Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got a couple of female spotted turtles from a friend who breeds them here in Florida. I have a couple of questions though about their care and husbandry. They are yearlings now and seem to be constantly hungry. In fact they look like baby birds when the mother flies back to the nest w/ their mouths wide open. I have been feeding them freshly shed meal worms and repti-min (unsure of spelling). My question then is what is a proper amount of food to be giving them? Can you over feed these turtles? My other question is about the enclosure I have them in. I have them in a 40 breeder w/ a kittly litter pan at one end as the water source. Currently I am just using tap water in it. Is this not a good idea? They don't seem to have any ill effect from it but I also keep dart frogs and know better than to put tap water on them because they absorb the harmful elements through their skin. Can the same bad things happen w/ my turtles? That's about it. Please feel free to throw in any other useful information about spotted turtles if you have it. Thanks for your help.

Jeremy

>>I just got a couple of female spotted turtles from a friend who breeds them here in Florida. I have a couple of questions though about their care and husbandry. They are yearlings now and seem to be constantly hungry. In fact they look like baby birds when the mother flies back to the nest w/ their mouths wide open. I have been feeding them freshly shed meal worms and repti-min (unsure of spelling). My question then is what is a proper amount of food to be giving them? Can you over feed these turtles? My other question is about the enclosure I have them in. I have them in a 40 breeder w/ a kittly litter pan at one end as the water source. Currently I am just using tap water in it. Is this not a good idea? They don't seem to have any ill effect from it but I also keep dart frogs and know better than to put tap water on them because they absorb the harmful elements through their skin. Can the same bad things happen w/ my turtles? That's about it. Please feel free to throw in any other useful information about spotted turtles if you have it. Thanks for your help.
>>
>>Jeremy

First of all, I would do a complete flip on the enclosure. They normally spend ALOT more time in the water then on land. Also a small kiddy litter pan for water definatley isn't big enough for them. I wouldn't worry about the tap water. For feeding, I feed mine every other day usually as much as they want to eat. Adults only need to be fed 2-3 times a week.

Caresheet on Spotted Turtles

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Jeff H.
http://www.jandsherps.com
http://www.pareptile.org

It's not just a little kitty litter pan. It is 16" long x 12" wide and is 6" deep. Is that adequate? It takes up about half of the 40 breeder tank I have them in. If they require more then of course I will give it to them. What dimensions would you recommend for the water area for 3 adult turtles? I ask because I will have a male this year when me friends hatch them as well as the 2 girls and plan to raise them up in that enclosure. Thanks again.

Jeremy

I keep two groups of 3 adult females in a small waterland tubs and the do VERY well. I keep single males in concrete mixing tubs that are about 20"x32"x8" with about 5 inches of water . My babies are about 11 months old and about 2-3 inches. I keep 5 babies in a 4feet by 2 feet tank with about four inches of water and about 15 different basking sites. It might seem like over kill on the basking sites but I would rather error on the side of excess to prevent drownding. I do not have any "land" areas for my males or babies other than basking sites. Currently I have two gravid females with 5 eggs already in the incubator. I only keep males and females together for a few hours a day in the spring for breeding. Keeping the mix for extended periods of time will stress the females and only cause problems.
Tom

Do you sell these guys in any kind of quantity? Carter Bays
(bays@sc.edu)