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Reeves or Mississippi map

PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 2:44 pm
by Somedood
Got a good deal off of craigslist. 55 gallon long tank with two filters, marineland biowheel 350 and a Hot magnum filter, 2 large rocks, 3 small porcupine balls, 2 glass heaters (not gonna use it cause its glass), and 1 led lights for 165. Point is, the two filter pipes barely reach the bottom so I have to raise the water level very high. From what I've heard about Reeves, they are really bad at swimming. But I really want a reeve because they stay small. If not, I'll just grt a Mississippi map

Re: Reeves or Mississippi map

PostPosted: Thu Apr 14, 2016 10:11 pm
by steve
What brand is the heaters? Glass is normally fine with turtles. Depending on the brand/condition of the tank, I'm not sure it's that good of a deal. Did it include a stand?

You're right about them being poor swimmers. Male RES are small... I think Reeves/Maps are roughly the same size. You could also consider a painted turtle.

Re: Reeves or Mississippi map

PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 12:21 am
by Somedood
steve wrote:What brand is the heaters? Glass is normally fine with turtles. Depending on the brand/condition of the tank, I'm not sure it's that good of a deal. Did it include a stand?

You're right about them being poor swimmers. Male RES are small... I think Reeves/Maps are roughly the same size. You could also consider a painted turtle.


The first heater is unknown. The 2nd one is a Penn Plax. I assume the unknown heater is also a Penn Plax. It also came with a stand. Turtle source always seem to be out of stock with painted turts. Same with underground reptile. I don't know how to use king snake.

I thought glass heaters were rejected from aquariums because they break easily. Looked around on google and a lot of complaints.

Re: Reeves or Mississippi map

PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 12:33 am
by steve
If you choose to adopt from a rescue, you can pick out a male right off the bat and not worry about tank upgrades after a 55G.

Yeah, not a fan of Penn Plax. The two main heaters recommended here are glass... Eheim Jagers and Aqueon Pros. You can buy or make a heater guard if the glass concerns you. You can also get in filter or in line heaters BUT that requires a special filter or at least a new canister filter.

Re: Reeves or Mississippi map

PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 1:07 am
by Somedood
Can I bury the heater? Or does it have to be above substrate? What if you made a canister filter (not that I'm going to make one, maybe)?
I live in Minnesota and while there are adoption centers around here, there aren't any turts except in Iowa. I would drive over to Iowa just to adopt her but I'm underage.

Re: Reeves or Mississippi map

PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 1:28 am
by steve
Do not bury it... water needs to circulate around it or it will overheat. You can make a canister but it's usually not recommended. Some adoption places ship them... but you can probably find some on craigslist (though I would not pay anyone).

Re: Reeves or Mississippi map

PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 11:54 pm
by Somedood
Question, I found a website that have painted turtles in stock. I am going to get a southern but should I get one or two? backwaterreptiles.com

Re: Reeves or Mississippi map

PostPosted: Sun Apr 17, 2016 3:30 pm
by steve
I am not familiar with them but only get more than one if you have the resources to house them separately.

Re: Reeves or Mississippi map

PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 2016 3:55 pm
by Jeremiah
I haven't heard great things about Backwater. Have you tried Kingsnake, Austin's, or the like?

Just to clarify, while both Reeve's and many maps are comparable in size, the Reeve's water needs are on par (if not more than) a RES. They're prone to infections in less-than-stellar water, and they need it fairly deep (they're usually a river-dwelling species).

Oh, and canister-style DIY filters are much easier than they sound. :)

Re: Reeves or Mississippi map

PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 2:49 pm
by Somedood
Don't know how to use kingsnake. I was going to go on turtle source but seems like many people buy their painted turtles. Plus (most) they're 20 dollars more in turtle source. So I'm going to backwater because they're 20 dollars cheaper. Shipping price are still the same.

Since I'm still underage and naive, diy filters sound really complex

Re: Reeves or Mississippi map

PostPosted: Mon Sep 05, 2016 6:44 pm
by TurtleTimm
I have 2 reeves turtles. They are great, I love them! Very sociable and energetic.

Re: Reeves or Mississippi map

PostPosted: Mon Sep 05, 2016 8:29 pm
by steve
Welcome to the site TurtleTimm!

Re: Reeves or Mississippi map

PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2016 8:19 am
by TurtleTimm
Thank you!