Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had those little baby turtles before, but I never took care of them and they always died. So this time, I got a 10 gal tank, a good filter, basking light, and a heater ( I know that they need a bigger tank than 10gal, but for right now...) The little guy seems pretty lathargic though. Any tips?

Hatchling turtles are pretty sensitive and hard to take care of, they have a lower survival rate than adults...but here are some tips.

If he is just a hatchling then a ten gallon tank filled almost all the way up should be enough space. (they should have 10gallons of water per inch of shell)

Make sure you get an acurate thermometer (temp gun or digital thermometer from walmart) to measure temps. The basking spot should be between 88-90. Being that its a small tank make sure you are not overheating the whole tank and that your turtle can escape the heat if he wants.

You mentioned he had a basking light but did not mention a UVB bulb, these are VERY important, especially in baby turtles that are growing rapidly. Make sure to buy one of these (most comonly available at any pet store in the form of a flurescent tube, they usually cost about 20-30$. Zoo-med 5.0 or 8.0 are good bulbs) Put this over the basking spot so on top of the screen lid, UVB rays will not pass through glass at all and only through water a little bit.

At this age he should be eating mostly protein (small crickets, turlte pellets, krill, blood worms, beefheart, chopped up earth worms etc...) with small amounts of veggies just to make sure he aquires a taste for them as when he gets older his diet will be mostly greens. You can try collard, mustard, and dandelion greens. Along with endive, escarole and many others.

Make sure to leave him alone as much as possible, you do not want to stress the little guy out by handling him a lot, tappin on the tank or even staring at him exesseively.

Set the lights on a timer so your turtle gets a set amount of light and dark each day.

And finally set up a good water changing schedual, i would change 1/3 of the water weekly. More or less frequently depending on the size of your filter. Buy a good test kit or locate a good tropical fish store that uses good quality test kits (Sera are my personal favorite. The germans rock at fish keeping skills!) and keep a good eye on your levels of ammonia, nitrate and phostphates.

Im sure i missed something, but someone else will pick up on it!!

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

Instead of a 10 gallon aquarium, you can buy the large
rubbermaid containers that are opaque so the turtle isn't
stressed by the glass. They are very inexpensive and allow
good regulation of body temps because of their size. I raised
my two babies up until about A:3 in one of these.

You can get them are Menards, Home Depot, Lowes or places
like Walmart.

Also, as the previous person said. A UVB source should be
utilized for them. I have used Reptisun 5.0 on all of my
turtles as well as my iguanas.

As far as food, my babies staple diet was Reptomin and then
I added different items as I found they liked them. Now, I
truly believe there is NOTHING they won't eat.

Good luck with your new baby. I miss mine being babies.
Linda

I have a UVB bulb, but it's only 15 watts. How can I tell the temp from the bulb?

UVB bulbs are necessary but do not put off any heat. I would
recommend a Reptisun 5.0 for your UVB source. You can use
a regular household bulb for heat. The bulb wattage is
dependent on the size of the enclosure. If you have a 10
gallon, try a 25-30 watt bulb first suspended directly over
the basking area. Make sure the turtle can't touch it. Buy a thermometer and place it on the
basking area. Wait several minutes and check the thermometer.
It should read 85-90 degrees. Wait about 20 minutes longer
to make sure it is not getting too warm. You will need
both lights for this little guy. The bulb will also heat
the water in a small enclosure so watch that to. If the
baby is lethargic it could be he is too cold. The basking
spot should do the trick.

I would recommend looking up care sheets on this website and
reading everything you can about the care. Once you have them
set up correctly, they are fairly easy to maintain. Mine have
never been sick and never skipped a meal.

Linda

Ok, I went out and bought a new lamp and bulb, a 75 watt. But it only mentions UVA, not UVB. It's keeping the basking spot much warmer now, and I'm keeping the water temp at about 84. He's moving around some, but he's not eating or anything. I bought live mealworms and have been trying to get him to eat those along with the little pellets. No luck. Also, he's got these white pussy spots all over his arms and legs. I bought something called a sulfa dip to maybe help him heal a little bit. Does that stuff work? This guy is really sick. Sorry for all the questions, I just don't want him to die! Thats what I get for getting him from some crappy petstore. Thanks

A UVB bulb and a UVA bulb are two toally different thing. Turtles do not need UVA, you can use just a regular household bulb for a heat bulb. As for a UVB buld these do not put out any heat. It is sometimes confuising as packaging will sometimes be misleading claiming to have "UV rays." Generally a good way to be sure you got a UVB bulb from the store is that they are pretty expensive, usually at least 20$
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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

How about this
bulb?

Yes, those work too and provide both heat and UVB. I have never personally used one, i have heard people say they burn out kinda quickly but im not sure. Its worth a try.
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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

Please take him to a vet.