Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know this person who has had a painted turtle for about 8 years now...The poor thing is horribly neglected, it isnt given any attention, it lives in the dark corner of a room that isnt used by the owners. As far as I can see they forget about the poor thing and dont even feed it! Its cage is filthy, the water side hasnt been changed in YEARS!! and it has no light, and hardly a rock big enough to get up out of the water!!!!

Makes me just sick thinking of it, and I have been seriously thinking about asking them if they want to get rid of it...i dont know the first thing about keeping a turtle, but I am most definatley sure it will be much better off with me either way.

I think the neglect it has suffered thru the years has stunted its growth, it isnt much bigger than say a large orange...shouldnt it get bigger than that??

If anyone could give me some tips on how to care for a painted turtle, ya know, lighting, heat, food, etc....It would be greatly appreciated!! I know tht it used to eat little turtle pellets, but I am wondering if it would also eat crickets? We own an Agama Agama lizard, and always have plenty of crix!

Thanks for taking the time to read this!!

~Schizmsgrl~

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MmmmMMmm....Schizm

wow thats sad... the water temperature should be around 76-80 degrees F and the basking temp. around 86-92. you need a UVB bulb and a heat lamp. UVB are expensive but last for a few years. my eastern painted and sliders get pellets, bluegills that i raise, greens and aquatic, maybe some snails, worms and insect larva, and yes crickets. how big of a tank is this in? remember 10 gallons of water to 1 inch of turtle. it should be full grown at 8 years but males get around 4-6 inches a d females 6-8. so it could be just a small male. i think thats everything. good luck

nate

nate, thanks so much for responding to my post, and yes it is very sad, makes me sick to think of that poor thing suffering...Right now the turtle is in a 20 gallon tank with a rock on one side and about 3 inches of brownish/black mucky water on the other side. The turtle has never had any type of light source, let alone a UVB bulb!!

So it sounds as though if I get this turtle I better try to save money to get it a larger tank.....They need enough water so they can swim and dive dont they? I am gonna try and give it a shot in adopting it, I mean at least it will be cared for here and not forgot about.

Thanks again, and I will keep you posted once I get my new pet!
~Schizmsgrl~

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MmmmMMmm....Schizm

Oh yeah, and this turtle obviously is not tame....He/she does try to bite! What do you think the odds are of me being able to tame him after all these years (well at least so he dont want to eat my fingers)....lol
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MmmmMMmm....Schizm

only a 20 gallon... wow..keep your eyes open for tanks. i got my 125 gallon for $40 my 75 for $30 and 3 20 gallons for $30 as well as some sliders. a guy was moving. he even brought them to my house and thats where the turtles spend the winters (not in the 20 gallons, thats for my bluegills that i feed them)my turtles are in abouat 8 inches of water and each tank has 3 basking areas but they all seem to go to the same one.... i dont know why, they all have lights. well anyway good luck with adopting it, i hope you get it.

nate

Hopefully you can get this animal out of this situation. If they are reluctant to give it up you might try and show them what they will need to keep the animal properly and not allow it to suffer any longer. THAT alone may be all it would take to have them want to give it up. Also -- please don't wait to get all the stuff you will need to care for this animal properly. Ordinarily that IS the best thing to do but ANYTHING is better than what the animal is experiencing now. Just keeping it in the same 20 gallon tank with clean water in it is a step up until you can get all the right stuff for him. Good luck and I hope you are sucessful in getting the animal away from them.

In all my experience of doing rescue I can make one suggestion. Do not be confrontational with them about giving the animal up. That is the quickest way to have them turn off and walk away from you. The most important thing is get the animal out of the bad situation. If you have to suck up and make nice to do that than do it. AFTER you get the animal, if you feel the need to, you can let into these people. (generally -- this is a waste of time anyway -- folks either believe that they've taken good care of the animal or they really could not care any less than they do about what they did to it).

Good luck

Steve