Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got a spiny softshell and plecostamus from a friend. The softshell is about 3-4 inshes in diameter, and had previously been kept (with the 7-inch pleco) in a 10-gallon tank. I moved them both to a 30-gallon. The pleco sort of feeds off the softshell, picking up gunk he stirs up out of the gravel, and cleaning the algae and dead skin off him, which is why I kept them together. She had a land area for him when she first got him, but he never used it, and just had a plastic cave in the 10-gal tank that he could use to reach the surface while still submersed. I have pretty much an aquarium setup, a couple of inches of gravel, with only a tall peice of limestone on one side for him and the pleco to hide under, and so he can reach the surface, and another peice to anchor a plastic plant. I also put my orange apple snail in there from my other aquarium.

I have kept baby red-ears for short periods before re-releasing them back in the wild, and box turtles the same way, but that's about it for my experience with turtles. The red-ears were fed pellets, worms, tadpoles and minnows, and the box turtles on fruit, veggies, earthworms and pillbugs. My friend had been feeding the softie turtle pellets, and had some neon tetras in the tank which bred, but the turtle ate the babies. (I put the tetras in my other tank) All she had previously on the turtle was the small lamp that came on the 10-gallon tank, which was burnt out for i dont know how long, and no heater.

I have a regular aquarium hoom and light...should I get a reptile bulb? (I used to have iguanas, so I know about proper lighting for reptiles) or would the regular aquarium-type lights be sufficient? I have an aquarium heater in the tank...what temperature range is good? i just set it for typical aquarium range right now...its between 78 and 80. I have the 10-gal set up to house feeders, and plan to get some feeder goldfish and ghost shrimp, alnog with getting some better turtle pellets. Anything else I should think about feeding him? and maybe a good type of turtle pellets? somehting with proper dietary requirements?

I know a 30-gallon isnt the best size tank for either of them, but it's certainly better than a 10. If he gets to be too much to handle (I have a 4-year old, and expecting another baby any day now!) I may see about releasing him in the state park just down the road, since softshells are local here.

I much appreciate any help. thanks.

I think you are good to go.
And softshells will eat just about anything, most likely it will even get that pleco thing or whatever if it's hungry enough.
Michael
Michael's Place

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http://www.freewebs.com/mikesnake

Helmz614@aol.com

Did your friend "kidnap" the turtle? How long has he/she had it? Its spring and will start growing rapidly with the proper nutrition. It does need a full spectrum bulb. The limestone worries me as it might affect the pH. (Farmers add limestone to a field for that purpose.) If you do release it (and it was kidnapped), I recommend doing it as close as possible to the original. Hopefully that niche that the turtle occupied has not been filled by another. Releasing to a site that has lots of softies is ok, but it troubles me because its probably "full."

I don't think she caught it. I think they bought it at a pet store, I'll have to ask her when she gets back from vacation. They'd had it for several years, though. I will get a new reptile bulb, the aquarium bulb is about burned out and we were going to get a new one today. I will pick one up at the local fish and exotics shop when I go today...the LFS didn't carry ghost shrimp, and I was going to get some and small goldfish for feeders.

I usually have to add tons of pH-decreaser along with the chlorine neutralizer when I replace aquarium water. Would limestone raise or lower the pH? Our water has really high pH here...I usually jsut test with the kit I bought at walmart for the aquarium, with the little glass tube, and the card that shows a color range, from bright blue at 7 to yellow below 6 i think. Its always WAY off the blue end. I've had a couple of smaller peices of the limestone (I guess thats what it is...the white rock with all the holes, I see it sold for fishtanks a lot. pretty easy to break) in my fish tank, and haven't seen any significant changes in the pH.

If she did catch the turtle wild (which I doubt, shes got 2 small kids, and isnt the type to go grubbing around for turtles anyway) I have no idea where she would have gotten it, and it was a couple of years ago at least. She was thinking about letting it loose in a creek or a waterhole at the golf course down the road from where she lives. (She's in san marcos, lots of rivers and creeks around here anyway) I really didn't want to set it out in the wild, since it was probably store-bought, and has lived in captivity so long anyway, and has relied on the safe, constant tank conditions. Hopefully if I do end up having to get rid of him, I can find someone with a good-size backyard pond who would like to keep him.

Well, if its 3-4" ans she's had it for a couple of years...
1) its an exotic and it should not be released.
or
2) its unhealthy 'cuz it should be a lot bigger.

And excuse me because I mispoke earlier. Limestone acts as a buffer, so it makes it very difficult to change the pH. That's probably why you have to add so much decreaser.

And feeders are great, as long as they aren't the disgusting ones from Petsmart or PetCo with the bright colors. Minnows are best.

GL and keep posting questions and problems.

If you do have to get rid of it, try posting in the classifieds. Hopefully you'll find a good home there.

Thanks...I was using all that pH-decreaser before i put the limestone rocks in. I really haven't used it that much since. My mom replaces 2/3 of her tank water about once a month or so...whenever its nasty and needs cleaning and has never used any kind of chemicals in it, and hasnt had any problems, and the last few times i cleaned my tank, all I added was the chlorine stuff, and they did just fine.

I'll probably find someone with a koi pond or something eventually if I can't keep him. I know he really shouldn't be released to the wild, like she was wanting to do, which is why I offered to take him. At least in someone's backyard pond, he will be safe from predators and can get fed. plus a lot of people have heaters in them anyway so the fish dont freeze in winter.

Its an eastern spiny softshell, local around here, but a lot of pet shops sell local fauna. I always see Gulf coast toads, green anoles, and red-ear sliders at a local exotic shop. I got a few ghost shrimp and some small feeder goldfish at walmart. Just the plain-looking ones you buy for your oscars or whoever. I put a couple in with the turtle, and he ate one. I will get my sis to get some minnows for me, and if she still has her tadpoles, or if they haven't already turned into frogs. She had them a few weeks ago and they were already budding legs, so they may be frogs by now.

The guy who was helping us with the fish at walmart told us to hold the bag over our heads so the fish didnt get irradiated by the theft detector things you walk through, and it would make the fish sick, and then the turtle sick if he ate them. I've never heard of this in my life, and no-one else has ever told us that. I think that guy was just full of BS, and he didn't know what he was talking about anyway, cuz he was telling us the pacus got ick that way, that the hair algae in the tanks was baby plants from a half-eaten amazon sword that was in one tank, and some other BS about the snails in the tanks. I never heard of those scanners using radiation, and if it did that to the fish, wouldn't it harm us? or "irradiate" the food we're buying there and make us sick? crazy guy.

problem with feeders from pet stores is that the breeders pump the tanks full of copper sulfate to control algae, and that could cause decreased immune systems in the turt. mine died from eating a guppy that had a parasite, i didnt catch it in time.

Make sure you get yourself a full spectrum bulb, 5.0% UVB bulb is needed for digestion. 3 is too small (the one you get at pet supermarket) and 7 can damage it. If you see a 5% iguana light, thats fine. No difference, just packaging.

Quick lesson on Sensormatic. Sensormatic is nothing but a magnetic field. It can demagnatize your credit card if you get close enough to the sensor as you're walking out of the door, but there is no radiation. That would never, ever be permissable to be placed in retail buildings. I think he just wanted to laugh as you were holding the fish over yourh ead as you walked out the door, lol.

And you need a basking area with a basking light not a UV light. As soon as you put that basking light up, then you will see the turt getting up on the rock almost immedately.
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -Unknown

I had an iguana uv bulb but i gave it to the lady who gave me the turtle with my old iguana cage...for her ball python.

i hate walmart fish, especially the feeders...he ate 2 and the rest died, i never bothered getting more. i've just been feeding him pellet food. that guy was a moron anyway, telling us the algea was babies off the brazil sword plant. he also was telling us some idiot BS about snails. we didnt bother holding the fish up and looking stupid, we knew better.

i want to get rid of the turtle actually, but need to find him a good home. him and the pleco foul up the water too much...and the filter isnt cutting it. i have to take them out at least every other week, remove all 4 gallons worth of gravel, which makes the water so you cant see thru it...drain all the water and refill it. i'm thinking og getting an undergravel filter, and run a peice of tubing from the filter to under the UGF so it sucks the crud from under there. or preferrably....do the UGF with a submersible filter and pump so i can reduce the amount of gravel and water level so the setup is more turtle-friendly. right now i have it piled up w/ gravel and a rock propped agaist the side to climb on...and either the water so low it makes too much noise, or the water level is about 2 inches above the top of the rock. i'll get it worked out. so far theyr fine.

thanks