Urgent Care :: Sick Baby OR....?!

[turtles05]

Hi, I'm a newbie turtle owner. About two weeks ago I bought two baby yellow slider turtles from chinatown in CH. We have the terrapin food pellets and change the water every two days in a large hermit crab tank (no hermit crab in there). We feed them twice a day (morning and night) with about 3-5 pellets. I have a UVA lamp that I bought from petsmart and was wondering is there a UVB lamp? because we couldnt find one. I let them bask on a platform and rock about 1-2 hours every day twice. We've kept the water level low like the guy had them when we first bought them. Planning on moving them into a bigger tank soon ( proobably in the next month). They have both grown in size and are very active. I sometimes fill the tank with more water to let them dive and swim, which they are good at. But just today after I changed the tank water i noticed that the smaller one (my sister's) had some white stuff on its neck and back hind legs...they had air bubbles so I thought it was just the air bubbles in the water, but a good 30 minutes has passed and its still remained clinging onto the turtle. Mine doesnt have anything on it...so I'm clueless as to what it is...
I've read up on all the diseases and treatments, but I just want to make sure it's not shedding or anything. The turtle eats fine, about one pellet lesser than the other one, but swims fine, and is more active (its also more frantic and cautious). Could it be that its not getting the right nutrition? SHould I start it on lettuce? Or is it not getting enough vitamins and UVB ?
Please help me out, thanks!

[steve]

Where did you get the pellets? If it's from the vendor who sold you the turtles, you should go to a pet store and get some Baby Reptomin.

Are they both eating? That's a good sign.. please regard this page for an idea of how much to feed: http://www.redearslider.com/pellets.html Generally, it's good to be a bit conservative when feeding them pellets.

Nearly all lights produce UVA. No real need to buy a specialty bulb, though they do need a basking light for warmth. A regular incandescent bulb will do. For UVB, look into compact fluorescent lamps (CFL). The 2 most popular ones are Repti Glo 5.0 and Reptisun 5.0. Repti Glo is about $17 on Amazon and should be replaced between 4-6 months.

What do you mean you let them bask? They should have access to bask when ever they want. Do you have a water heater?

For tank upgrades, get the largest, cheapest one you can (used tanks on Craigslist is a good bet) otherwise you will be upgrading frequently. Think about water volume and filtration. The best thing to use to dechlorinate the water is carbon filter media.

The one with white stuff is just shedding some skin. It can be an indication of water issues and water temp.

[turtles05]

Thank you so much Steve! That baby turtle has stopped shedding ever since that night. I have another question! When I bring them outside, (cause it's nice and warm where we are, mid 70's), and let them in the grass, one crawls around and then starts to burrow into the ground. The grass is tall and thick and she goes right down to the dirt...is it normal? She's immediately camoflaugued and when I pick her up she's calm. Is it because it's too hot?

[steve]

It could be too warm or cold, but some RES don't easily adjust to being outside and want to take cover. It would be great to take the temperature just to make sure it's safe. If she's in the shade, she'll still get some UVB indirectly.