redearslider.com

I've read around many websites and I don't really know how many pellets I should feed each of my 2 baby RES. I think they are roughly 1-2 months old. I used to feed them about 6 pellets a day until I noticed one of them looking overweight. So I cut it down to 2-3 pellets a day for each. Is 3 too little?

I would prefer to feed my babies more, to get them past this sensitive phase of development. I would suggest feeding them 2-3 pellets, twice a day.

has anyone come across a baby hatchling who swallows the pellets whole? One of my RES's doesn't nibble on the pellets. He literally just swallows it.

Is this regular Reptomin or Baby Reptomin?

this is regular Reptomin

Those are pretty big to swallowed whole by for a hatchling. 3 or 4 sounds fine... do they have anything else to eat? And check out Baby Reptomin... they are smaller and have a bit more calcium.

hey steve,

- i have pieces of cuttlebone floating around for them to nibble on
-a piece of romaine lettuce
- a floating live plant which I don't remember what it's called but they absolutely love sleeping in. the roots of the plant are very long and soft so they cuddle themselves within the roots and sleep, their heads being only about a couple of centimeters away from the water surface to stick out for breathing from time to time.
- i DO coat ONE reptomin pellet with RepCal's Calcium & D3 powder ONCE a week.

n terms of what i feed them, it's just reptomin. the first week having them, i was feeding them Wardley's pellets, but read that they weren't very good compared to Reptomin. i also have Zoo Med's Red Shrimp which I havent been using because some sites say to just stick with reptomin for now. are there other foods to consider?

I'm thinking the occasional guppy and freshwater plants. I would strictly limit the shrimp too. I'm not sure if you read the pellet section, but the amount of pellets used should be head-sized portion, not including the neck. When in doubt... offer fewer pellets as I'm starting to think the guideline is a little generous.

here is a video that i made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYdI_P2FsaU

btw, steve. i'd like to buy a UVA/UVB/heating bulb combo. which would you suggest?

Is it reptomin baby or the regular size? If it's baby, maybe 3-4 a day, and 1 1/2 if it's the regular adult size.

Very cute. I'm not sure if you saw the replies to your other post but it is not advisable to your heater covered with rocks. You'd want the basking light closer too, it should make the basking area roughly 10F warmer than the water.

As for a UVA/UVB/heating bulb combo, do you mean a single bulb? If so, that would be a self-ballasted mercury vapor bulb. They're expensive and powerful, so they're not really suited for smaller tanks.

yea, i saw the replies in the other thread I started. i dont have the rocks over the the heater now. the rocks are only around it without any contact.

as for the basking light, ive checked the temperature there before when i had the basking light at a closer distance and the thermometer went up to 110 degrees. that's why i have the basking light a little higher.

yea, i meant a single bulb. the problem really is that i can't justify to my parents TWO different basking lights. it took me a lot of time to persuade them for even one basking light being on. that's why i want to get a all in one bulb.

I'll be cheaper to use two bulbs actually. All you need is a 50 watt incandescent or halogen and a 26 watt UVB. An MVB will cost much more as it consumes more power.

steve wrote:I'll be cheaper to use two bulbs actually. All you need is a 50 watt incandescent or halogen and a 26 watt UVB. An MVB will cost much more as it consumes more power.

thumbs up, +1, like! lol

Its about .25$ for a regualr light bulb and about 15$ for a 26w Uvb I've seen some combo bulbs running in the 30$+ range!