New Baby Red Eared Sliders Water Conditioner, Food, and Outside Basking Possibilities?

Question

So I was wondering, I have chlor-out conditioner I can put in the water, or I bought repti-safe conditioner to put in the water, but I was wondering if once the repti-safe ran out if I could use to chlor-out instead. Would that work just as well?

The bottle of food is for baby turtles and is pellets, the directions say a whole teaspoon per turtle every day, but I can't imagine feeding them so much! Will that be too much food or am I starving them if I don't give them this much?

Lastly, living in Arizona, I can sunbathe my turtles outside in the natural sunlight to get all of their uva and uvb rays, right? I read natural light was the best way for them to bask, but then in other questions I have read that being out in the heat is not good for them...

Help?

~Lava

Answer 1

Chlor-Out would be ok but not the best for them. If you have to use it you can but Repti-Safe is better for the turtles (I've used both with my turtles and have found Repti-Safe to work best).

The pelets is good. You aren't starving them. It's recomended that they eat as much as they can in a 10 minute time span once a day. I'd keep an eye on them if they are in the same area because one may be dominant and not let the other eat as much as it should. You can also feed them worms, crickets, grasshoppers, snails, krill, and shrimp.

The natural light is always better for them but they need to have 12 hours of UVB lighting. I'd say to have them out for a couple of hours and inside for the rest. Yes, the heat does effect them. If they are in temps over 105 degreese they can easily die of heat stroke (they basically boil). Heat is good but too much heat is bad. They really do have a mind of their own and really only will bask when they feel like it so if you try to force them to you'll pretty much have to put them in an inclosed area with just rocks and no water bt this too is bad for them as they can get too warm. The UVB lights don't produce heat. The UVA and heat lamps do produce heat. You have to come up with a way that they can have 12 hours of UVB and then the additional basking time. Most bask between 2 and 6 hours a day but sometimes not all at once. I think it's easier inside as you can easily regulate temperature and how much UVB they get. I have a heat/UVA lamp over their basking area and a UVB lamp angled to the whole tank on a timer that starts at 7AM and goes off at 8:30PM.

Answer 2

De-chlorinators: Don't sweat it. You can de-chlorinate by just letting the water stand in an open container for 24 hours. Otherwise, if you can drink it, your turtle can pretty much live in it.

Food: Every day, feed about enough pellets and other food to match about the size of the turtle's head. Other foods can be things like krill, bloodworms, shrimps, etc.

Sunbathing: It is stressful to move the turtle a lot, but some real sunshine is OK as long as it dies not overheat the tank and the turtle can get out of the sun if it wants.

Answer 3

Check out www.austinsturtlepage.com for good info. They can be outside, but need shade and make sure not overheated, which is difficult in small enclosures other than ponds. Also, protection from wildlife when outside. Food should be pellets, fish, insects, and plant/vegies. They become more vegie eaters as they get older. Don't use chlor out--just let the water sit in jugs or pail over night and the chlorine will be gone.