Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: New here!

[Peat-a-peat]

Hi, my name's Peat-a-peat and I'm new here, and I'm super excited to be here!

As for my background, I've had a couple red eared sliders in the past three years that for various reasons have not done too well. I still have one though, and now I am determined to keep on loving and caring for him for the next decades. I got him as a hatchling. His name is Speck, and he is about 2.5" long. He resides in a 20 gal long terrarium that is filled halfway. He has a small fake plant, a water heater, a hideaway log propped upright in the corner, and a Tetra Decorative ReptoFilter. Also a semi-new UVB bulb and a regular household incandescent heat bulb. The tank used to have a screen cover but I removed it so it would look nicer, and so he could get better lighting/heat.

Speck is very quirky and fun. When he was smaller and I kept him in a temorary Petco "critter keeper", he managed to escape and explore my room, finally sticking himself in a crack between the wall and the bed. Luckily I found him a couple hours later!Needless to say I immediately put him into a bigger and more secure tank before the 20 gallon. As well-named for, he used to slide off his basking log very quickly whenever he caught sight of me, but less than year later and he welcomes my company! He will stay on his log unless I stand right over him. When I walk into the room he will see me immediately from wherever he is and swin towards me and up against the glass like crazy. I will stick my hand or finger against the glass and he loves to follow me. I will sometimes give into his begging and drop a few commercial food pellets, but only sometimes.

On Sundays I remove him from the tank and let him roll around in a hamster ball while I clean the tank (but he doesn't go anywhere. . . whenever I take him out and set him down I could leave him there for half an hour and he wouldn't have moved an inch. Any advice on this? Is this healthy?) I scrub the sides and bare-bottom off, making sure to stir up all the yuck, and the siphon at least 50% of the water, sometimes if I skipped last week's clean I will take about 80% out. I'll pour new water in and aquarium dechlorinator in, let Speck roll in the ball for another fifteen minutes so that the water settles and put him back.

I'm really trying hard to keep Speck in my life for a long time. Let me know if there is anything you think I should change! Anyways thanks for reading!


Peat

[steve]

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like he's adjusting well. Do you have a water heater? A former moderator used to use a hamster ball as well, I guess you'll need to keep a close eye on your turtle's response to being in it.

We all develop our own cleaning and maintenance routines. I'd advise against a dechlorinator and use some filter media like carbon instead. Larger tank and better filters will require less water changes as well. Once you figure out his or her sex, you can look into a long-term setup.

[devilduck]

Welcome!

[Peat-a-peat]

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like he's adjusting well. Do you have a water heater? A former moderator used to use a hamster ball as well, I guess you'll need to keep a close eye on your turtle's response to being in it.

We all develop our own cleaning and maintenance routines. I'd advise against a dechlorinator and use some filter media like carbon instead. Larger tank and better filters will require less water changes as well. Once you figure out his or her sex, you can look into a long-term setup.

Thank you! Yes, he has been in the 20 gal. since at least August and he looks to me to be doing fine. Yes I do own a heater, I forget what it's called. . . Tetra HT30 I believe. Okay, yeah. Like I said, he doesn't do anything at all. He will sit there and wait for me to take him out every single time, no matter how long it takes, which I get the picture that he doesn't like it much. But I am concerned that he doesn't get much out-of-water excersice at all - is it bad to not move on the ground? I'll set him down on the carpet with a hand towel on top, right in the center and keep an eye on him when I clean the tank. When he still doesn't move and I am finished, while I wait for the dechlorinator to do its thing I'll put him in the ball for a half hour or so and yep, doesn't move an inch.

Well, I use the Tetra Decorative ReptoFilter for up to 55 gal, it has carbon inside both of the cartridges, is this what you mean? I know 55 gal. filter is more than good enough for a half-filled 20 long but it still leaves gunk at the bottom, and I think that's not going to change. But I heard somewhere else that weekly changes are vital because of nitrates in the water or something? Also would you please explain your method to not using dechlorinator? I use the yellow Tetra bottle right now, I don't remember what it is called.


Thanks,
Peat

[Peat-a-peat]

Welcome!

Thank you much!

[steve]

A dechlorinator is a chemical you are adding to the tank and that is forced upon your turtle.

Check this thread: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=33171

It is best to not use any water conditioning chemicals. Most water conditioners (not all) contain a chemical called sodium theosulfate which is highly toxic to aquatic life according to the MSDS sheet. Our turtles drink the water they live in so the less chemicals in the environment the better. Without the use of water conditioning chemicals, we can achieve the same desired result of removing chlorine and chloramine from tap water by passing the water through a carbon filter. The use of carbon filtration does not add any chemicals to the habitat of our friends.

[Peat-a-peat]

A dechlorinator is a chemical you are adding to the tank and that is forced upon your turtle.

Check this thread: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=33171

It is best to not use any water conditioning chemicals. Most water conditioners (not all) contain a chemical called sodium theosulfate which is highly toxic to aquatic life according to the MSDS sheet. Our turtles drink the water they live in so the less chemicals in the environment the better. Without the use of water conditioning chemicals, we can achieve the same desired result of removing chlorine and chloramine from tap water by passing the water through a carbon filter. The use of carbon filtration does not add any chemicals to the habitat of our friends.

Right, okay, so is this the equivalent of using just a plain filter whose cartdridges use carbon?


Peat

[steve]

You can use a carbon filter media (it's cheaper to buy in bulk and pack it yourself) or pre filter the water before you put it into the tank. This is a very inexpensive and effective system: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=33171