Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, thanks for your help.

Yeah, my turtle is in pretty bad shape habitat-wise... so hopefully he'll be happier in the much-bigger 55 gallon. He's still stuck in a 20 gal. long tank, which is only about half-full with water (and a mess, mind you), so he'll be moving in hopefully later this week. I went to the pet store and this is what I decided on:

Getting stones, assorted sizes, the guy said I'd need about 5-6 5-lb. bags of them to cover the bottom sufficiently. He pointed me to a Fluval 240 canister that he had - he actually had the 140 base, with the 240 top, needed to get some cheapo part for it and said I could have it for 40 bucks. It's used, but not too used, and I'll get all new carbon and sponges for it before I start. He said that it'll go about 180 gal/hr, which sounds better than the little cheapo waterfall I have in this 20-long one.

I also got the biggest suction/floating basking rock that the company made (something by 18".

Now, as for this UVB bulb. I used to have both the UVA heat basking lamp and a UVB florescent, but I was hanging the UVB lamp outside of the glass tank, and don't think that it was getting through the glass - was it? Anyhoo, that burnt out, and since he was getting by with the heat lamp, I just stuck with that...I don't think he's had any problems...

I'm feeding him the standard reptile sticks, a good amount too - he just can't seem to eat enough. I'm going to start with giving him romaine now and then now that the temp's risen.

One thing I have noticed, though... when I went to pick him up today, he got realllly mean and hissed, flapped around and tried to snap at me (luckily I had him far enough back on the shell)... is this just because his tank sucks now and he's getting cranky? Or do RES's end their naive retracting in their shells just with age?

Also, I've got a pesky cat who frequently torments the poor guy right now, maybe that's got to do with it. Will he be cranky forever now? or will he chill once he gets in the bigger tank?

Thanks for your time... This is the second major event I've had with him (First being me buying him...) and I'm still new at this.

-Brian

well....

the first thing i am going to say is that i am glad you came to us with your questions!

second thing is: while the rocks on the bottom of your tank might make the tank LOOK better.... it's actually bad for you! substrate is MUCH harder to keep clean than just a regular tank! the rocks may be a larger pain in the butt than how 'pretty' thay make the tank look!

i think your turtle will be MUCH happier in the larger tank... considering that it sounds like the guy is in cramped conditions currently!

The filter and basking spot sound good to me..... they seem like they will work really well!

as far as the UVB bulb... you WILL need one. you do NOT however need the UVA bulb... for a 'heating light' you can simply use a regular light bulb for the heat.... the UVB bulb helps the turtle to harden it's shell. without this the turtles shell could become permanently damaged. and i do NOT believe that UVB goes through glass.... it barely penetrates water (by an inch or so i believe)

Standard reptile sticks can be good for your turtle, but you also need to realize that a better diet would consist of a variety of foods.... Also, i hope you are not overfeeding your turtle. if your turtle is over a year old, it should only be fed protein about every other day or so (and even less the older it gets). At every feeding, the turtle should ONLY be fed enough protein to fit into their head. protein includes: earthworms, crickets, pellets, etc. At all other times, the turtle should be fed greens.... My turtles seem to LOVE dandelion greens, strawberry leaves, pieces of cucumber.... I would say for you to try the different things, and even if the turtle doesnt eat these things at first, he may eventually come around. Also, the best way to get calcium into your turtles diet is to feed the turtle crickets (the bones provide calcium) or you could also buy a cuttle bone (bird department of a store) and chip off the hard backing and put this into the water. even if your turtle does not nibble at the cuttle bone, it will dissolve into the water and the turtle will get the calcium that way.

as far as your turtle being mean.... i think the older turtles get, the snippier and more independent they become.... I know that most people on this forum have said that they RARELY ever touch their turtles, and when they do, the turtles hiss and kick... mine have not yet come to that stage yet, but i am sure they will eventually reach this stage!

good luck with your turtle....
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~ Evie

Pets:
RIP 0.1.0 German Shepherd {Dusty}
0.1.0 German Shepherd/Collie mix {Shadoe}
0.0.2 RES turtles {Booger & Snot}
1.0.0 African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
0.0.2 Snail {Gary & Larry}

Thanks for all your help. I just have another question about the diet...

For the past 3 years, I've only been feeding him the sticks (usually reptomin), and haven't properly had a UVB light... does this mean he can be sick?

Also, I'm going off to college in the fall, and my mom already decided that there weren't going to be any live insects in the house, so that rules out the living things: crickets and earthworms. Do you have any suggestions as to what I feed him (again, I've had him for three years and he's about 6 inches long) and how much? I've been asking around for years how much should I feed him, some say as much as he can eat in a half hour, others say 5 pellets, or 30 pellets. I don't want to overfeed him, but at the same time, I don't want to starve him...what should I do?

Thanks

Do not limit the number of Reptomin sticks, go with the how much he can eat in 30 minutes. Is there any way you can change mom's mind about feeder insects? Will she go with guppies or minnows? Another option would be Silversides which are sold in the fish dept freezer at your local pet store. They are frozen whole little fish. While fresh is better the frozen do at least have bones which are a good calcium source.

A note on the gravel.... do NOT get it. Besides the cleaning hassle, if the turtle can fit it in his mouth there's a potential that it will be swallowed which leads to impactions which are deadly.

I agree, tanks are much easier to keep clean and much safer without the gravel.

As far as feeding you really want to be limiting his protein and increasing his greens. Romaine is ok but it doesnt have much for nutrients...try dandelion, collard, and mustard greens. Also try Endive, escarole, and other dark leafy greens. You can add a little bit of fruit for variety. As far as varying the protein without using feeder insects you can buy frozen krill and silversides at the frozen fish food section of your pet store. Also many pet stores sell cubes of frozen fish food such as brine shrimp, mixed veggies, bloodworms and beefheart. All of these are ok to add to the diet.

UVB does not travel through glass, 99% of the rays get blocked out. You really need to get a UVB bulb, even if your turtle is not appearing to have problems he may develop them later and by then it may be too late. Put the uvb bulb next to the basking lamp (which can be just an ordinary household bulb) over the land part of your aquarium.

Hope this helps

~Mim
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

One thing i dont think i saw anyone mention yet is that the UVB light should be changed every 6 months
My RES eats collard greens, turnip greens, carrot, repto-min sticks,wardly sticks, frozen blood works,crickets, earthworms, rosy minnows, and i want to get her repcal pellets as well

Do not limit the number of Reptomin sticks, go with the how much he can eat in 30 minutes

Is this correct????

i've always been told to ONLY feed my turtles the amount of protein that will fit into their heads! if i let my turtles eat as much as they could in half an hour.... they'd be wayyyyyyyyyyyyy overfed! my turtles are FAST eaters.....

just wondering
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~ Evie

Pets:
RIP 0.1.0 German Shepherd {Dusty}
0.1.0 German Shepherd/Collie mix {Shadoe}
0.0.2 RES turtles {Booger & Snot}
1.0.0 African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
0.0.2 Snail {Gary & Larry}

Im nto sure, that fdoes sound like a lot of protien, especially for older turtles....maybe that amount would be ok if you were only feeding protein once or twice a week? I think i had always heard what they could eat in about 10mins...?
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

Hmmm..........I went back thru some sources and they do vary from feed what will be eaten in a few minutes to 30 minutes. I was referring strictly to the Reptomin (counting out number of sticks vs letting the turtle eat in x amount of time). Would you really consider Reptomin to be just a protein source?

Reptomin are 42.5 percent protein....much higher than anything else a turtle would be fed. The rule I use is no more than would fit in the turtle's head every other day. But if you want to know the truth, I probably only give my turtles reptomin once or twice a MONTH. They are 5 years old and mostly just eat greens. They are very healthy and happy turtles. Sometimes they get crickets or other live food. Anyway, I perfer to have them on the thin side, reptiles in captivity tend to die from fatty liver disease from being overfed and not getting enough exercise.
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A mans got to do what a mans got to do. A woman has to do what he can't.

Mom to:

1 little boy born 7/19/04
2 male RES, born 1999
1 ribbon snake, age unknown
3 FBT, ages unknown
1 female bearded dragon, born 5/2002
1 male lab mix, born 5/24/03
1 female calico cat, born 6/7/04
1 common musk turtle hatchling