Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2014 11:34 pm I feel so hopeless ! New RES owner.
So my daughter has been BEGGING me for a turtle for months, I've always wanted a turtle myself so I finally said, okay why not (especially with convincing my fiances parents of allowing it since we're living here until we're on our feet again) . My original plan was to get a land turtle , but we found a deal that we just couldn't pass and when I saw these pitiful looking turtles I knew that they would be perfect. This woman sold us two RES , with the tank and the filter/basking stand for $100 I thought it was a steal, little did I know what I was up against. The tank is 60 gallons, one turtle is a heffer, now I know before I get jumped on that she will require a bigger tank, I've already discussed this with my fiances parents , the other turtle is still kind of small not really a baby not but huge. The tank was in HORRIBLE condition when I received it, I scrubbed and scrubbed it clean and added new water and cleaned it all, they seemed so happy but my concerns aren't over yet. They're both shedding, they can't get to their dock to bask and no matter how hard I try it just wont work, I have the aqueon rock basking filter thing? I hate it, with my entire heart. It's garbage , the stairs are so narrow and it's not even filtering the tank right, the tank is already cloudy, now I have a filter for 75 gallons when I had a piranha but it's 3 hours away at my mothers , so I'm trying to best I can with what I have, I live an hour away from pet stores and walmart (it's a struggle) . So if anyone has any suggestions on how to make my own filter until I can get mine I'm up to hear it, also on how to make a basking log because they NEED to bask I feel so horrible and they look so sad cos they sit there and try to climb that stupid rock thing and just fall, if I set them up they fly down . Now when I first got them the woman said that the big one (who I've named Belle) will open her mouth but wont bite, she did for the first few days, but I sat by the tank all day long and talked to them and when I picked her up I had no issues at all she let me hold her and let me check her out, the little one (who I've named Troy) is just too adorable for words he lets me handle him when I move him or look at him but tonight was the worst of them all, I looked at saw Belle had ahold of Troy's foot and wouldn't let go, I quickly reacted and grabbed her , I know I probably scared her but I didn't know what else to do, she RIPPED troy's nail off, he was bleeding. I know I'll have to separate them but I have only 1 basking light & 1 UVB bulb. I have another tank but it's a 10 gallon, I mean would it be fine for Troy for now ? I plan on getting my 20 gallon hexagon tank from my mother and set it up for him. My next question (sorry this is so long but I'm so clueless when it comes to RES, these are my first) . I have pond rocks in the tank. I hate them , I don't like them at ALL , can I use sand ? I have play sand from walmart, can I rinse it and use that instead ? I just can't see how that's comfortable on their little legs, also Belle has like , kind of saggy skin on where her legs go into her shell ? It scares me because I don't know this is normal or not , and their shedding worries me . Belle has seemed so sluggish today she kind of sleeps a lot towards the evening/night ? She eats really good , I give them grapes as treats & she seems to get so excited they don't even hide in their shell when I go to set the grapes on their log. Their shells also concern me with some goldish spots? I'd really love some help from some experts, I'll just be honest it's pretty clear these turtles were neglected and I want to make sure they have the best life possible. I adore them to pieces and my daughter is beyond thrilled that she has turtles , I don't want to see them suffering so I want to make sure I can try everything possible to make them happy.
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