Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi, i already have a small musk turtle. about 1 1/2" maybe 2". and one of my friends doesn't want her turtle cecil any more. so she asked me if i would take him. he is probably somewhere between 6 and 9 inches. she is giving me his tank which is huge i'm not sure how big exactly but its sufficient. i know he eats pellets and sometimes small fish. but thats about all i know. i don't know what he needs. are is needs similar to my baby musk? how much and how often should he eat. if i get him fish to eat will they live off of things in the tank untill he eats them? as long as the tank is big enough is it safe to put my two turtles together? will the larger turtle try to eat my baby? please help me i'm felling a little over whelmed.
thanks

o.k.1st yes you can keep a slider with your mud turtle.i would make sure that the little mud has a couple of hiding spots that the bigger turtle cannot enter.(pvc piping,rock cave,even a flowerpot on its side can make a decent retreat.)2nd a slider,unlike most mud turts,needs a place to "haul out"of the water & dry off.when you add a heat lamp over this spot(u will need the heat lmp!)this becomes a basking area.3rd.also unlike the mud,a slider will need access to uv light.that usually means a special bulb & flourescent fixture.the uv light allows the turtle to"make"calcium for healthy bone & shell growth.(way oversimplified).if the slider is 6-9 inches shell length then,more than likely,it is a she.and an adult either way.go ahead & add minnows to the tank(avoid goldfish if u can).she/it will thrive if you add fresh greens to her diet.pellets are o.k.too but fresh is best!i would really recomend getting a book on slider care.most pet stores sell them for less than $10.
it is surprisingly complicated to sucessfully rear these turtles.feel free to e-mail me if you are still overwhelmed.

Fish do fantastic on turtle food.
Musks won't be too happy if the water is very deep. They like to sit on the bottom. So it might be tough to make them both happy unless you can have a shallow area in the tank.

My common musk won't bask, but some might.
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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?

I would not put the two together - your smaller turtle could become a snack, plus it will be harder to feed the little guy with the larger one in the tank.

Try to get the red-eared slider book by Philippe De Vosjoli - most pet stores have it, or you can get it from Amazon.com - it's an inexpensive paperback, but has good advice.

Also try this webstie http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/trachemyscare.htm
and
http://members.tripod.com/~Draybar/draybarturtles.html

Katrina

I would not keep your hatchling mud with an adult RES. I have seen RES's that are 5 inches eat an apple snail that is the size of a baseball. It would behoove you to not put your baby in with such a big turtle. Bad idea. Just recently on another forum that I belong to a girl posted that her 7 inch RES decapitated and ate her hatchling RES. Although this behavior is not "normal", RES's are opportunistic feeders and will eat smaller prey if they see fit.

Mel