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My fiance and I will be going home for thanksgiving and are contemplating leaving our turtles here alone. We were thinking of buying a timer and putting the two lights on the timer and putting some lettuce in the tank. What do you think??? we will be gone for 6 days....from 11/21-11/27 Opinions needed

6 days is a rather long time.. is there a possibility of having someone to come in to feed them at least once or twice? You can leave veggies and feed them extra pellets but I don't know if I'd leave them alone for nearly a week. The lights on the timer is a good thing

Timer is defentally a good idea, you can get auto feeders too if you so do desire. idk how i'd live with out my light timers.

the problem is we live in an apartment building filled with nothing but college students, so all of our neighbors will also be going home for thanksgiving, so there really won't be anyone here to feed them...we have another tank at my fiance's parents house so i mean we could take the turtles home, but its a 2 hour car trip...not too much fun for them

You could try to get those automatic fish feeders that time when they get food, I don't know how they would work with the turtle pellets though.

flutterby wrote:You could try to get those automatic fish feeders that time when they get food, I don't know how they would work with the turtle pellets though.

i actually looked at those yesterday at walmart...don't think pellets will work

How big are the turtles? If they are very little they can travel with you if you are driving by car. How far do you have to go?

When I had a small turtle (2 inches long), I used to get one of those 2 gallon plastic "aquariums" that were good for traveling (have a plastic screen top with a handle so you can carry it). I took my turtle with me to my relatives' house. Travel with no water in the tank then fill up when you get to your destination. You can get a very small heater & bring their food pellets & water conditioner. You don't need a filter, just change the water every other day. Give them an area where they can get out of the water to dry off, but don't worry about basking for that week. It's only a temporary arrangement, but at least your turts will be well-fed & clean.

My RES is a fully grown 11 inch adult & if I am gone for a week (less than 7 days), I don't worry about feeding her during that time. If I am gone more than 7 days, I have someone come in twice to feed her. I measure out the food into small disposable plastic containers so the person just has to open the top of the container & dump. No measuring required. And her basking light can be on a timer.

nodnarb85 wrote:the problem is we live in an apartment building filled with nothing but college students, so all of our neighbors will also be going home for thanksgiving, so there really won't be anyone here to feed them...we have another tank at my fiance's parents house so i mean we could take the turtles home, but its a 2 hour car trip...not too much fun for them

2 hours in the car....that's not too long. I wouldn't think twice about taking them with me if I was in your situation! Look into one of those temporary set ups like I described earlier in this thread. Or you could just use a laundry pan.