Reptile & Amphibian Forums

As a birthday gift to my 8 yr old son and as a rescue situation, a friend of ours gave us this turtle. Unfortunatley when I had agreed to take on the responsibility of the turtle I asummed it was going to be a regular old slider.I have found out the hard way that this animal is not the easiest to take care of. When I recieved it I was told by the pet associate that mine was in an entirely wrong set up.We've had it for about 3 months and it already has gone through 4 pumps and about 3-4 lites.It's a very picky eater.Only wanting to eat Meal worms and guppies. NO PELLETS FOR THIS PRETTY PRINCESS. Which has me concerned!! As I said I've been learning as I have gone and talked to other owners.In conclusion my question is what should I do about her not eating the pellets and is it that necessary? Thanks

Your situation is not that of an uncommon one. It seems they are a LOT more care, but not really. There are a couple key differences but nothing that cannot be accomadated. You did not mention what kind of set up you had before compared to know?

First, many people say that you can only keep these guys on sand. That is not true. If you use gravel on the finer side, that works fine also (came from John Richards mouth and is true). Then again, it may depend on what kidn of softy you have. Do you have a FL softshell or a spiney etc? Spineys or easier to care for and more hardy then the FL softy's. Go with the gravel on the finter side, a good strong filter like a Fluval 4, toss in rocks and fake plants and you should be good to go. Their feeding may differ a little more than most but the guppies are great for them and if they like meal worms, that is fine also. They dont have to have turtle pellets or any commecercial pet food at all. They dont get this is the wild right? So live feed like you are saying the animal is eating is great. Keep 2-4 dozen guppies in the tank at all times, depending on the size of the tank?

Good luck!
Dallas Quarles

Thank you for the feedback. Before, Squishee was in a 20 gallon (upright sized)tank with nothing but with the large size gravel.She had a pump and for some reason her water was a murky greenish brown with particals floating in it.Her light was just a regular old light bulb. She also smelled like fish or some strange odor. I remember that funk smell because it made my room stink(Even With The Windows Open) I don't think she still is in the proper housing but it is an upgrade to what she was in before.Now she's in a 20 gallon(long lenghtwise)and has a rock, a floating log to bask onto,live plants and guppies to keep her occupied.Oh yeah I learned the hard way that the specialty sand they supposively reguire isn't really necessary. She is more active now than before too. I think it's because she has more room to move around in.I still want to improve her but financially and with the holidays approaching I think she'll have to wait.Thanks again and i will keep posting any questions or upgrades on our Princess