Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey turtle people! My hubby might let me get a mud turtle since I have an empty 20g long tank. (I have 6 total turtles as it is-just convincing him on letting me get another is a miracle)
I know muds are small guys, which species would be ok in a decked out 20g long? White Lips are somewhat easy to find around my area so I hoped one of them might do well.
I spoil my turtles with good food, what do muds go for?
There's the myth they don't need a UVB? True or false? I gotta new UVB to spare so he or she would get one no matter! And a basking lite.

I was thinking of permanently dividing my 20 long mostly water with a land area on one end to hang out to soak up the rays, what kind of substrate should be on that land side?

I'd like to know anything else about setting up a little mud, so if ya got the info I'd appreciate learning more on them!

Most Mud species will do fine in a 20gal long. Some that come to mind are, 3-striped muds, mississippi muds, and like you mention the white lipped muds. All require shallow water around 4-6in and do well with a small land area. To build a land area I would use a piece of glass cut to fit in your aquarium. Then glue it in place with 100% silicone. For substrate on the land side I would line the bottom with pea gravel about 1in, then do a sand/soil mix. That way you can plant plants in there. Although, you may want to keep the plants in small pots so you can move them around easier and not worry about flooding the land side when watering. Do use the UVB bulb over the water and a basking light over part of the land area. Be sure theres a cooler spot so he can get out of the heat, many will roam around on land and burrow.
Good luck and feel free to ask more questions.
Chris
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0.1 Red Eared Slider, 1.0 Common Snapper, 1.0 Bearded Dragon and a 55gal Native Fish Tank with a 6in LM Bass, 3 Crawdads and a Pleco.
I use to have a collection of Leopard Geckos that I bred, but have sold them.

Oh awesome. So I can set up that tank eaaaasssyy for a little mud. They are so freakin cute!
I got this really cool tank divider at PetSmart. It fits a 20g tall or long, and with the silicone sealant divides the land and water and it has a sort of entrance. It looks good too. It's about 4" tall, so that'll give him or her enough water depth.
I'm getting an XP1 for my wood turtles, so their small filter will go to the mud tank.
Oh, food...ya gotta mud turtle grocery list? I know they go for worms..but what else?

There is a good article on white lips and red cheek mud turtles by Mark Packer.

Ohh yeah, I have it. I forgot aaallll about the article...hah! I'm gonna go read it.

I have some stripe-neck musks and they have been doing great on chopped minnows, worms and reptomin.
Good luck.

I finally got myself a copy of that! Good article, great pics.
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PHRatz

I was disappointed in the photos of mine that they used.
I had sent a bunch of old slides to Mark Packer but only a few were really good ones. A couple were very good.
But the editor decided to use a couple of very orindary (if not subpar) shots. Go figure.

That just figures! They choose the pics that you liked less, but I still liked them. It was still an interesting article & we got to see some south of the border muds that I don't see around here.
Fortunately the pet shops here do not carry mud turtles.. I say fortunately because the pet shops where I live do not need to carry exotic animals. The people working in them don't know enough about them to sell them which is unfortunate for the RES that they do sell. :-x
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PHRatz

I agree. Pet stores are about the LAST places that should be selling turtles of any kind. It is ironic, but they seem to be the least informed.
The various herp classifieds and reptile shows are about the only places I feel at least a little comfortable obtaining animals from.
Of course, private breeders are the best source.

I hear stories that there are good pet stores out there somewhere, but they aren't within 100 miles of my home. There was a time when there was one tiny little mom & pop store in this area that offered the most healthy reptiles I'd ever seen around here. It was very clean too, something I don't see often. They closed due to the fact that the owner's divorced, what a shame they couldn't keep it going for a reason like that!
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PHRatz

Looks like I'm gonna get a 3-stripe from Daytona! Wooo! A friend's offered to find me a good looking male and bring him westwards for me.

Can you send me this article through email?
chengbo_1981@163.com
Thank you !

Well a good staple would be a pelleted food called Mazuri. Its the best commercial food out there. Then keep a constant supply of feeder fish (rosies) in the tank. Not only will he eat them, but they will help clean up the tank. You can also offer him crickets, worms, mealworms, aquatic plants like Anacharis and Romaine Lettuce.
Chris
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0.1 Red Eared Slider, 1.0 Common Snapper, 1.0 Bearded Dragon and a 55gal Native Fish Tank with a 6in LM Bass, 3 Crawdads and a Pleco.
I use to have a collection of Leopard Geckos that I bred, but have sold them.

Good list of foods posted so far.
Most people say ewwww about this but I breed Caribbean lobster roaches, my yellow mud goes nuts for them. He also goes nuts for the meal worms I breed but because of the chitin I don't feed those to him very often.
He loves any live thing I toss in, so I try to give him the widest variety of live insects, earthworms, & fish that I can.
He also likes some of the frozen fish foods that I thaw for him such as bloodworms & brine shrimp. I tried plankton, tubifex worms, & glass worms, he wouldn't go for those. When it comes to greens if I make turtle food with greens hidden in it he'll eat that, otherwise it's hard to get veggies into him, but he is a yellow mud not the same species you're looking at.

Good luck with your new turtle, let us know when you get him/her.
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PHRatz