Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all! I have been sitting here 2-3 hours reading all 3 pages of discussions. Quite fascinating and I think the replies are great! This is going to probably be long, but I've been taking notes and figured I'd ask in one post rather than flood the board w/ many of one topic. HOpe it's ok.

My son found a RES about 2 mos ago at the ballfields. Hubby decided it was so neat that his son found one as he did when he was young. At that time, many years ago, they released it after a couple of years or more. He believed we could do that to this one, but I've already known before reading that it's not an option. This is a commitment.

well, anyhow, this is a baby probably 1 1/2" ( or -) across (side-side, not head-tail). Which is hte correct way to measure and I know they all grow at different levels, but guessing please, how old MIGHT he/she be? Her red "ears" are slowly getting darker as there was barely a tinge of pink at first.

Being so young, how easy is it for it to choke on food too big? We're floating romaine and looseleaf which he eats and feeding the shrimp treats along w/ the floating sticks. I'm going to grate carrots and try that, or should I cut them a diff way than grating? We wanted to do feeder fish also. On one hand I've heard he's too small and might choke on feeders or guppies. On the other, I've heard to put several in so they can have babies that he can catch. Which is it?

We wanted to figure out some companions (probably w/out) getting another turtle. What's the opinion on whether he needs companionship? We don't really want to BUY another slider, but if we found one, we'd add him as a companion, but what are those chances? W/ fish, can he differenciate between dinner and companions? or will he only try to eat certain size compared to himself? We have a filter and large gravel in the bottom. The gravel came from Home Depot, not like fishtank colored gravel. Even w/ the filter, the gravel is very green on one side of hte tank,,,mainly near his basking rock. I heard some ppl use algae eaters and they are great......he won't eat it?!

Soemone mentioned shell rot and scraping the chalky part off in a post a while back. I was just curious is shell rot is painful or if scraping it would be. We don't see any shedding or problmes such as this.

What is Anachris? I saw this mentioned previously too. A plant? a fish?

I think this is the last concern. I understand RES don't have to be able to touch bottom, assuming it is a myth. How would he sleep and breathe? Does it go to the top during sleep instinctively?

I think htat's about it and thanks for any and all replies.

~Christi

Yikes! A lot of questions--don`t remember them all, but I`ll try to answer the ones I do. I can`t really tell you how old your RES might be--I`ve always been told that the way to measure size is to measure the straight carapace length (SCL), which is from the front of the shell to the back, not including the curve. They can choke on pieces that are too big, so cut food up into a size he can handle if necessary. If he`s eating romaine and loose leaf lettuce (stay away from iceberg), try the carrots (grated or very thinly sliced pieces like mine likes), kale, collard greens, dandylions (no pesticides), and squash. Anachris is an aquarium plant that most turtles really like. Others that are good are hogwart, duckweed, water hyacinth and water lettuce. Pieces of cuttlebone (the stuff for birds--take off the hard backing before you use it) are also good to keep floating in the tank for added calcium. As for the fish, anything is fair game for RES; some don`t eat them, most, I understand, do. I don`t give my turtle feeder fish (they aren`t necessary), but have read that goldfish are not recommended. They are more apt to contain parasites, they are too fatty, and they contain a substance that breaks down Vit. B. Minnows and guppies are better.

Many people keep more than one turtle, but it`s not necessary to get an additional one for a "friend." RES are territorial and can get aggressive if confined to too small a space, so you will have to eventually increase tank size dramatically to accommodate two adults, especially if they`re females. I have only one RES and he seems quite happy by himself. If you do decide to get another, though, you should quarantine it (90 days) to make sure it doesn`t have anything your turtle could catch and try not to have a big size difference between them (to lessen the chance of bullying).

Turtles do feel pain and scraping the shell would obviously be unpleasant, to say the least. It should be done as gently as possible, to get off the rot. (I`ve not had to deal with this and hope you don`t either.)

RES are strong swimmers and generally, the deeper the water, the better (absolute minimum is as deep as the turtle`s shell so it can right itself if it tips over). In addition to the basking area, a baby in a larger tank should have places to rest (like plastic plants), though, because they can tire and drown. They can sleep anywhere--some prefer the water, some like the basking area. They need air, but can stay underwater for fairly long periods of time (I remember reading 10-15 minutes when active, longer if not active). They can sleep underwater, however (mine does). Hope this helps.

Thanks Mariza for taking the time to reply.

I too hope we don't have to deal w/ rot. Is it pretty common or pretty uncommon if the RES is taken care of properly. We're doing our best to do what's right for him/her.

Well, we do have a lot of green growing on the gravel and after reading that several ppl have algae eaters,,,,,,we bought one tonight. I hope it doesn't get nibbled b'c I don't know what I'd do w/ it after that (of course not leaving it in there to die a slowly).

We will eventually increase the tank size when it gets a little larger. I have kept the water deep enough for him to upright if needed (which he has once that I've seen LOL). I guess it can't be too deep as long as he can get out on his rock or can rest and reach out. I'm going to find a couple of larger stones for under the water in addition to the basking rock.

I'm sure I hve much more to ask, but will keep it short for now. Thanks again and Happy 4th!!

~Christi

Most RES are mistreated and are illegal to sell from petstores but they are okay for pets. I bought my turtle at a Pacific store in Myrtle beach and they had like 100 turtles in a 10 gal. tank.I hope you have a heatin light and everything..Just dont over feed it or it will start to grow disformed...

i would you by it hatchling food it made be 1-4 months old and your baskin area should have alot of gravel for like a land you know and baby turtles like meat over veggies and when they get over their diet may change to veggies they said you should have more than one turtle but I have one and she is great.. DOnt feed it to much food thats what causes shell to rot and shedding is normal and clean water every other day (or it depends on what filter you have for it) if no filter clean everyday..and it sleeps on it baskin area..just make sure you have enough water so it could swim around and stuff Zoo MEd is good for the lil turtles my turtle loves it

I would buy hatchling food... oops

Thanks for the replies. I missed it earlier since it was so far down the page. I have to still get used to this site.

We have a small one and is in a 20gal long. We have a filter w/ a sponge, a rock on 2 bricks for basking and an under water type platform to rest on while still being in the water.

We have the floating sticks and break them small for him. I also float romaine and loose leaf. Sometimes we give shrimp treats, but not often. I've tried raw carrot slivers and broccoli, but heard broccoli isn't good now. (so many conflicting stories on the net). I'm going to try apples, melon, and cooked meat soon. I let him eat for about 10-15 mins until he's not too interested anymore.

Other than that, we have a coil UVB bulb and a basking bulb shining on the basking area. We also have a plecostomos/algae eater in the tank.

If you`re going to feed your turtle cooked meat, it should be boiled white chicken meat (the other stuff is too fatty), and it should be given only occasionally. Too much protein in the diet will cause too fast a growth, which will lead to shell deformities and other health problems down the road. Shell rot is caused by lack of basking and lack of UVB light, not food (but if you`ve got decaying food in the tank dirtying the water, it`s obviously not good either).

I have a question about the shell deformities. Is this just a cosmetic problem, or will this affect the turtle's health as it grows?

I have a turtle whose growth was stunted due to miscare from a previous owner. He was still only one inch and eight months old when I got him. Once I got him to eat, his growth rocketed very quickly. He wasn't overeating by any means. But his shell does have one plate that is off center (makes for a quick way to tell him apart from my other RES).

His growth has finally slowed to a normal rate, but I want to make sure he stays happy and healthy.

Devin

I think it would depend on how bad the deformity was, where it was, and the age of the turtle. I`ve read that pyramiding, for example, can be corrected in young turtles. I`m having difficulty imagining what you described. Is the spine also crooked? Is there an extra plate/scute?

The spine is not crooked. The shell looks normal except for one extra scute tucked in towards the center. It is about half the size of all the others.

I`m almost positive I once had a turtle that had what you are describing. The extra scute was smaller and was kind of tucked inside what would have been a normal one just to the right side of his spine. Someone (who knew about turtles) once told me that the extra scute was probably the result of the egg being hatched at too high a temp. It`s wierd--the turtle I`m caring for now also has an extra scute--six down his back instead the five I see on every other turtle. The two marginal scutes above his tail have a gap halfway down them. I had thought the gap was the result of too quick a growth, but now am thinking it`s the result of the space the extra scute is taking up. I`ve seen pictures of turtles with extra scutes, though and they seemed to be OK.