Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I finally got the turtle all settled in the tank and would like to thank everyone who helped me. His name is Henry and he's my pride and joy. He's very happy and when its time to eat he comes up to the basking area for me to pick him up and take him to the feeding tank. Here's a couple of pictures of his setup and him in his feeding tank just finishing off a cricket. These have got to be the most interesting turtles to watch. He's all the time swimming around and he sleeps out of the water between the glass and the basking area sideways.

That is a great tank! Looks similar to my mud turtle aquariums.
Feed in a separate container and you will go a long way in keeping the water clean.
He could stay in that size set up for years too.

Where did you get this great little turtle?

It's at the mall where I live in Birmingham, AL. They had a kiosk setup and were selling them for "educational or export use only" and I bought one. I don't know how they get away with it but they told me this turtle shouldn't get to much bigger.

Great looking turtle . Does yous bask much? Mine rarely if ever goes on the basking area.
Rita

I am worried the fine sandy substrate might be dangerous. Many reptiles including turtles have died from intestinal impaction from ingesting sand. This may be compounded by the fact that mud turtles like to feed off the bottom with many turtles refusing to feed on any floating food. Even if you feed him in another container he may still ingest some sand through his natural foraging behavior. I have one mud turtle that I keep with no substrate at all, just broken pottery to hide under. If you go this route with your tank on a stand you need a board under it so the turtle does stress from have his floor exposed to view.

Any comments/advice from experienced Mud Turtle Keepers?

Randy
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Firehouse Herps

I have taken that into consideration, but when I bought the turtle they told me they preferred soft sandy bottoms. Also I made sure to thoroughly clean the sand to get rid of loose particles. Would this still be dangerous?

I too have worried about sand and or gravel being ingested by my muddies. They seem, at times, to actually want to eat it.
But so far (over 20 years) I have never had a problem from it.
I think that if their interest in it becomes too strong, it might indicate that there is a mineral problem in the diet.

I kept my hatchling snappers and musk turtles on sand for a summer and I had no problems. In the wild, Musk turtles prefer thick vegetation, coupled with a muddy bottom..not necessarily sand. They can be found basking in clumps of vegetation with the carapace sticking out of the water. When disturbed, they will jet for the mud, but they stay in one spot so if the mud isn't too deep you can walk in and collect them.

Your turtle can attain a carapace length of 4 to 5 inches. They feed upon insect larvae, fish, carrion & crustaceans such as snails. In captivity they will readily accept aquatic turtle pellets, earthworms, and small fish such as shiner and minnows.

Good luck with your new turtle.