating. Being fully submersible, I can lay the heater horizontally near the bottom. With low water this comes in handy. Cost $19.95 on sale, normally $21.99.

Thermometer - I bought two, a glass and film. Save $2.00 and just get a glass thermometer that has a suction cup. I keep the water about 76. Cost $2.99

Rocks - Read the label, it's $2.50 a pound! Not per rock. Make sure to clean them before you put them in. Scrub them and let them sit in a bucket of water for an hour. Anyway, yes, I bought a few of them. Others I found around the yard and in the woods. My suggestion, don't buy pretty rocks that don't match. I have a green turtle and red rocks. They look nice, but my RES doesn't like them. Cost $8.50 - 3 flat rocks.

Light - I had a clip on light from when I work under the house, I replaced the bulb with one the special UV bulb. Light free for me or for you $3.99. Bulb $8.99

Food - My half dollar size RES still will not eat in front of me, I hope it's eating. I assume it is or it would be dead by now. So, what works best I'm not sure. I leave it pellets, worms, baby crickets, rosy (little fish) and ReptoMin Gel. I don't think he eats the pellets. They get stuck to the filter. Crickets tend to walk on water then crawl up the glass and hop out. This is the only think he actually ate once for me, I pulled off a leg. Rosy fish are to big, but do a nice job of cleaning the tank. ReptoMin Gel, I think this is what he is eating or at least I hope so. Pellets $3.95, worms free, crickets $2.19doz, rosy 4 @ .12ea, and ReptoMin $6.99.

Other - After looking at costly fake plants, I ended up take some of my wife's home decor and using it. Price nagging looks from my wife.

Well I hope this help some of you, if you have any comments please share them.

-Ravon

Good luck with your RES, Ravon! If it's any consolation at all, I bought my RES on impulse in NYC for $10 in the beginning of September. Between my (extremely generous ) gram and myself, we figure we've spent about $300-350 on Crumpet so far, what with 3 different tanks, 2 Fluvals, gravel, food, treats, lighting, heaters, hoods, etc. (The sad thing is, right now he's about the size of a Pringle and he's in a 10 gallon aquarium. He seems to be okay in it but I know he should be in a 20 gallon tank. Thing is, I don't have the money at the moment and I certainly don't have the space. The 10 gallon is a tight, tight squeeze in my tiny dorm room, and if I got a 20 gallon I'd have to put my bed on cinder blocks and put the tank under it, and he would get no natural light at all under there. So 10 gallon it is for now). It sounds like you're doing well for your turtle though, certainly a hell of a lot better than most brand-new owners, myself included. From what I've gathered, having a turtle is always expensive, although once they reach full growth and they're in, say, a 55 gallon tank from then on it's more maintenance than anything else. My advice to you: try to take it one day at a time. I don't know if that's much help, but it seems like I spend a lot less on the turtle if I buy his things over the course of a few days rather than all at once. (Although lately I have been buying it all at once, and that may be why it seems so expensive.) Best of luck to you, your son and your turtle!
~Amanda
-----
0.0.1 Crumpet
In this world, this new world of ours, there will be rocking.
~Dave Eggers

Couple words of advice for the dorm room turtle. It doesn't really matter if they get any natural light or not, since your windows filter out about 99.75% of all UVB light, which is what they need. 55 gallon tank....ha! I wish they'd only grow that big! lol....I had my softshell in a 125 before I finally convinced my mom to let me put a pond outside of her house, even though I was away at college. She needed at least a 400 gallon tank. My RES will be joining her soon. Good ideas for all those smaller tanks...I have a 10, a 29, a 55, and a 120. In the 10, i'm breeding goldfish. In the 29 and 55's I have saltwater setups. In the 120 I have 2 oscars...if you ever want some fish, oscar's are considered to be the smartest fish in the world. Have fun!

LOL, I have more bad news for you. That 9 dollar bulb doesn't do anything other than provide heat, you still need to invest in a UVB bulb. The one you have producing only UVA. You will need a ReptiSun flourescent tube ($20) and a fixture.
-----

::raising hand:: I'm a 3 monther who ended up with a free turtle because I was afraid he was going to be mistreated by someone. In the last 3 months I've learned a lot about turtles I never thought I would want to know. Now I just love having a turtle but not exactly the pet I would have chosen (dog & cat owner). The first month was pretty hit and miss. Oh, I got the basics right, but it was a month before I got the correct lighting. Only things I knew for sure were: Tank, Filter (even though first week I didn't use) basking area, food. Things I know now after first month are that proper lighing (Light strip with UVB as well as heating/basking lamp) is imperative, hiding place for the turtle, regular vacuuming of turtle waste, and regular water changes. Oh, and I read somewhere that regular inspection of turtle so if any changes occur it would be recognized. After 3 months, I've finally gotten confident enough to extend his legs to make sure nothing is abnormal but I'm still shy about extending his tail.

I haven't spent $150 yet, but give me a couple of more months, I might reach that. I'm lucky because I had a lot of things at home already that I've improvised with. My tank is too small but I'm upgrading after Xmas.

My turtle is awfully cute and I think recognizes me. At least, this morning he seemed to be following my movements. Maybe he was hungry, don't know. He's fed in the afternoon and has feeder fish (which he likes stalking) so I'm not too concerned about feeding. I read somewhere that turtles would eat all day if you let them. I'm not counting out his pellets, but do give him the same amount daily give or take an extra piece.

I actually enjoy watching him, so I guess I'm lucky sometime down the road if something happens to him, I'll recognize it.

That is funny. That is exactly what happened to us, and we love our RES turtle now! At first I was not a happy camper, as we have a dog and cat, too. But now, we laugh about it, saying that it's cost us over $200 (trial and error), but we love the turtle. Wait until it outgrows the tank. I've gone from a 10 gallon to a 20 gallon and soon will need a 55 gallon. Not to mention maintenance products, food, bulbs, etc. LOL!

Greetings,

Here is TurtleDude sitting on his rock. Can you make out the two rosies swimming by?

-Ravon

I am definitley no turtle expert. Bought mine on impulse on canal street. that was 5 years ago. Now she's 10 inches or so.

The 55 gallon tank does seem a bit small, but I'm not a total turtle nerd either. I have to pretty much keep her in there until I move out of the city (next few years) and build a pond....or leave her at prospect park with the other RES.

One word of advice. Feeding is the stinkiest messiest part, I put Ivan (girl) into a separate bucket everytime before I feed her. I was told they have more protein in the beginning and more veggies etc later in life. so that went along with her eating habbits. Wouldn't eat anything but pellets at first, but as time went on she was more into the other foods. Basil was the first thing she was willing to eat. now she'll eat ANYTHING.

I have tons of insecurities about my turtle since the experts seem to know everything, but Ivan is still alive and looks very healthy. UVA and UVB bulbs are the most important thing to get the vitamin they need for their bones.

Also when she got about 4 inches I started taking her out a lot more. to let her dry off completely, walk around the house a few hours, or get lost overnight every blue moon....

I tried feeding in a separate container but my turtle didn't seem interested. He's wild caught (not by me, I rescued him from his capture) and doesn't seem to understand I'm trying to feed him. Putting him the separate container seemed to scare him so I stopped. Is it possible to start later on when he gets bigger? He's about 2 - 2 1/2 inches around. I'm feeding him pellets (Reptomin and Nutrifin alternately) and ZooMed Turtle Treats, supplimenting with rosie reds (he really likes them and enjoys stalking them).

I wish I could let him roam freely more, rig a nice enclosure so he has water and land, but I have to make sure at all times that he's protected from the cats that find him utterly fascinating.

I really have to control my urge to hold him. I limit my handling to every 2 days at the most to check him out, make sure nothing is wrong with the little guy. I'm just getting up enough confidence to extend his legs. I figure it's a good thing to know what he's supposed to look like so if anything is abnormal, it can be taken care of immediatly.

>>I am definitley no turtle expert. Bought mine on impulse on canal street. that was 5 years ago. Now she's 10 inches or so.
>>
>>The 55 gallon tank does seem a bit small, but I'm not a total turtle nerd either. I have to pretty much keep her in there until I move out of the city (next few years) and build a pond....or leave her at prospect park with the other RES.
>>
>>One word of advice. Feeding is the stinkiest messiest part, I put Ivan (girl) into a separate bucket everytime before I feed her. I was told they have more protein in the beginning and more veggies etc later in life. so that went along with her eating habbits. Wouldn't eat anything but pellets at first, but as time went on she was more into the other foods. Basil was the first thing she was willing to eat. now she'll eat ANYTHING.
>>
>>I have tons of insecurities about my turtle since the experts seem to know everything, but Ivan is still alive and looks very healthy. UVA and UVB bulbs are the most important thing to get the vitamin they need for their bones.
>>
>>Also when she got about 4 inches I started taking her out a lot more. to let her dry off completely, walk around the house a few hours, or get lost overnight every blue moon....

I didn't mention that all these activities started when the turtle was about 4 inches!!! sorry.

you're right on he ball, at least according to the schedule I as on. When the turtle was a juvenile I just tried to never handle it and be very gentle. And I didn't put it in a separate container to eat until nearly 2 years later!!!! Letting it walk around, same thing.

I think in the beginning the most important thing is light and a water heater in the winter. When they get a bit bigger and seem more strong and hearty, that's when they can be "kicked around" a bit more.

good luck