Caring for a turtle.

dexter50

My partner and I have adopted an unwanted turtle, We don't know a great deal about turtles but our hearts went out to it when we seen the conditions the turtle was living in.
The turtle which is about 4-5 inches shell length was in an aquarium which was way too small and one could hardly see into the aquarium with the state of the water conditions. The filter I don't know if it was working or not There was no basking area and obviously not much care or attention had gone into the turtle. The person who we got it off, had acquired it from tenants who had left it behind and he didn't want it either. Rather than see this happen we have taken him and hopefully we can look after him, but we are looking for some advice and information.

We have bought a new 250 litre aquarium a canister filter and a thermostatic heater and have rehomed the Turtle to the new aquarium.
The turtle seems to be doing fine now in his new home a lot of swimming around and a lot of swimming to the top of the tank, But we are worried though that he doesn't seem to have used the basking area, We have a uv light above it but from what we have seen he hasn't used it, the ramp is positioned entering the water and is set up as per instruction,
Is this normal?

Is it good to put other fish in with the turtle? we have bought the turtle foods in the pet shop but are wondering what sort of foods should we give him other than that, such as natural foods,

We want to bring him to a vet to get him checked out but are wondering is there any that specialise in turtles we live in the Kildare area,

If anyone could help in identifying what type it is and what gender it is, I think its an RES but there doesn't seem to be any red around its ears I have attached a few pics below.

jen_23

Congratulations! It's a boy! From the first pic you can tell he has long nails. That's indicative of male. Females have short nails
I would guess he is a yellow bellied slider. I can't see by his ears in the photos but if there is a yellow stripe he's a yellow belly slider and if it's red he's a red eared slider.

I wouldn't worry that he isn't basking yet - he might just be adjusting to his environment. Do you have the water coming slightly over the ramp for the basking area? It tends to make it a bit easier for them to get onto it. What are you using as a basking area?

Re: the fish! Go for it. They probably won't survive too long but they do make a tasty snack and a nice way to excercise the turtle. Though when getting fsh from the pet shop be careful to quarantine them for a few days. You don't want your turt eating any sick fish as it will end up being a costly bill for you! I used to use Guppys for my girl.

Heres a care sheet for you http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-yellowbelly.htm

Best of luck!

tonydude

Well done Dexter, great to see someone save a turtle like that, He ll enjoy himself now

dexter50

Well turtle seems to be doing well now, and is enjoying his new tank, he is using his basking area aswell I have attached a pic below, but if we make any noise at all while he is basking he dives straight back in the water.

I have tried to take him out of the tank to feed him but he gets very agressive and doesn't eat anything, so I have been feeding him in his tank which I don't think is ideal anyone any thoughts on what I can do to relax him and get him to eat out of his tank.


I have bought a few cheap fish in the local pet shop they are small and quick, however this morning there was one less!! I bought some crickets as a treat for him although he makes quite a mess with them.

tallus

Make sure you get him/her a UVB lamp to bask under as they need UVB to synthesise Vitamin D3 into calcium.
You should visit the Tortoise Trust Website, it's the best resource on the web regarding the husbandry of chelonians.

jen_23

dexter50 wrote: »

Well turtle seems to be doing well now, and is enjoying his new tank, he is using his basking area aswell I have attached a pic below, but if we make any noise at all while he is basking he dives straight back in the water.

Don't worry about that - sliders tend to be a little skittish so that's completely normal With time though he'l probably get used to ye and be a little less skittish.

dexter50 wrote: »

I have tried to take him out of the tank to feed him but he gets very agressive and doesn't eat anything, so I have been feeding him in his tank which I don't think is ideal anyone any thoughts on what I can do to relax him and get him to eat out of his tank.

He won't eat out of the water so best to just feed him in there.
General rule of thumb is to imagine if his head was hollow... then feed him the amount of food that would fit in there. Sprinkle it into the tank and he will eat it. I can't remember the exact science but sliders generally feed in the water.

dexter50 wrote: »

I have bought a few cheap fish in the local pet shop they are small and quick, however this morning there was one less!! I bought some crickets as a treat for him although he makes quite a mess with them.

That's excellent news! I bet he enjoyed the fish and the crickets

StephanieJ

I just got registered for this site. I saw your post about turtles (my husband loves them! ) Was just wondering if things were still going ok...

Eibhin

Well done for taking on this little chap. I say "little" because that's all he will be for a very short while. He will grow so fast, probably to the size of a small dinner plate, and I reckon that's why so many of them end up abandoned or neglected.

I think a lot of pet shops just sell them without warning the buyers exactly how big they get. Then they outgrow their tanks and so they end up not being properly looked after.

There should be some kind of restriction on selling these poor turtles.

Good luck with him. They are fascinating creatures.

dexter50

Yeah things are grand and our turtle seems to be loving life in his tank!! Although he hates it when I'm cleaning and remove him from his home for the short while he still has an agressive streak to him, he loves feeding time and he spends his days chasing the few fish we have left!!
I find the pet shops generally don't have a lot of information about turtles and are really not knowledgable at all on the caring and welfare of turtles, people are right there is a good bit of minding involved and a lot of cleaning involved so you can keep a healthy environment for your turtle, but I'm enjoying it and I too find these creatures absolutely fascinating

StephanieJ

I'm so glad things are going so well for you! I'm kindof in the same situation as you are. It never seems like the pet stores ever have the information you need about things. I was looking for some different information the other day and I found a site that had a book about caring for turtles. It seems like you have everything figured out though Anyway, I will leave the link for you just in case you might want to check it out. Keep me updated on how he's doing

StephanieJ

http://tiny.cc/fqj76

I have totally lost my mind I hit the reply button before I got the link for you Anyways it's listed above just in case you want to go check it out...

man.about.town

nice turtle, great to see your looking after it properly. i love seeing turtles in nice deep tanks so they can swim. lovely rescue story

Robin132

Yup definitely a male yellow belly. We have a male and a female and the male is a lot more aggressive than the female and his bite hurts as do his claws but they are great fun, feel free to let him out of his tank now and again and let him explore, like when you are cleaning it, you'd be amazed how fast they are on ground :eek:
They feel safer in water hence why they dive in if there's any noise around them but he'll get used to it and eventually stay where he is. If you find that feeding him is messing the tank up a lot get a smaller tank or a basin and put him into that to feed him, that way there's no mess in the tank.
In terms of food, i find reptomin is the best food for them and some fresh veg whenever you have it, a bit of lettice, mushroom anything really.
Best of luck with your turtle! OOps didn't see how old this thread was!

Wibbs

jen_23 wrote: »

Sprinkle it into the tank and he will eat it. I can't remember the exact science but sliders generally feed in the water.

The majority of aquatic turtles are the same. Basically cos they don't have salivary glands, or enough to make eating out of water easy for them. In the summer my lads hang out basking in the garden in the sun while I read a book and anytime I've tried to feed them they look at me and you would swear they're saying "you utter mammalian bastard" They keep it in their mouths, but if I put a saucer of water out they make a beeline for it or more usually head for the pond in the garden.