Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok i was at the city today and they had those tiny little turtles. I got 2 just because I felt so bad for the little guys being they had like no water and were stuck in the sun. I have alot of experience with frogs none with turtles, They are the lil ones red line under the eye. If I can take a pic I will, but they are tiny lil guys, Anyway I set up a 20 gallon tank and filled it with water and plenty of rocks where they can rest some totally dry some half water/dry, SO is this good? What do they eat? and so on...thanks in advnace.

-A.J.

You bought hatchling red-eared sliders, Trachemys scripta elegans.

Try this link for information on set-ups, ect. http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/

http://members.tripod.com/~Draybar/draybarturtles.html has some great ideas for setting up aquariums.

You can get a food called Reptomin from most pet stores, even Wal-Mart. For hatchlings, it takes a minute for the pellets to soften up enough for them to eat it - might want to soak the pellets in water for a few seconds before offering to the turtles the first few times. It might take them a couple of days to get acclimated enough to eat. If they aren't interested in pellets after a couple of days, try pieces of earthworm or small crickets. Also try frozen bloodworms. You can get them in the frozen foods section of the fish section of most pet stores.

Make sure they have something to hide under in the water - feeling safe will get them acclimated faster, and that means healthier turtles. Artificial plants work well for this at their size. They need to climb out of the water onto a basking spot under a heat light - a normal household 60 or 75 watt bulb will work for a heat light. It's more important to have a good basking spot during the day than to have heated water, so long as your home isn't chilly.

Next time you see little sliders being sold in improper conditions, please report it to the local health department or the regional FDA office - both numbers can be found in the blue (government) pages of the phone book. It's illegal to sell them that small (federal regulation).

Katrina

What city?

Katrina

New York city...I live on LI...How deep on water? right now I have a very sinple setup about 3-4 inches deep water with some rocks and floating wood for them to go on, this is only for now. In a week I wanna get them a nice tank, I was hoping I can make the water pretty deep so I can get a filter and as far as filters I should prolly aviod ones that are too strong correct? so it doesnt hurt them. So Im gonna try to redo their little home to make it a little nicer for the poor guys. Thanks for all the help.

P.S. Will they eat small feeder fish?

Right now they might be too small to catch the fish, but if you kill the fish, they will probably eat them.

3-4" of water for now is fine - watch them for a couple of days to make sure they're healthy before making it deeper. A 20 gallon tank should last you a year if you like, before they outgrow it. You don't want the in-take on the filter to be too strong.

Call the NYC health department and complain - NYC has the 4" regulation in their city code. Call the ASPCA in NYC, too, since it was a humane issue as well - and do me a favor, get the name of the person you talked with at the ASPCA.

Katrina

Don't even bother! They know about that. I live in NYC and since I got here, there are plenty of RES babies sold in Chinatown.
There is regulation in this city but not for chinese ...They sell them/turtles like a piece of bread.Everybody who just find himself to walk their streets can see hundreds quater size turtles there. And anyone can buy one/or two-they give you a discount(!)And there is nothing you can do with that.

If you do nothing, then nothing is what you will get.

It doesn't hurt to make a few phone calls - the city health department, the regional FDA office, the mayor's hotline for city problems, the ASPCA in NYC, a letter to the editor of a city paper explaining the problem, or even better a letter to the editor explaining the problem if the city health department and/or the ASPCA don't do anything.

Katrina
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1.2 Eastern Muds - Fred, Ethel, Edith
0.1 Iguana - Tiffel
0.1 Bearded Dragon - Foster
Foster turtles: More than I'd like the husband to know about.

A 20 gallon is a nice starter tank, eventually you will need a 100 gallon tank for 2 of them, but not for awhile. The water should be at least as deep as the turtles are long. It can be deeper as long as they do not seem to have a problem. Make sure you get the right lighting for them. Turtles need to have a UV light as well as heating. A reptisun 5.0 bulb will work fine for them.

Here is a care sheet for ya: http://hometown.aol.com/Mite37/AquaticTurtles.htm

Go to our site. Turtlerescues.com. We can help you out with information.