My roommates bought me 2 baby RES turtles from China town. I bought them a 10 gallon tank and feed them pellets and small pieces of organic romaine lettuce. I've had them for about a few weeks but still learning to take care of them.
I just bought them a water heater, a lamp, and a larger tank. They seem to be doing well however, I just have some questions, I want to make sure they're absolutely okay.
They don't bask. They have rocks to climb on so they can fully dry off but they don't seem to enjoy basking. I put them outside in a big container with some water and rocks every day and sometimes they'll bask in the sun. I know they need 8 hours of it a day, but i can't force them to do it. Anything I can do to fix this?
Occasionally, I see them open their mouths underwater, they don't make any noise but I worry that that could be a RI? They show no other signs of illness (ie: bubbles from nose, puffy eyes, bumpy throat).
One of them has a light green shell, it almost looks sickly, but their shell is hard and they swim around and eat on a regular basis, is that normal for shells to be lighter green when they're younger?
I love my turtles and I want them to live happily for as long as possible. Any advice helps! I've been reading up on them, i know they're not like fish, they need a lot more care than people realize.