Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We have two very small painted turtles (a little bigger than 50 cent piece), they were rescued from a few boys who had caught them. I was afraid to let them go in their condition, so we kept them. I got a 20 gallon tank, setting in a bay window and a filter. They have a basking area in the sunlight. No heater.

We also added a small snapping turtle to the mix after he was run over by a mower at a local golf course. We nursed him to health and he is doing fine, I think.

My question is all of a sudden as of last week they all quit eating. They were all eating two to three grub worms, crickets, or and bugs or worms I could find. I also give them a pellet of some vitamin from the pet store. Now nothing as far as I can tell.

I have a 55 and a 20 gallon fish tank, with fish. Could the painted go in there after snapper is returned to the wild, in spring?

I live in Illinois if that might help.

Thx,

Dallas

Hi,

Please do not put aquariums in direct sunlight. They
heat up very quickly and death can happen in an instant.

I also live in Illinois and it is cooling off so appetites
do tend to fade a little. I have a newer painted baby
and so far he has never missed a meal. I would look very
hard at your set-up.

Here are the things that are necessary for the babies
to do well.

Aquarium or rubber maid container.
Plastic plants floating on top the water for resting/hiding areas
Basking area with bulb over the area that produces temps
between 85-90.
UVB source (they need this to utilize calcium or they will
die). Glass will filter out the needed UVB so being in a window
does really nothing for them.
My baby is in a 20 gallon and I only fill it about 1/4 full.
I also use Reptomin Floating sticks as their staple diet and
then add other stuff for variety. I have raised my other
turtles this way and never had a problem with health.

Good luck and let us know how things are going

Linda

I will make the changes this weekend and report back.

Thx,

Dallas

Temperature may have a lot to do with appetites. Snappers are more dirty than paints, they just naturally have a smell and may muck up the water a little. They like to hide under sand and things. They can stay under water a lot longer than a painted can so don't be alarmed if you see yours on the bottom for long periods. My sister had some snapper hatchlings this summer and I thought about raising one but I have enough turtles as it is...but they were so cute...in their own way.

I don't want to be the messenger of doom & gloom but I've known too many people who've lost their sliders because they kept them with snappers & the snappers killed the other turtles. I'd put that snapping turtle in a different container.
Along with what others have already said get a good submersible heater & keep the water temp warm, 75-80 at the highest.
If they don't start eating soon, if you can find some feces in the tank, run that in to a vet's office & have it tested for parasites. Most vets will run a test for you without seeing the animal. They'll want to see the pet IF they find parasites.
Good luck with the babies.
-----
PHRatz

Wow, you guys should of let me in on turtles care expense. I dropped 150 dollars on a heater, a lid and three light bulbs. The water is now 78oF and the basking area is 96oF and as of last night they started eating again.

I hit several pet stores and looked at their turtle set ups. I need to change some things up.

Snapper will be set free in spring and the painted will stay as long as I can keep them healthy.

Thx for your help everyone.

Dallas

Great Job! One thought though, be careful when looking
at petshop set-ups. From my experience most are not set
up for long term use. Are one of the bulbs you bought
a UVB source? I recommend the Reptisun 5.0. You can buy
these online for a fraction of the price in petshops.

Also you mentioned a lid. Make sure there is no glass
or solid lid between the lights and turtles. As I said
before, the UVB won't penetrate solid substances including
glass. I use an old bakers rack over my babies enclosure with
the lights sitting on top of it. It fits the top perfectly
so it doesn't look too bad.

Speaking of expenses, I just put out $600 for a new aquarium
and another $200 (Fluval 405) for the filter as most of my turtles are large. It was well worth every penny as my cleaning
time has been more than cut in half. Turtles are expensive!

Great job again!
Linda

I agree with linda about the petshop setup. I never take petshop advice as far as im concerned they know nothing except how to sell animals. You are better off looking up forums such as this one for advice. I strongly recommend you seperate the snapper, baby turtles can grow very quickly and a snapper is very strong as a baby it can bite limbs off of other baby turtles. Yes it can get expensive but a couple good investments now will save you alot more in the future. Good luck!

I agree with all the others on getting the snapper in a seperate tank. Snappers eat other turtles and they don't like each other. They will kill turtles larger and smaller than themselves. By the way they are excellent climbers. I had to cover my tanks, you wouldn't believe how they can climb up the side of a tank.

Snappers are extremely good climbers. My father had snappers and the one had a lid on the tank with a brick on it and the sucker still managed to escape! He ended up going back into the wild because he kept escaping, not what you want loose in the house!

I would add in veggies, such as duck weed, anacharis, romaine lettuce, red leaf lettuce. They really eat a lot of veggies in the wild. As they get older mine in more veggies. I just put a leaf or two into my tank each day and limit the prepared foods. My three painters I've had for three years and were wild caught.

My snapper seems lazy, he sits there get his nose above the waterline and waits for food.

I had to go to the pet store to buy the lid and lights, I did not have time to wait. The pet store guy sold me two small bulbs that were $10.00 a piece, one red and one for basking. The long bulb cost $35.00 and only last 18 months and the special lid that holds all three bulbs was $60.00.

Snapper will be moved asap, my kid has lost interest now and I find I am the only one who thinks they are cool.

Thx for all the help.

Dallas