Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi my boyfriend and I are trying to set up a tank for a couple of southern painted turtles that will be arriving next week. We have had a series of unfortunate events with some other SPs being shipped and mishandled which lead to their deaths. We just had a small (1.5 inch) baby survive two days in shipping in the southern heat, eat for a week then suddenly stop eating after it consumed 7 ghost shrimp in 2.5 days, then become lethargic and sadly pass away just last night.

We were told by a friend that his sudden change in behavior could have been caused by stress. We have a 29l tank with an underwater filter. We had only a few plants and no place for the turtle to hide under the water, as well as only 1/3 of the tank containing "quiet water." His basking area was around 90 degrees F while the water bounced between day and night from 81 to 85.

So we revamped the tank and here is a picture...

(my server just went down so this picture may not show, but check back and it should be here later... it BETTER be here later lol)

The tank now has the basking area which is a stack of 6"X9" pavers in front of the filter so the output flow of the filters is slowed. Now the entire tank has a slow quiet nature to it but still enough movement for the filter to do its job. We did this because this model of filter will not let us change the flow. We also added an orange sherbet container in the front corner for a hidey space under the water. We shifted the lamps so the heat lamp hits the basking area and points all excessive light out of the tank. We have one lamp for heating and another with a UBA/UVB florescent bulb in it. Then we have added about A MILLION plants... ok not really. We added enough combomba and anachris so that the babies will be able to hide in it and feel safe. (about 12 bucks worth from Petsmart... if that helps if you can't see the picture)

Now the basking area is around the 90 degree mark.
The air temp is in the mid 80s
The water ranges from 78 to 81 (instead of 85)
The air humidity in the tank is about 55-60%

The tank is covered with a metal screen top and there is a heater in the water to keep the water from dipping below 75ish.

Is this setup great, good, bad, okay, horrible for southern painteds?

Ok other questions:

We haven't been treating the water with any conditions we have been putting straight tap water in the tank, should we be conditioning the water with something?

We WERE feeding the baby that passed away ReptoMin Baby but then he ate all the ghost shrimp (I thought he wouldn't be fast enough to get them) do you think the ghost shrimp feast could have caused problems and then killed him?

I also have a question on cats, I have two cats one long haired and one short haired, a girl at my university said her two snakes passed away from upper respiratory problems induced by cat hair, do my cats pose the same problem to my future turtles?

We appreciate any opinions and help you can give us, we want to make sure the next babies are getting the best care possible.

Thank you for any time you give to these matters,
Pitch

One last note, this tank is setup for small turtles and is not a permanent home by any stretch. We are fully aware a 30 gallon tank will not house two or three full grown southern painteds and have plans to acquire a 60 gallon tank for them in the future (within the next 18 months.)

Well, personally I think your setup looks great. I am not a turtle expert by far, but I am very familiar with crocodilian care and they are pretty similar in several aspects. I would say that you setup and temp/hum. ranges are fine. I wouldnt go higher than that on the water temp though. Using tap water is perfectly fine for reptiles, but watch it for amphibians, because they dont like it very well. I would feed reptomin and dont put anything else in the tank. Fish and all are fast, but they will still be caught. I had frogs, fish, and snails in with my red-bellied turtles and none of them lasted very long.

I hope this helps in some small way, maybe somebody more experienced with turtles would be able to provide some more input.

So far, in my opinion...A

Best Wishes,

Chris

Setup looks great. Only a few things come to mind... I would move the tank away from the window (I think theres a window behind the tank, right?). This will cause the water temp to flucuate and cause excess algae growth. Second, make sure they can easily access the basking area. When the water level drops due to evaporation they will have a hard time getting up on there. You might look into making a ramp leading up to the basking area using some driftwood. Also, I prefer a background on all my tanks. You dont have to have one, but it reduces stress due to not having all the sides being exposed. You may want to get one, makes the tank look more complete.
Other than that, looks great.
Good Luck,
Chris
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0.1 Red Eared Slider, 1.0 Common Snapper, 1.0 Bearded Dragon and a 55gal Native Fish Tank with a LM Bass and Pleco.
I use to have a collection of Leopard Geckos that I bred, but have sold them.