General Care Discussion :: New RES owner.

[Dominic]

Okay well hello everyone. I was recently given a RES due to family member passing away, sort of a tradition. Anyways I have some questions.

My turtle is about 3-4 inches shell length and I suppose is a female. When we first got it, it was in a 10 gallon tank which I refused to put her in. We went to Petco and picked up some supplies along with this a 30 gallon tank. This is my first question, will this be big enough for my little turtle untill we can afford something bigger? Also what should I upgrade to once we can afford a bigger tank for her in about 1-2 weeks.

Next on the list, heating. We happend to pick up a heater for the tank as I did a little reading before I came, when I went to put it in though the thermometer said the tank was about 80 F which I read may be a little too hot or perfect so I didnt stick it in yet. Should I? Also, I could not afford a heating lamp sadly for the basking area. I would say the enviroment of the room she is in is about 80 degrees maybe a bit higher or lower. We have an air condtioner on the other side of the room so it can vary. Would this be ok like I said for 1-2 weeks? I want the best for the little girl but cant get it right now. I didnt want to stick a regular lamp up there yet, but there is one right next to it. Should I take this down?


Finally, my turtle doesnt seem to bask. She seems to sit at the bottom alot and just walk around. We have one of those suction cup docks on the side where I would think she could easily get to it, along with that theres a little castle near under it so if she had trouble she could climb up on it which she seemed to do. Is this due to me not having a lamp? Will this harm her? If not can I take her outside to bask? Its very nice out here will this help her along?

The tank like I said is 30 gallons, filled so theres about 3-4 inches of space at the top.

Another question, I heard gravel was bad? We have one of those bottom flow filters so there needs to be something over it. We picked out medium sized rocks, will these be ok? They are bigger then a quarter around.

Edit: Just found out I may be able to buy a light to heat the basking area would something like this work?


Exo-Terra Glow Light Porcelain Clamp Lamp & Glow Reflector

Sturdy clamp lamp with daylight and night glow reflector in one. Sturdily constructed, with a metal reflector, heat-resistant ceramic socket, and a spring-loaded swivel head clamp. Provides long-lasting luminous reflective glow after lamp is turned off.
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ESU Reptile Super UV Coil-Lamp Compact Fluorescent Lamp

Ideal for basking reptiles. Full-spectrum bulb simulates natural sunlight and produces optimal amounts of UVB (3%) and UVA (15%). Energy efficient 20 watt lamp is equivalent to 75 watts of incandescent lighting.

[Dominic]

Also I hate to double post but, I was reading and it said a normal house hold
lamp light should be perfectly safe for my turtles basking area but I also need another lamp for the turtles calcium and health?

[missibsu]

Your turtle will need two bulbs, one for the UVB and one for the heat (the regular household bulbs). Some lights provide both, I don't think the one that you mentioned does...someone can correct me if I am wrong.

30 gallon will be fine until you get your next paycheck. Rule of thumb is 10 gallons of water per inch of shell. Also keep in mind that your turtle will grow, so you will want to plan ahead. The bigger that you can go now, the more money you will save in the long run.

Also, go ahead and fill up the water. RES are aquatic and love to swim.

Do you have a filter for your tank? You are going to want one of those as well, turtles are messy.

Since your turt is 3-4 inches, I would guess that he isn't a hatchling anymore. Water temp should be around 72-75F for adults, 78F for hatchlings. Basking area should then be about 10 degrees higher. If it isn't warm enough, your turtle won't be encouraged to bask.

Hope that helps get you started.

[Dominic]

Your turtle will need two bulbs, one for the UVB and one for the heat (the regular household bulbs). Some lights provide both, I don't think the one that you mentioned does...someone can correct me if I am wrong.

30 gallon will be fine until you get your next paycheck. Rule of thumb is 10 gallons of water per inch of shell. Also keep in mind that your turtle will grow, so you will want to plan ahead. The bigger that you can go now, the more money you will save in the long run.

Also, go ahead and fill up the water. RES are aquatic and love to swim.

Do you have a filter for your tank? You are going to want one of those as well, turtles are messy.

Since your turt is 3-4 inches, I would guess that he isn't a hatchling anymore. Water temp should be around 72-75F for adults, 78F for hatchlings. Basking area should then be about 10 degrees higher. If it isn't warm enough, your turtle won't be encouraged to bask.

Hope that helps get you started.

Will I read that the household bulb was ok somewhere which I didnt know if it was or not so I just put it up about 2 hours ago, its much warmer then the water yet she still wont come up.

We have one of those floor filters that are covered by rocks that are classified as large rocks here after looking at pictures.

[sonyj]

Under-gravel filters aren't the best for a turtles habitat. You will need a filter rated at least three times the size of the tank.

It takes a while for turtles to adjust and feel comfortable with their habitat after any change or move. They usually won't bask or sometimes eat until they adjust. Give her space and time to get used to her surroundings.

[missibsu]

If you are constantly standing over her tank, or always popping up to check on her, she probably isn't going to bask. Give her space and a few hours. Mine won't bask if I am in the same room with them.

[Dominic]

Under-gravel filters aren't the best for a turtles habitat. You will need a filter rated at least three times the size of the tank.

It takes a while for turtles to adjust and feel comfortable with their habitat after any change or move. They usually won't bask or sometimes eat until they adjust. Give her space and time to get used to her surroundings.

So I need to get rid of the under gravel filter? Its really all I could afford at the time and some of the others didnt seem to fit with the tan kwe picked up.

[sweetrage]

Hi! I am part of Dominics family and I have fallen for this little turtle We are trying to give (him/her) the best care and I'm so glad we found this forum!

I have some questions and some pictures i took with my cell phone camera...so they aren't the best quality...but better than none

1. Help I first need to know wether to call her/him Charlotte or Alex!! I've heard mixed signals about how to tell if the turtle is male or female. The person that got the turtle said it was female because the nails were long...but reading some here I'm pretty sure that means the turtle is male? So thats what we are thinking now and have been calling him Alex.

You can see the nails in this pic:



We are concerned about the gravel in there. We think it is probably too small but the first thing we did when we got it was go out and buy a bigger tank and a filter for her. I think we didn't make the best choices, tho. My question is...since we really cant buy much else for about a week...would it be better to leave him how he is for a while or just take the gravel and the undergravel filter out completely and just let there be no filter for a while and just change the water more until we get it? He doesnt seem to be messing with the gravel much but he did bite the head on the turtle conditioner we have in there a few times

I'm not sure of the proper way to measure the turtle, so this is what I did. I put him on a paper and made a line at the head of the shell and a line in the back, then measured the distance between the lines so i didnt get the curve of the shell. Is this right? If so then Alex is 5 inches and we need a bigger tank too!!

Another problem is that we dont have a basking light, but i took him out into the yard to sit in the grass for about 1/2 an hour twice today... the spots on his shell seemed to be alot better even after sitting in the sun for just a little while to me, but dominic thinks im crazy and it can't get better in such a short time.

Here are some pictures we took:
http://luciddelusions.com/graphics/modules/xoopsgallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album23

We are going to run to the store and see if we can find a super big rubbermaid tub as a secondary swimming/basking spot till we can do better...We will check back in later to see if anyone has any advice (i hope )

[sonyj]

Congrats... it looks like you've got a boy. The long nails are a give away for having a male RES!! I don't think taking the filter out until you get a new one would be a good idea... although it's not great it will still be better than nothing. I would remove the small gravel though. It's not worth the chance that he could eat some and become impacted.

Taking him out to get some sun is a good idea, just make sure he has a shady place to go to while out if he needs to. And be sure to supervise him while he's out.

Rubbermaid tubs make good temporary housing until you can afford to do a larger tank upgrade.

[steve]

The main benefit for an undergravel filter is the expectation that beneficial bacteria will develop on the bottom and help break down waste. This type of filter is intended to be used with fish... nearly all filters are anyway, but if you can get a cheap filter that provides some mechanical filtration (usually in the form of foam padding) then that can hold till you get the appropriate filter.

[missibsu]

A cheap option for outside basking is a kiddie pool. They are around 8 bucks at walmart. Mine love to go outside and bask in the kiddie pool. I put a large potted plant by it so that it provides some shade and a couple of logs for them to climb on and bask.