Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My DD asked for a pet turtle, but I'm the primary caretaker. She got to name him (Prince), and she feeds him (when I remind her), but I clean the tank. I have a bazillion questions and I'm hoping you folks can help me out.

FOOD:
I'm breeding guppies as feeders, but until they are mature enough to be food, Prince is sharing his 75gal tank with goldfish. He's gotten lazy and he's stopped eating the fish. We started with red minnows. He ate 2 dozen in about 8 days. The pet shop told me the minnows were probably too small so I bought 4 doz goldfish 6 weeks ago; today there are 17. The remaining fish are huge (as goldfish go), and I'm concerned that he's intimidated by them, or maybe only the fast ones are left. He's taken to eating the goldfish flakes, and he still eats the turtle sticks and tubifex (which the goldfish also eat - dang it they'll eat anything). If I catch a fish and dangle it in the water, he'll grab it. Have I spoiled him?

TANK CONDITIONS:
Prince lives in a 75gal tank. I do weekly water changes and clean the filter the following day. I created a tower that sticks out of the water directly under a red heat lamp. The rest of the tank is lit by flourescent light. He gets about 14 hours of white light, the red light is on 24/7. The tower is where he hangs out, and I'm very careful to keep the water level high enough so he can get out on the tower platform. Occasionally he sits up there with his flippers extended. Is this to get warm?

Until recently he was very happy in a cool tank (around 65F), but I added a heater because I am trying to add plants and the current temp is closer to 72F. Could the temperature affect his appetite? Temp and PH are stable.

TANK MATES:
I tried adding snails to control the algae. They did not survive. I now have pretty snail shells on the tank floor. Do turtles like escargot? Or was it the goldfish? If I introduce the guppies into the turtle tank, they'll need plants to hide - but Prince rips up everything I've tried to plant. Any tips on keeping things rooted?

TIA. A link to FAQ would be helpful too.

Louise

Hi Louise,

If you go to Austin's Turtle Page online you will find excellent care sheets for all kinds of turtles. They also have FAQ sheets and a turtle forum full of smart people (as this forum does). You can read previous posts to find out about anything you can imagine, or ask questions similar to this forum.

I am assuming your turtle is a red-eared slider. If that is the case, no plant or animal is safe in your tank. Which is fine, as long as you know that going in. They will destroy your plants, they do eat snails, and if you leave those fish in there long enough, they will disappear too. The plants and fish are excellent components of a varied diet.

I notice that you did not mention a UVB light. UVB is needed for proper shell development. Check out the ATP website, it is full of good info.

Good Luck!
Nancy

One other thing, goldfish are very fatty, and are not great as a staple food item. Guppies are better and rosy minnows are fine too, but fish should be a fairly small part of his diet. Veggies and aquatic plants should be a good part of his diet, along with pellets. Overfeeding your turtle will shorten his life and make his shell deformed, so don't let him have more protein (fish and pellets) than the size of his head once a day. If he is over 2 inches long, he should only be fed a small amount every other day or less. My pair gets fed twice a week with pellets or crickets, and they get veggies every day.

They often strtch out under the basking light, that is just him enjoying the light.
-----

65 is actually a bit cool, so 72 is a better temp for your turtle. It`ll help keep him from getting sick.
And as was already mentioned, there`s nothing you can do for your plants. My Lloyd likes to chew them off at the roots, so they float up to the top ot the tank. Then he climbs up ontop of them and floats on them. Brat.