Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I need some advice from some experienced herp-lovers. I have had three turtles for years and i always used an overturned frisbee for thier waterdish. then i recently got back from overseas and i expanded thier bath to a large rubbermaid container w/ smooth large rocks at the bottom and some ramps to get into it. I also put in an airstone to make little bubbles, the idea was to make it kinda realistic like a stream or something.

The problem came when one of my poor little turtles died. She was in the water all the time, she loved it. She loved the bubbles and didn't like it when i took out the stone even to clean it. I changed the water at least every other day depending.

My concern is the water. I know that i have "hard water" here (i just moved accross the country after getting home). I don't know what that means though, is it a mineral problem? is it a ph level problem? What should i do? should i get a ph level tester or are there any kind of aquerium products or anti-bacterials that any of you use in your turtle baths?

What kind of turtles do you or did you have? As far as hard water goes, I seriously doubt that had any ill effect on your turtle. Also state what you are feeding and how often, how you provide heat and UV light, and a little better explanation of what you keep them in.
-----

I have an Ornate Box Turtle and a Honduras Wood Turtle. the one that died was a Florida Box Turtle. I keep them in a large 80 gallon tank that is about 5x2.5. They bathe in a large rubbermaid dish that is 11x8.5 or so and about 3in deep (with smooth large rocks at the bottom. I change the water at least ever two days, but pretty much every day because the Florida Box Turtle loved it. I feed them lettuce, cantelope, baby spinich, grapes, carrots, and suplements too. i very up thier diet so that they can get lots of the good stuff that turtles need. I'm not sure if the florida box turtle was an omnivour it seemed that she would eat literally anything. she never had a problem eating but i'm not sure how often that i saw her at the dish toward the end. i don't know why she would have stopped eating though.

it could have been travel stress because i did take them all the way accross the country in my car with me, letting them crawl around as much as possible. it was a good two months her in my new house though when she died.

The answer to your question would depend on what it was that killed your turtle in first place which most likely only a necropsy would determine that if there where no outward signs.

Also a bit more info. would be needed about the animals (like what specie and more details on the enclosure etc.)

Sudden unexplained death is often times caused by some sort of organ failure. (there are many other scenerios as well though so this is why the animals needed to be necropsied as soon as it died).

My advice would be to have a fecal exam done on your other turtle to determine if it may have some parasites.