Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok so far I was able to talk to ONE of the owners of that painted turtle I want to take in. He said that I could have the turtle, now I just got to make sure the other person agrees to it also... But now I have a couple more questions before I get him....First off I have town water which is treated with chlorine and other chemicals, will that harm the turtle?

Secondly, I have read somewhere on this site that turtles cant eat on dry land because there neck is not desinged for that, Is that true?? I had been planning on feeding him some crickets, but now i am not sure if i am able too...?

I also read that turtles like to "fish" , what are some types of fish I can feed him? Some I can get at the petstore I assume?
And I am curious as to why they cant eat goldfish??

I have most of the set-up I am gonna need I believe, for now I have too keep him in the 20 gallon tank he is in, but some point I plan on getting him a larger tank. I have a regular fish tank heater for the water, will that work? And for his basking area, do I need a uvb bulb, or will a regular light bulb work? I do not know if turtles require UVB or not...
Anyhow, I think that is it for the questions right now, but I am sure I will come up with more as time goes on!! lol

Any input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for taking the time to read my post!!

~Schizmgrl~
-----
MmmmMMmm....Schizm

I know this is a long reply but it answers all the questions you asked. As for your town water either go buy gallons of spring water or buy something called Reptisafe by Zoo-Med or Calcimize by Exo Terra (reptisafe is my favorite), they treat the water for chlorine and heavy metals and best of all they add calcium and electrolytes to you water. Everything I have read states that most aquatic turtles cannot eat out of water in fact they need the water to swallow. Live food is a good treat every once in a while (once a month for fish and once every other week on crickets) but not as a staple diet too much protein. The crickets you can through directly in the water and the turtle will swim over and eat them like floating turtle food. If this is a full size painted a 20 gal tank is way to small turtles love to swim and need lots of room to do so. Zoo-med makes a great suction cupped basking spot called the Turtle Dock (check reptiledepot.com) in three different sizes it is natural looking and gives the turtle lots of swimming room. yes, turtles need UVB but remember UVB rays cannot go through plastic/plexiglass or glass. A great website with tons of info on care and keeping of turtles and tortoises is www.chelonia.org they have a section just for painted turtles. Painted turtles are one of the species that need very clean water it is really important. A good general rule for a filter that is going to be in a turtle tank is one that is made to filter twice as much water as what you have in the tank. If you need more answers you can e-mail me if you like. yhetti2@yahoo.com