My baby painted turtle needs help????

Question

i don't know what to do he is very fat and doesn't grow much... plz tell me how to cure it!!!! also can u tell me how to figure out if its a boy or girl. Ps. if it helps he/she is about 2inch. if not smaller thank you so much!!!!

Answer 1

Turtles need ten gallons per inch of shell, a submersible water heater, a filter rated for 3x the size of the tank, a dock, two light fixtures, a 5% uvb bulb, and a heat bulb. 78F water, 90F basking. Make sure you have the right setup. This is a good setup. http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10322

You could be feeding an incorrect diet. Be sure to feed once per day offering the number of pellets that would fit in their head if it was hollow every other day with days in between feeding fresh romaine, red leaf, and green leaf lettuce (never iceberg), carrots, basil, and radish leaves. Overfeeding can lead to pyramidding which is serious and when the shell becomes lumpy. Offer calcium via cuttlebone or turtlebone. Remove the hard side. Only offer dried shrimp, fruit, and feederfish (not goldfish) as a rare treat as it is too high in protein. This is a good feeding link http://www.redearslider.com/index_nutrition.html

You cannot tell the sex of a turtle until it is four inches or larger. Males have longer claws and a longer tale compared to females. Females, however, lay eggs regardless if there is a male though they may not be fertilized.

Answer 2

Check out the care info on this website--care for painteds are teh same as for RES....

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/caresheet-red_ear_slider.htm