Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi!
New here. A few days ago I picked up an ornate wood turtle or Rhinoclemmys pulcherima manni. It's a she, about 7-8 inches long. She's very active and curious. Me and my daughter just love her! I just have some feeding/habitat questions.

Right now, she's in a 20 gallon wide. In the left side half is "Forest floor" bedding about 2 inches deep is the substrate. There isn't a hiding hole but there is a lava rock across one side that makes a shaded spot from the heat lamp. In the right, I made a wading pool with a ramp out of an old 5-gallon hex tank that I hacked to pieces. The pool and ramp take up about 1/2 the tank. The thing is, with the pool things are pretty crowded. If I removed the pool and made the tank all forest, how often would I need to take her out to soak? Or would it be too stressfull for her w/o the pool?

Also, on feeding, I've been feeding her Romaine, carrots and celery sprinkled with herp vitamins. She seems to be eating a little (just carrots) but I have yet to find poop in the terrarium. Any suggestions?

TIA

Oh boy... Your going to need a much larger enclosure than a 20gal. Are you sure its an Ornate? Heres a link to a great caresheet.
Good Luck,
Chris
Care Sheet

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Hey whats up, I'm Chris and I currently have 1.0 Softy, 0.0.1 Midland Painted, 1.0 Bearded Dragon

Thanks for your reply. She is definitely an ornate. I don't have pics yet, hopefully soon. I was assurred by the LPS that a 20 gallon long tank was sufficient. From everything I read, I guess not. Until I can afford a 55 gallon tank, or make one, would removing the pool help or hurt the situation? I was told by the LPS also that she would need to soak 3-5 time a week for 1/2 hour. I've kept a few exotics in the past but this is my first turtle.

Do not take the water out. You need enough water for it to at least cover the shell of the turtle. So it should be around 4in deep. It should be about 1/2 water, 1/2 land (the tank). Be sure to have a heat lamp over part of the land area where it can bask. The basking temp should be high 80's low 90's. Also, the water should be about 76-78. You may need a submersible heater to keep it at that temp. Since your using a dish theres no need for a filter, just change the water daily.
Chris
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Hey whats up, I'm Chris and I currently have 1.0 Softy, 0.0.1 Midland Painted, 1.0 Bearded Dragon

I appreciate the info.

A 55 is too small also.
Don't bother with an aquarium
Go get some ply wood and some studs and make a big wooden box.
You can fit it to a room or corner in your house ands then leave it plain or stain it or paint it and embroider is as you desire.
The buy a (cheap 11 bucks) large cement mixing tray and about 80 pounds of good topsoil.
Sink the cement mixing tray into the soil so its level with the soil.
Buy some grass seed and then make some sort of hide.
They will burrow in the soil and swim in the water.
Way cheaper than even a 55 and this species needs more like 100 gallon tank anyway.

I have an ornate - they're great turtles!

Definitely, though, they need more than 20 gallons. Mine is in a 55 gallon now (half land, half water) and I'm looking to upgrade in the next 6 months. He measures about 4-5". He loves to swim, I have his water about 8" deep with rocks of varying heights. I keep the water heated to 78°, his basking spot averages about 90° and the other side of his land about 78°. He has a hide that runs the length of the land on the edge, so he can hide on either side.

Also, my guy prefers insects to veggies. He'll eat some veggies, and loves the fruits I give him as a treat, but his main staple is worms (mealworms, superworms, wax worms, etc). This goes against many care sheets I've seen online, but was tried out at the recommendation of my vet. He was lethargic and not eating (not pooping either) so we had a fecal done. He was clean and everything else checked out fine. She suggested we try the worms to see if he'd rather eat them - bingo! You may want to give it a shot with your turtle.

Alison

I have a pair of ornates and I want to say they spend 90% of their time in the water. They eat primarily leaf lettuce and also worms on occasion. I keep them in a long 40 gallon with approx 50/50 land to water. I've now had the pair for 2 years & this year the female has had 2 large!! eggs. Does anone have any experience in hatching these?? One was laid in 1/04 and I can't see any sign of development and the 2nd egg a couple of weeks ago. I've seen the pair breed on several occassions. I have the eggs on vermiculite with temp ranging from high 70's at night to mid 80's during the day. Any other imput would help.

Thank in Advance
Brian

ok here is what i did. i got a 50 gal, knocked out the back wall, put in a foot of wood to make it an 80 gal. now the people that were saying 100 gal is neccesary are nuts, ornates only get no bigger than 6-8 in. i had three turtles and water in my tank and they were all just fine. one good idea i had is to buy fake plants and hang them down from the top of the tank. it give security and a nice rain forest effect while maximizing groung space. as for water i use a 12x10 rubbermaid dish that i change daily. luke warm tap is fine it isn't that critical. also i used coconut bark or large treated bark mulch on the ground. it is light and they can dig all they want plus it isn't too much of a problem to change and it doesn't clump up like sawdust does. i wouldn't use dirt because in an enclosed environment you would want to change the ground covering often and also bark mulches and stuff are treated specifically for this and are anti-bactierial. dirt is not. i suppose you might be able to find some treated dirt, but i don't know where.

I know others have said by now, 20g long are too small.
My Donnie is in a 40g terrarium for now, and seems quite happy. He has a plastic tub for his daily dips, I just threw in a filter to move the water around. He has deep substrate(Forest Floor mixed with those compressed coconut bricks...weird stuff.
Ultimately he will have his outdoor enclosure hopefully with his own girlfriend and maybe some rescues. I'm hoping for the challenge of breeding Manni since it seems they're not really bred much.

I feed him a chopped up mix of baby greens(no spinach!), carrot, zuchinni, yellow squash, and for flavor and smell, on big fat strawberry...as long as it smells like a strawberry, he'll eat it. I use a small food processor, if you havent got one, it really helps! Target has them for like $17. Hacks it all down to managable size bites. Don seems to appreciate it.

I'm going to work on getting him some shady stuff since he's right by a window. He has his own page, I've included the link. Take a peek if you like.

Donatello's webpage

Oh I forgot, Manni poo in the water, so that's both their toilet AND bath...