Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK. I have a 33 gallon aquarium (48L x 13W x 13T). In it is 3 baby terrapins (about 1-1.5". They have a turtle dock they hang out on 75% of the time. There are 6 fish in the water. They dont bother with the terrapins. My concern is they are so small that they dont swim really well yet. Twice this week there were one of them at the bottom lookin lifeless. The 1st day I picked him up and put hi on the dock, he literally was lifeless, An hour later he was normal and alive. The 2nd time, with a different little guy, he was at the bottom upside down, not moving. So I picked this one up and put it on the dock, instantly he sticks his head up all attentive. Should I be worried about their lack of strength/weight to swim in 12 inches of water?? Should I put them in a separate, more shallow aquarium until theyre older??

SOMEONE REPLY TO ME

I have 2 1.5 inch DBTs in a 55gal full of water and they have been in there since I got them as hatchlings at less than 1 inch. I have a fluval FX5 filter (about one of the most powerfull canister filters out there) along with a top fin 60 rim filter which produces a good bit of turbulence. My little guys stayed at the top at first, now they swim all over the thing, occasionally it looks like they are stuck at the bottom, but as soon as I go to reach in with a net they swim away pretty quick. Once I had a similair incident to yours. I found one at the bottom, very close to the fluval filter intake(which has 1-2in rocks all around it at the bottom to degrade the intake force) and it looked lifeless, so I reached down pulled it up out of the water, and it opened it's eyes, looked at me, and when I put it in the water, it swam away immediately. I think the most important things is that if they do run out of energy while at the bottom they need a way to manually climb up. Just be sure to have tank deco that goes from the bottom to the top in several places so they can easily climb up if they need to. After the one time I found one of them near the intake, I increased the rock buildup around the intake to reduce immediate force even more, since then I haven't had any problems at all. Maybe this helps, maybe it doesn't, I don't think you need another smaller tank, just some redecorating.

My diamondbacks often take very long naps on the bottom. It sounds like what you are discribing is simply them sleeping on the bottom. Realize that diamonbacks and many other water turtles can stay underwater for very long periods of time, especially if they are at rest or brumating. This time of year mine do a lot more sleeping and less eating than in the spring, summer, fall, it's only natural. Hope this helps ease your mind, I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure what you are describing are underwater naps, mine sleep most of the night that way and usually take a long nap shortly after eating, much like myself falling asleep on the couch after supper, nothing like a good nap on a full belly
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Jeff Benfer
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