Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I love turtles. I always had pet painted turtles as a child. A couple of days ago, my brother in law decided it would be nice to give me a turtle for my birthday. He gave me a Malasian Box Turtle, of which I knew little about.

I made him a semi-aquatic environment in a large tank.

I have a rich, moist soil substrate.

I have heating lamps that keep the tank at a steady 85 degrees.

HERE IS THE PROBLEM:

The turtle is very unresponsive and shy, maybe he's still getting aquainted with his new environment. I don't know.

I'm not 100% sure that he's eaten anything so far, so I try something new every day. So far I've tried: Lettuce, Apples, bananas, carrots, a vegetable based turtle food in a can, crickets and worms.

The things that concerns me the most is that I've only seen his eyes once, since he keeps them shut all the time. I'm afraid he may have an infection.

Any helpful hints?

I'd appreciate it greatly. Thanks.

Ziggy

By the way, my turtle is a Cuora amboinensis, according to the pictures I've compared him to...

Thanks!!

Glad to hear you trying hard to help your little friend have a good life.

It may have been a while since you have had turtles and you may not know that there are now some (not many) very well-trained reptile veterinarians out there and it is considered standard practice to bring any new turtle to a vet as soon as you get it unless you are well-versed in the disordered of turtles yourself.
Its good to get a check up as mnay new animals are harboring parasites and have been stressed by the pet trade.

try:

arav

click on thr members link and find a vet near where you live. DON"T take your turtle to a dog or horse vet. The truth is they really don't often know all the details.

My other simple observations would be
(1) a constant 85 is not ideal. A air-temp gradient from about 72 - 90 is better. keep the warmest area well-lighted as turtles are inclined to seek light for thermal regulation. Keep the water near 75 - 78

(2) a hiding place in the water and on the land is a good idea for a semi terrestrial like a ambo. use carefully arranged rocks or pieces of wood.

(3) live plants help provide cover

(4) ambos love melon of all sorts and will eat water plants too.Get some canteloupe, honey dew, Go to a pet store and ask for anacharis or elodea water hyacinth water lettuce or duckweed....better yet look up photos of these first as pet store employees may not be able to identify these plants. And try a pond store or garden shop as well.

(5) I don't know how big the enclosure is but the bigger the better. I would think 6 square feet would make for a good minimum size. So a small fish tank is not going to cut it. (small being less than say 75 gallons). Keep the water shallow provide a sloping land area and make the water part account for at least 2/3 of the enclosure unless you can make a huge one with a really large water feature.

if you have not already, see these good pages:

M Hopsons Asian turtle stuff

ambos at WCT

here's one of Mary Hopson's ambo habitats:
ambo house

Thanks for the tips! I'm going to ge him some water plants today, and the vet will see him this weekend.

I feel relieved though, since yesterday he was active; swimming and walking. He finally ate a worm and he opened his little eyes all the way, which is a good sign.

BTW- This forum kicks ass.

thanks,

Ziggy

We have about 30. Luckily we can keep our outside pretty much year round. They are in a 20x20 enclosure with a constant supply of water. About 80% is flooded at all times with a maximum depth of 6 inches. Best to keep water shallow. They are fed all types of produce as well as quantities of fish. (Mainly filets or left over fresh fish.)They particuarly like melons.

Hey thanks for the hints!

Can the turtles eat feeder fish, like the ones one buys from the pet store?

My little guy has been eating apples and bananas and the occasional bug (crickets/waxworms)...but his eyes are still worrying me. He keeps them closed most of the time, and opens them only when he's in the water. It must be some sort of infection...unless it has something to do with humidity.

Anyway, he has a vet appointment this week...

Thanks for the help!

Ziggy

I wouldn't feed to much fish to ambos. It is not thought to be a large part of their natural diet.
You can do it, but do so sparingly.
I wouldn't use feeder goldfish under any circumstances, the risk of parasite transmission asn the fact that they may be harboroing copper-based chemiclas used as fungicides on fish farms makes them a less than ideal choice. Beyond that goldfish are high is fats that are not great for your turtle. Furthermore many former pet store employees will tell you that the fish are actually starved at the store and/or before they arrive there.

I have had some success using mollies and platies (sometimes from a pet store) but i keep them around for a while and feed them well before i use them as turtle food. Other fish can be obatined from a bait shop or directly from a tropical/bait wholesaler This may not be practical for you if you only have one turtle.

Search through the archives of "turtles -general forum" and look for "feeder fish" you will likley find all sorts of useful information adn you will see many sides of the debate about whether or not to use feeder fish.

A mistake I made when I had my first Malayan turtle is that I never had a UV light in the tank. This will affect their appetite. It's crucial that the lamp be on 12-14 hours a day along with a basking lamp or else the turtle won't eat. My first turtle died because it never ate due to my ignorance of turtle knowledge. I hope this helps. Place a Glass pie dish in the tank is a good resource for soaking and drinking. I use bark mulch for bedding and the turtle seems to enjoy that.

Sean

hello,

i bought a malayan(asian) box turtle in oct'03 at a retile show.
i have a female. the first few days i had trouble with her but now she is doing fine. i have a plastic container with water in it and some zoo-med eco earth. my turtle likes to bury herself in the dirt. as far as feeding goes, i hand feed mine wal-mart earth worms. about 3-4 every 2 days or so. these turtles prefer to eat in the water, like a red-eard slider. lighting-
i use a 60w daytime reptile heat lamp. i keep it on during the day and i put the reptile nightlight on her. keep the dirt moist if you can and make sure it has enough water to cover most of it's body. it doesn't have to swim in it, it does have to soak in it since these turtles are semi-aquatic. have patience and you will do fine