Up until today, I had three RES turtles. One I've had for about two years, the other two about 8 months. They are shell-sized about 7 inches, 5 1/2 inches and 4 1/2 inches, from head to tail, all males. Not sure of their ages, but must be quite a number of years.
The smallest one has been showing the listless signs I've read about here...hovering in the corner, hardly eating, listing to the side when he was in the water. Unfortunately, it wasn't until today, the morning I discovered him dead, that I found this site. Turns out that he must indeed have had a respiratory infection/pneumonia. In learning of the temps to be had in their water, I remembered that I'd discovered their heater unplugged about 3 wks. ago. Don't know how long that'd been,...not too long, I don't think. But, long enough that the smaller one got sick. The other two haven't had any of those symptoms and are acting completely normal.
I'm not sure what the temp is in the water...I'm buying a floating thermometer tomorrow. I've just been putting in about the same temp as my 55 gal. fishtank, which is in the mid-70's. If I'd found this site earlier, I could have turned the temp up to the 80's as suggested when your RES's are sick.
My turtles are in a 4 1/2' x 2' plastic garden pond that I currently keep in my dining room. It was built by the owner of the two last turtles I'd acquired. He built a wooden frame, with a curved ledge around the kidney-shaped tub, that is 5' x 3'. The tub has two levels in it, of which one is the basking area.
I would like to know if others have older turtles like mine. Do you feed them something other than the pellets? It just seems like a boring diet to me. I tried lettuce with them once, but they didn't really touch it. Someone told me that all they need is the pellets, but is sure sounds boring to me. LOL~
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A day late (bummer) and Some ?'s
Replies (4)
RES do need other things than just pellets, they eat a whole range of leefy veggies and aquatic plants. I only feed my guys pellets twice a week, and they get green every day. You can also try live prey like earthworms, crickets and mealworms, I get them for my other reptiles and the turtles love them as treats.
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Well, it always seemed to me that in the 'wild', RES's didn't have pellets.
I was told, though, that for as big as my turtles are (see original question here), as 'captive' turtles they only needed pellets. Veggies and stuff were for when they were smaller. What comments does anyone have on that?
That seems backwards to me. Hatchlings and small turtles need more meats and proteins (like pellets). As they grow older, they gradually switch over to a more plant/veggie based diet. They need both proteins and veggies, just the ratios are different depending on age.
Do you have a heat lamp for the basking area? If the turtles are able to haul out and bask under a heat lamp, then water temperatures aren't as much of an issue, especially at their sizes.
As for food, variety is always best. Various pellets combined with fresh greens is good, and occasional feeder insects, fish, or earthworms are an option as a treat. One place to order high quality pellets is www.herpnutrition.com
A good book you might want to check out is The General Care and Maintenance of Red-Eared Sliders by Phillipe de Vosjoli. Most pet stores have it, or you can get it from amazon.com It's an inexpensive paperback, but has good information.
Katrina
