General Care Discussion :: My turtle and his (new) tank.

[Silvermist464]

I've had Skit since early 2011, I believe. Looking back, I can't believe that it was nearly five years ago that I went though the whole "not eating" scare.

Starting in November of 2011, Skit stopped eating. I had recently taken him in and he might have still been on the hibernation cycle. Anyway, he refused everything that I offered. I didn't know what to do. I offered food every day but it went uneaten. On January 18, 2012 I found him trying to eat my snail. I fed him and he ate the food right away. Between 11-08-11 and 1-18-12 by turtle did not eat a single bite of food. This taught me a lot on just how long they can go without food.

At that time, he was 2.5 inches and in a 10 gallon.

I later upgraded him to a 29 gallon where he grew to 4 inches.

Now I have a 40 gallon. We'll see how big he gets now!

Word of warning: He's no RES, that's for sure. He's a midland painted turtle. But their care is similar so I came to this site all those years ago for help, and I'm proud to say I'm still relying on it today.

Pictures!












The tank is only half full for tonight. I don't have the time to fill it up.

The "lid" is a 10 gallon screen cover that I put over his basking area to keep the cats out until I get one bought.

The basking light is a 8 inch clamp light with 150 watt bulb. It sure gets warm...

The basking area is a simple undergravel insert propped up with a "turtle dock".

The sand is Quikrite All purpose commercial grade fine play sand.

The plants are jungle Val plants.

[steve]

He's almost full grown! You do need to do something about that basking area though, I like to suggest cork bark or acrylic. If that is a breeder, then you might be able to find a resin platform satisfactory (they're nice looking but are not tall).

[Silvermist464]

What problem do you see with the basking area? It's what I've been using for him since I got him.

[Tampa Bay Turtle Fan]

Very nice turtle by the way and thank you for sharing the photos. I can see the basking area working for her really but on the same note and only if your heart desires, the cork bark is really nice decorative looking a nice sized roomy area though it can be a pain cleaning when needed and the texture of it on the positive side, most turtles I observed in tanks, enjoyed and utilized them more. The acrylic is fine, easy to clean, but frankly it is not my personal preference. I do like resin platforms however as Steve stated, they are not very tall and frankly not that much space to bask on. Just a recommendation Ms. or Mrs. Silvermist464, there is a wonderful thread on these forums that displays photos of a lot of members set ups. I have been in reptiles for over thirty years but mainly snakes mainly breeding boa constrictors.

I have about 6 years owning turtles and alligators and I myself was totally amazed with this thread and seeing all the photos (some are great where others are not) and with seeing the really nice ones had really influenced me on aquarium ideas for my smaller turtles. I also was influenced on some attractive outdoor tubs for my bigger turtles to successfully breed them. I love all red ear sliders and always have but unfortunately Florida will not allow breeding them and it is illegal to sell them within the State. So I am stuck unfortunately with the albinos and selected morphs that are permitted. Like I said and with the money I put into the turtles I have, I found this thread on the set ups awesome and taken ideas for sure in which I think you will be amazed with the thread too. You will see that it would not cost to much on a better basking area more comfortable for your turtle . I understand about the ten gallon screen as well. I have 4 cats who watch my turtles and even 1 of the cats will jump on the main turtle tank and any moment. Your tank overall is very nice and your turtle is a doll . Thank you so much for sharing. Only if you care to look at ideas on the forum thread that amazed me, I am posting it now on the link below

Here is the forum link (a lot of web pages here ) >>>> viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15260

[steve]

What problem do you see with the basking area? It's what I've been using for him since I got him.

It just looked a bit unstable to me and I wasn't sure if he's able to dry off his plastron. Another thing to consider is that his claws might get stuck in those slats (something similar happened to my male RES).