I came home last night to find that my 14 yearold who spent the day at the community fair has fallen for the classic trick and bought a young turtle. She was told that the grow slowly and would be OK in the "oasis" for about a year before needing an aquarium. This turtle is a real cutey but no where near the 4 in minimum requirement in US. I belive it is an RES because it does have the red markings on both sides and because they often are in these sceams.
The "OASIS" is of course no oasis but the medium size critter carrier. An 8" by 4" rectangular plastic box with a ventilated snap on lid. Too small to add any type of filtration system or heat source. At best it is only useful for transporting or tempoary housing while a proper tank is being cleaned it certainly won't be a suitable home for a year or even a month. They included a bag of gravel which she did use to make a deeper swimming area that slopes up to a small flat area out of the water. They gave her some food pellets.
Since this is clearly not a reputable breader/dealer I have no idea of the quality of the conditions this turtle was in or its general health. What are some concerns we should look for now that it is already here?
Please don't jump all over us. My daughter is not a caluse or lazy pet owner. She doesn't do the "temporary" pet thing. She had the best intentions and thought she asked the right questions but was just too young and uninformed to be making these decisions on her own.
Luckily, I have today and tomorrow of from work and can do a little looking around for a better interm home for her new friend she will need to be assisting with both the research on care and paying for or repaying mom for the proper equipment.
I know in the end a 50 - 100 gallon tank is best for turtles but in all honesty best practice is going to have to be something we work into. At this point I cannot rush out and sink 200 into the tank alone because there are other cost too.
For the first few months what is the bare minimum space I need to look for that we can use for now to later step up as turtle grows.
What are some ways to cost cut supplies like used tanks and alternatives to pricy pet store items.
I have not measured but turtle's shell seems to be under two inches, maybe an inch and 3/4 .
Is it better to get an aquarium or one of those riptile truriam tanks. The so called "turtle kits" I saw online were little better than what she bought.
For outfitting the tank:
I know at minimum a water heater some type of filtration system, any recommendations? Plus light.
Substrate they provided medium aquarium rock but should we look for something different?
Should the tank cover be a hood or a screen or does it really mater one way or the other?
Water conditioner?
Are there any big NO NO's of turtle care we need to be aware of right away? Besides "don't buy baby turtles in little plastic boxes from untraceable dudes at the fair."