Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have all of these hatchlings in 1 10 gallon tank and know that i must move them. i am limited on money and was wondering if therre is a cheap solution to housing all of these turtles i.e. rubbermaid containers? i have alot of room so is there a way to house them all without buying a few small tanks that they will grow out of or one large tank that i will have to be very careful with??? another thing is how do i get the calcium and vitamin D3 supplement to my tutles? when i put it on the food it comes off in the water? one last thing i bought 4 hatchlings from a breeder on the kingsnake classifieds and 2 were the softsheel and the other 2 were a florida redbelly and a tiny (smaller than a quarter) western painted. the redbelly and the painted both died about 2 weeks after arrival. they were both with the other turtles in the 10 gallon tank. i only am having this issue because i had a much bigger tank and it broke. please answer questions. thanks.

sorry i forgot one other thing i keep reading that i must keep a pH to the water why and how do i go about this?

You can put turtles in rubbermaids, but the bigger ones tend to deform from the pressure of the water. If you get a really big one and only fill it up part of the way it should be fine.
Commercial turtle food has calcium and the other good stuff already in it. You can also give the turtles cuttlebone to nibble on for calcium.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

where do i get that cuttlebone?????

and i also read that i can put some calcium powder onto raw hamburger meat is this a good idea to feed 1 or 2 times a week?

onelast thing what are good veggies to put into the tank as turte food????

Kale/chard/dandylion greens (no pesticides!)/mustard greens are all really healthy veggies. I think all four of those have a relatively high amount of calcium. Spinach every ONCE in a while is ok, but supposedly too much messes with calcium absorbtions. Finely sliced carrot or squash... cooked yams/sweet potatos are high in vitamin A... If it`s healthy for you, it`s healthy for your turtle.

I`ve heard, however, A) red meat is too fatty. Avoid red meat. B) never feed your turtle RAW meat. (feeder fish and such don`t count as `raw meat` of course. They mean more like beef/chicken/pork).

Cuttle bone can be picked up in the bird section of any petstore. Be careful of the hard, boney backing. Make sure all of the backing is removed from the chunk of cuttle bone you break off to drop in the water.

Good luck!

~Rachael

That, or you can catch your own cuttlefish .
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

so,what do you use for bait to catch a cuttlefish?

Hey,

Just adding to the cuttlefish advice, some interesting info. Apparently, molluscs and crustaceans are known for having high calcium and provide a good source of it to those that eat them. However, squid, a close relative of cuttlefish, don't have much calcium but rather a lot of phosphorus.

There are some qualms in feeding saltwater prey to freshwater turtles anyway, but I don't think once in a year or so would hurt. That's how my painted started eating when I first got him as a kid..i fed him squid and shrimp for a couple of days until I switched to a more natural diet.

Johnny