Hey everyone! Just yesterday my friend gave me two turtles. They were in pretty poor condition with just a glass bowl and a rock to live on....it was kinda sad, so I jumped at the chance. I have upgraded them to a tank, but I'm having some problems. A: Since the turtles used to live in a glass bowl, they didnt have anywhere to go really, so they would always try scuttle up the sides. Now that I have put them in a tank, they aren't really sure what to do. They sit there, and kick up some of the small rocks that I put on the bottom as a sort of floor. Should I just wait for them to readjust? Is there anything I can do to make it more comfortable for them? B: I want to get some sort of platform that they can get ontop of so that they can breathe without having to stick their heads above water. Any ideas? Keep in mind that I live in a place where I don't have easy access to everything. THere are no real pet stores....you just buy animals in markets and stuff. Lets just say that I live in China, there I said it lol (no I am not chinese) so I can't have access to most things. C: Are there any plants that I could put in the tank with them to help make them feel more comfortable? Right now I have a light that goes over the top of the tank...is that a good idea? Or should I remove it? Thank you so much!!!! RKrocksyoursocks
Alright to start off, i dont know alot about turtles. But im going to try my best with my overall knowledge. First off dont be embarrased you live in china. Nothing to be embarrassed about at all. Now their previous living conditions sound very horrible. So personally i think you did a great thing taking them in. Now first how big is there tank if you know? Secondly what kind of turtles are they and do you know the gender? Next I for sure think it would be best to get a platform to let them get out of the water when they please. Even if its just small. Do you have a filter running into your water? Well as for the basking spot, above water you dont really need anything fancy. I just looked up a little bit and if you can just measure the area above water level, like the width of your tank and wedge something on the side just above water level. Or if you want and have the materials rocks. Empty some water outof the tank. On one side. stack rocks. High, high enough to reach above water level. Then once you have the rocks stacked you can either keep them like that, or put something ontop of them that is completely flat. Either or. Even something as simple as bricks anything you can stack above the water level. It dosent have to be an extremely large area. Just enough for them to get to something. Not sure if you will need a hide on the basking area. As for the lamp i would keep it in. I dont know alot about temps for turtles but i know one thing. You are going to have to clean the tank when you begin to see any buildup. Also if you dont have a filter i would highly suggest you get your hands on one. If this isnt possible for you I think there are ways to make homemade type filters? But if you cant get a filter. I wouldnt worry to much because you can change the water out every 2 weeks or so. But that will be giving you more work if you are willing to do it. I would just like to say that i think it was great of you to take these turtles from a terrible life. I appreciate that even though im not a turtle owner.
Hey. Thanks so much for replying Haha, I wasn't really ashamed so much at the fact that I live in China, but at the fact that I can't get all the things necessary to help the beautiful turtles have really good lives.... sigh sigh. I love them lol. I'm not really sure how long the tank is or anything, cos I can't find a spare ruler lol. My hand is about medium size, and can stretch about 13 cm, and it's about three of those, so like 39 cm in length ish, that's not accurate though, and maybe about 30-35 cm in height? Is that too small? remember, those measurements aren't completely accurate, and I can hold one turtle in my hand, so I am pretty sure they are still little. Good idea with the rocks, now to find some lol. Looking after turtles is a new thing for me, I have a bird, and my brother has three tarantula's, but none of my family has ever looked after turtles! It's kinda exciting. Hmmm filter filter. I had a look around, but couldn't find one, I have one more place where I can look, but I dunno whether there will be one there or not...I'll keep an eye out anyway. For the mean time I will continue to change their water no matter how ma fan it is....opps, I mean annoying, excuse my Chinese out bursts lol To what type they are I am pretty sure that they are red eared sliders, but I will take a pic of one when I got time and post it. How do you tell what gender they are? I'm pretty sure that these little guys were bought off the side of the road, so I haven't really been able of find a professional look at them. Thank you so much again, I appreciate your help!!!! -RKrocksyoursocks. P.S. I managed to get a pic of one of the turtles, but the file was too large to post, so I put it as my profile pic...not really clear though, but I hope it gives a general idea. It has a red sort of streak near each eye.
One thing is for sure it would be great if you could get a pic of your setup as of right now maybe. I found a care sheet that i very highly suggest you look through and even after reading it i also suggest you google some more in depth stuff http://exoticpets.about.com/od/aquaticturtles/tp/resguide.htm As for gender if you google there are different ways to sex them, and easy method is size. Males generally tend to be smaller then females. It is important you research well into their diet. I hope i helped some
