Urgent Care :: High Maintainance Turtles

[comills]

I have two turtles. One is five inches long. The other is 3.5” long. The water temperature is 80 degrees; I have a heater and 25 gallons of water in a 40 gallon breeder tank. I use AmQuel+ water conditioner. I have 3 dueto 100 intank filters which I have to clean at least twice a week, sometimes 3 times a week. I have a basking lamp with a UVB bulb as well. I feed the turtles Reptomin, freeze dried crickets, and freeze dried krill.

My question is, is this tank too small. Also both of my turtles are slightly pyramiding and I do not know how to get the shells back to smooth and flat. I’ve had the turtles for 8 months and they have grown significantly. Each turtle was about 2” when I got them. These turtles are very high maintenance having cleaning the tank on a more then semi weekly basis. I would like some suggestions as to what I can do differently to make the turtles difficult to care for.

[marisa]

Do some reading on this site. Yes, your tank is too small. You need a much bigger tank (think 10 gallons of tank per inch of shell length), and a MUCH better filter (a canister is preferred) for starters. Your turtles are high maintenance because you don't have the proper habitat and equipment for them. The water temp needs to be lower as well, if your turts are over a year, about 76F would be healthier for them.

For the pyramiding, you need to cut down on the protein (everything you listed is protein) and feed more plant matter. And you probably should be feeding them less. How often and how much do you feed them?

Do some reading on the basics on this site...

And welcome.

[sonyj]

Yes, yes, yes that tank is too small for both of them. It would be fine for the smaller one for the time being. Ten gallons of tank per inch of shell (with water filled as high as you can without giving them room to escape) is the minimum recommendation for healthy turtles. The fact that the tank is too small and the amount of water for turtles that size is the reason your water is always needing to be changed. (I'm not familiar with the filter you use, but a filter too small is a problem as well.)

The reason your turtles have grown so much and are now pyramiding is that their diet consists of pure protein. A diet too high in protein will cause over-growth, which can stress their organs and lead to an early death if not corrected. Where are the veggies that they need daily? A reputable pellet (such as reptomin) should be given one-time-a-day every other day and only the amount that will fit inside their heads if they were hollow. A variety of veggies should be given daily. Freeze dried krill is considered a treat, so only offer once a month. Other foods high in protein such as feeder fish, crickets, worms, etc, can be offered occasionally to supplement a healthy diet.

If you change their diet now, their shells may begin to smooth back out but it will take time for you to see this change. Be sure to read the feeding stickies on what to and not to feed under the feeding section of the forum as well as reading through the main site.