Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay so a while back I got a little RES he was a little bigger then a quarter when I got him. He was housed in a 30gal tank and ate pellets, guppies, and an acatinal(sp) cricket since I breed leoaprd geckos. He was doing great, growing, eating and such.

Well, I though he was getting to big for the way we had the tank set up so I went out and bought a kiddie pool to put him in since we dont have a pond. He had land to go uo on, fish, a filter and everything he needed. Well, I was cleaning out the pond and couldn't find him. I thought that a crow had gotten him. Well, 2 days later we found him. Under a croncreat slab we had broken up with a sledge hammer. He was so beaten up. Well, after a $150 vet bill and 2 months out of water, he's almost back to normal. Except for all his scars.

The thing is he's almost 2 and wont eat greens. He was starting to eat them before his accident, but now he wont. Also, since it is almost winter, I don't want to put him back outside till spring, so can I put him in a 30inch long x 20inch high tanks for now? He's about 11 inches around.

Also in the spring will it be okay to breed him. He's perfectly healthy. THe vet said he's be fine to breed, but I've had bad experiences with the vet.

Thanks

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Mommy of
4 leopard Geckos-Chui(Male), Anei, Makai, and Kahana(Females)
1 turtle(Male)-Named Mouse
1-Dog Riley(Male)
2 chinchillas(Getting soon) Faith and Hope or Trust can't decide

I don't know if he'd be okay to breed or even if he wanted to after that accident witch surely made him paranoid. They do need to eat greens, like lettuce and dandelions but be sure they don't have pesticides on them. Collard greens and hard fruit like apples. Some say it should make up 50% of there diet, but they are mainly carnivorous. 25% pellet, 25% vegatable and other hard fruit, 50% rosies, but not goldfish they are high in fat. Hope this helped some.

11 inches around what? How long is his shell from front to back? That is the normal way to measure them.

It sounds like the tank is a big small, maybe get a large rubbermaid container for the winter? It would probably stress him out to go from a large kiddie pool to a small tank.

He needs to eat greens, they should be the bulk of his diet. He probably wont because he knows you will give him pellets or whatever instead. If you hold off on the other food for several days and just offer greens he will eta them eventually. My turtles only get protein once a week or so. They can go for weeks without eating, so a few days will not hurt your turtle any. BTW, at 2 years old he shouldn't be longer than 2-3 inches, if he is you are overfeeding him.
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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

At 2 years old he is still young and still mostly carnivorous. I can't get mine to eat any greens (except sassafrass leave for some strange reason). As they get older they might start to eat more veggies. Lettuce is a no no though, nothing but a waste of space in the stomach. Try some anarachnis (sp?) which is a aquarium plant, i hear turtles love it.

2 years i think is a bit young to breed. Are you sure it is a male? did the vet sex him for you? it can be hard to tell on a young RES. a RES male mature around 5 years of age and females around 6 or 7 years, cant recall exactly. At 2 years 2 inches is too small, under fed and/or improper diet. more around 3 1/2 to 4 inches is right, mine were about that size at 2 years. My 2 young ones are going on 4 this december and neither one has shown any mating behavior, one is a male the other a female. My adult male cant be kept with other turtles because of his mating aggression problems that developed after a year or so with my adult female...

Okay so from top of shell to bottom is 5inches. I just went and measured.

I highly dought I'm overfeeding him to becuase he doesn't have fat legs or anything. The vet siad he was healthy and the vet would know. She's a specialist and owns many many turtles and tortises.

Also it is a He. We had the vet check.

His tank is 30inches long x 19inches high x 12 inches wide. That part is all water. Then he has a platform that come out of the water that is 30inches long x 12inches wide.

Turtles should grow very slowly due to their long life span.
5" at 2 years of age is too large. Mine grew on average 1
inch/year. They are 6 years old now and about 6-7" shell
length. My female is a little larger but females tend to be.

The vet is probably right that they are healthy but any
future problems may not be know as yet. It is taxing on their
bodies and organs to grow rapidly. This doesn't happen in the
wild so it most likely isn't good in captivity.

I would alter the food intake and try to slow it down some.

Linda

Okay, What do you suggest feeding him?

When he was in his tank he had food whenever he wanted it. Bad idea now that I've learned a little more.

Now he eats around 3-4 pellets a week. I'm tring to get him to eat greens but he doesnt like them. How should I introduce him to greens and what types of greens should I feed him? Thanks.