Red eat turtle?

Question

I just bought two red ear turtle. The pet store sold me a heater that make the heat go up to 86. They told me 80 is good and 82 max. I put a light on the top and left it at room temp.....right now its at 80.....what is a good temp for them and do i need a heater?

Answer 1

yes, you need both. However, you do not want the water temperature to be above the basking temperature. It makes the turtle want to be on the water instead of basking. This will increase the chance of fungal and bacterial infections. get a water thermometer and a tank termometer and play with the temps. Around 80 is good. It is also essential to digestion of the turtle to be at a higher temp.

you need one more source of lighting, and thats UVA/UVB. This simulates sunlight, which enables the turtles to make Vitamin D3. Without Vitamin D3, turtles cannot use calcium to build bones and shell, no matter how much calcium you feed them. They will develop metabolic bone disesase, which is highly painful and will kill them very slowly. Get a stip light and a UVA/UVB bulb (aroung a 5.0) and set it on the tank by your heat lamp. Give your turtles 12 hours of lighting. This lighting does not put off heat.

a good way to think of it is this...if you take an animal that can live outside and put it in your living room and it would die, then you need to bring outside inside too, that means that you have to recreate nature, and that includes the sun.

putting a reptile near a window does not allow proper lighting as most windows have a UVA/UVB treatment to filter out rays that are harmful to us. You need the light. it will cost about $35- $45.

Answer 2

Yes you must keep the temp at 80 degrees or your turtles will begin to go into hibernation...and could die if the temp is not regulated. Make sure they also have a dry dock so they can come out of the water and bask under the light you provided. Keep the water as clean as you can and you turtles will grow and be very healthy. Check out this site below for more info.

Answer 3

Aim for water temps around 75-80 (5 degrees warmer if they become ill or try to hibernate) and a basking site of about 90. It can drop a bit at night as well.

Good in-tank heaters are always a good idea because they will regulate the temps automatically- your set-up won't do that. A few degree drop in room temps adn you'll be in the too-low end.

Don't forget, turtles worship space, sunlight, and warmth. To keep them happy, they need all of these in the right way.

You can learn more at http://www.austinsturtlepage.com or http"//www.redearslider.com

Answer 4

Turtles can live in 80 degree water, but it really shouldn't get too much higher than that. Sometimes my tank gets pretty warm, but since yours sound like hatchlings or a little bigger, I'd slowly change their water temp. Also, I hope you are prepared for the long, long lives of RESs (if you take care of them), all the supplies you'll need to keep them healthy, and how big of a tank you'll eventually need. Alot of people don't know why their turtles die so young, but I made a website specifically about the basics. Check it out! www.geocities.com/radiofemme/t...

Answer 5

i also have red eared slider turtles and i don't use a heater at all. my water temp right now is at 70-75 degrees.. i suggest just getting a floating dock and a lamp so the turtle can go to a dry area and coat their shell. also have a water area. my turtle loves it. the deeper the water level the better. there's no need for a heater if you have a lamp in a dry land to heat themselves in.

Answer 6

Yep, 80 degrees is fine. I wouldn't worry about buying a heater (they are expensive)!!! I have had my snake for three years and the only advice that I constantly got is...do not make it to hot! So from what I've heard from others it is better to be under heated then over heated. I've only had a heat lamp and my snake just turned three years old last month. But whatever you do--- DO NOT get a heat rock because it burns the poor lil guys. I hope that helps!

Answer 7

in case you do not have a basking spot for the turtle to get warmth you mustn't feed it in this time of the 365 days. eating some thing ought to reason the foodstuff to rot interior the turtle and it may kill it. once you've been feeding it even as it replaced into chilly, then you truly favor to prepare a basking spot for the turtle for one week. do not feed the turtle in the course of the week except you intend to save the basking spot on all wintry climate. If too chilly of temps isn't the issue then you truly favor to seek a vet ASAP.

Answer 8

well the answer is yes because they come from a warm environment they need it in the winter but they don't necessarily need it in the summer. they come from Florida so the water can still get pretty cold as low as 60 degrees but when you change the temp of their cage they stress more easily and tend to slow their eating habits but to play it save just keep it steady at 80 but if it cools to 70 at night its OK cuz you want to replicate their environment as close as possible and in Florida it can still get cold with even a morning frost. so just keep doing wat your doing.