do i need to put a basking thing for my water turtle??? and other questions?

Question

well first my tank isnt small and isnt big, jsut right in the middle, and i was wondering whats a bask? b/c i seen the word in alot of turtles questoin.....??? is it like a thing where they go up into dry are? if so can i put a small basking area in my tank for my turlle????

and do i need to put a lamp under my turtle? is okay if i use those 60 watt lamp??? or do i need to actually buy those eating ones?

and b/c its coming up to spring, is it okay if my turtle doesnt really eat alot? people keeps saying its hibernation. b/c my turtle goes up the water and swin then goes down and doesnt really eat that much.


if you look at the pictures, it the water too much? b/c my mum thinks so. if so how much water should i put in the tank.

and when i put the food, pellets,krill,shrips and it gets all soggy do i have to replace it, or wait till my turtle eats it?
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i134/bianca062895/turtless001.jpg

andd no the tank isnt that small. i zommed in. its 15 inches or 16 inches.and yes im going to buy a tank, but this is for the mean time.

Answer 1

15 inches is a very small tank, that tank will work for a short time but you definatly need a larger tank. Alos you need a rock or log or something that emerges from the water providing a dry area, and you need a light preferably a UV or full spectrum bulb

Answer 2

A bask is a dry place that the turtle can get out of the water and "sun". A (clean) piece of wood, log, rock, almost anything will work.
I have seen and had small turtles in 200 gallon aquariums with feeder fish (the water is 24" deep) NOTE: there were many areas to escape from all the water and lights for them to "sun" under as well. Filtration was done with 2 large power filters and an under gravel filter as well. Turtles can foul the water quickly and water changes are required on a regular basis.
Food should be removed if not eaten within a reasonable period of time.

Answer 3

The good news is that you have a baby Red-ear slider- an easy species to care for.

The bad news is there is no sign in that photo that you are doing anything right or that it is healthy and happy.

1. Tank size. This is WAY TOO SMALL! The guideline is 10 gallons of water per inch of shell length. Your turtle is about 1-1.5" long, so should have about 10-15 gallons to swim in, and will need about 30 gallons within a year, and 120 gallons as an adult.

Because big glass tanks are expensive and heavy, a lot of us use plastic tubs.

2. Basking. Sliders are what we call 'pond turtles'. Pond turtles NEED to be able to get out of the water a lot- they will often spend many hours a day basking- which is just a fancy name for sunning themselves.

You need some sort of turtle ramp, dock, log, pile of smooth rocks, etc. to let the turtle climb on them.

Then you need to heat the basking site to about 90 degrees F. Basking lights are the easy way to do it.

3. Water temps. If the water is not kept between 75-80 degrees F, the turtle gets ill. There is no heater in your tank, which is the easiest way to do it. Lights on the outside are just not strong enough.

4. Gravel. Colorful tank gravel looks like food to turtles and they try to eat it. Use sand, naural pebbles, or even try nothing at all (which is the easiest to clean!)

5. Hibernation. No pond turtle will hibernate properly indoors. They WILL slow down because of the cold and slowly starve- but not hibernate. They hibernate in thick mud at the bottom of a pond.

6. Appetite. A healthy Red-ear is a pig- it will eat pretty much anything you put in the tank. Yours is not eating because it is too cold and has no place to sun.

7. Water level. It is WAY too little. See item #1.

8. Wet food. When your turtle is healthier and warmer, it will eat most of the food in 10 minutes.

A couple of other points:

9. Get a good filter as soon as possible. It will REALLY help keep the water nice when used along with good water changes. See this article for help: http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/waterquality.htm

10. Using UVB lighting really helps. Try this article for more info: http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Articles/guidetolighting.htm


OK... right about now you are thinking something like "WOW! What a lot of work and/or money!" I understand! A couple things to think about...
a- Most of the items are 'buy once and not need to again' as long as you think about the future. Buy supplies now that you will need in a few years rather than constantly upgrading as your turtle grows.
b- Almost all pets require a pretty decent investment in supplies or food to keep them healthy and happy. In this case, the habitat costs more, but the food costs over a year are pretty cheap.
c- You don't need to get everything at once. I'd go this route:
--First, about a 40 gallon translucent plastic tub.
--Second, a dock or ramp, basking heat lamp and holder, in-tank heater and heater guard, and a thermometer.
--Third- the big thing, the filter. A good one will make your life and your turtle's life a pleasure. A bad one will be an annoyance forever, so by smart!
--Fourth. all the things that make life easier- timers, suction cleaner, substrate, maybe a second basking site, etc.
--Fifth, UVB lighting, holder, and maybe a timer.

To learn a lot of great things about these turtles, try:
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com and
http://www.redearslider.com

Answer 4

That cage is COMPLETELY inadequate for a turtle!
You need a 20 gallon glass aquarium. That is too small and dirty for your turtle!

Your turtle MUST be able to climb out of the water entirely to sit in the heat light or he will develop shell problems. They sell floating basking areas for turtle tanks at pet stores. You cannot use a 60 watt light bulb for a turtle. You need a high-heat basking light made specifically for reptiles- ask someone at a petstore and tell them how big your tank is and they'll tell you what bulb to get.

You might be overfeeding your turtle. Feed only a few small items at a time, and if he doesn't eat it, scoop it out after a few minutes. Otherwise it'll cloud the water.

The water must have a filter and heater in it at well, and should have a layer of gravel at the bottom of the tank just like a fish tank.

You should have done more research first. Please fix this problem right away or your turtle can get very sick and die.

Here's some webpages to look at:
http://www.tortoise.org/general/watcare.html
http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/chrysemyscare.htm
http://www.petco.com/caresheets/turtles/Turtle_RedEaredSlider.pdf

Please get your turtle into a proper home.

Answer 5

My thing is why dont ppl research the animal first before you buy or get and deffintly to muck water in that tank a 10 gallon would be better for now but will have to up grade real soon you need some sort of heat or turle will become ill heres a wesite so you can get caught up http://www.turtlesale.com/turtles1.html Really good site to learn from even have sites to find out info on turtle and yours looks like a standerd red ear slider good luck and plz do some reasearch

Answer 6

Turtles prefer area, heat temperature, solar, and clean water. the rule of thumb for area is a minimum of 10 gallons according to inch of turtle. 2 2" turtles might prefer a 40 gallon pond, or a in part crammed seventy 5 gallon tank. you may save a ton of money by using employing large plastic tubs! not basically is a much bigger tank greater effective for the turtle, it won't get so grimy so immediately. heat temperature is in many situations offered by using water warmers with computerized thermostats. even in case your room is in many situations heat sufficient, the warmers look after the turtles besides. objective for seventy 5-80F water temps and 90F on the basking web pages. solar extremely potential UV-B, which you're saying you're offering- right for you! Cleanliness- a much bigger tank will help, yet we in many situations prefer 2-thrice greater filtration than an identical length fish tank might prefer. The bubbles on the water are from proteins interior the water (not oxygen, etc.) The proteins are coming from the meals and wastes. they don't seem to be risky by using themselves, yet they do point out that your water isn't as clean properly.

Answer 7

oh man....SERIOUSLY u need 2 study up on these turtles. QUICKLY give it some dry land above the water and put a proper basking light with UVA and UVB (go 2 a reptile shop) and theres prob a bit 2 much water in there

u need 2 do that soon or u can say bye bye 2 ur poor turtle

Answer 8

OMG, are you trying to drown your turtle? Reduce the amount of water! Put a rock or something in there that is tall enough to be above the water so the turtle has something to climb onto (and make sure the turtle is able to climb onto it) and rest on so it isn't constantly having to swim to breathe. And the tank is too small, IMO. How would you like having to live in something that tiny? It's like a little prison. Give him some room.

Also, if you don't know anything about how to properly care for an animal, you shouldn't have them in the first place. That is really very cruel. Do some research first. But since you already made the foolish choice of getting the poor creature first without any knowlege of how to care for it, I suggest you really look online about how to care for turtles. Here is one place to start. http://www.ehow.com/how_3275_care-turtle.html
Any other questions, ask a vet.

Answer 9

yeah you could probably take out some of the water.......I would get like a small seperater and make it par water part sand (so he can be out of the water sometimes) I would get him a bigger tank so you could do that a standard size glass fish tank should do but if you want something a bit more costly you could get an octagonal shaped one with a stand those are nice too......did you get your turtle at a pet store?? i would call and ask someone there if you have other questions (any petstore should be willing to help you) as stated above most people don't realize turtles need dry land because they can in fact drown contrary to some peoples beliefs..........

Answer 10

you should have a basking dock they sell it in petland and i use a 60watt heating and i thk its jus fine cause my turtle is still a baby...
they must bask too its very important for them and dont putt soo much water for they can drown

you also shouldve gotten bigger rocks they might eat those and put lesss water how can they get the food?and try gettin a tutle dock as soon as possible.

in my opinion i thk thats too much water and u do know they grow?? so you will need a biiger tank in the future

my tutlre looks jus like urs lol=]