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Post by michelle on Jun 9, 2012 19:27:16 GMT
I've just rehomed a female and male musk turtle from jackie at the turtle rescue durham area.This is my first time with turtles,they seem to have settled in well,but i'm very new to it all so any advice would be very welcome so i can provide them with the best care possible.thanks.michelle
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Post by turtlegirl on Jun 10, 2012 20:59:03 GMT
Welcome to the Forum and well done for adopting 2 rescue musks.
Musks are cute and funny little things, fascinating to watch but they don't like beng handled. Some useful info:
1. Inspite of the name "stinkpots" musks don't smell. My musk tank with 3-4 musks smells as clean and odourfree as any of my other tanks. Musks will only let off the smell when scared or annoyed, like when you pick them up and take them out of their tank. Mine did eventually get used to being handled when I took them out in the garden to get some sun and brought them in at night frequently in summer and they stopped musking me.
2. Those little cuties have an incredibly powerful bite.. and they don't let go either. Their very long necks can and do reach well over halfway back over the top of their shell so keep your fingers out of reach!
3. Musks are essentially bottom feeders and prefer sinking pellets though they can be trained to eat floating food too and will eat dried shrimp etc. They also love to eat pond snails - fun to hear them crunch snails under water! Do NOT feed any turtles ordinary land snails or slugs as they carry fatal lungworm parasites and vets aren't sure whether the parasites can infect turtles as they do dogs and hedgehogs. Musk also love live earthworms but make sure they are pesticide free. I keep an organic wormery compost bin to recycle kitchen veg waste and get a safe worm supply for my pets.
4. Musks do enjoy basking. Mine bask every day and even sleep on top of their log. The best tank accesory for your musks is a Zoo Med floating turtle log or aquarium log. It's a hollow fake log, bottom weighted so it floats partly submerged - perect for smaller turtles like musks as it serves as a combined rest and sleep area, adventure playground and basking platform. Mine love to play hide and seek swimming in and out of the holes at the sides or resting inside at the entrances with long necks stretched up to the surface for air like a snorkel. They love to bask and sleep on top.WARNING seroius design fault - if your log has a hole on top, block it (I stuck a yogurt pot in it) before placing it in musk tank.Sadly I found this out when my other male musk tried to crawl through the hole and got stuck with his head trapped under water. and hind legs in the air He drowned.
5. The female needs somewhere safe to escape and rest if the male becomes too affectionate - Casanova can mate at least six times a day in late summer and he now has a harem of 2 females. If you don't get a log use a large terracotta flowerpot placed on its side on tank bottom for her . just make sure tuttles can't get trapped inside or behind any tank ornament.
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Post by michelle on Jun 24, 2012 19:06:36 GMT
Thank you for your helpful advice,mine don't seem to mind being handled so far,although the male is shy very unlike the female she takes food off him sometimes.They seem to be basking a bit more now but it has taken them a while i will have to buy a log.so far im loveing them but already thinking should i get them a bigger tank!it's addictive.Thanks again
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Post by secdean02 on Jul 8, 2012 22:10:58 GMT
I'v got 4 in a 5ft tank, and yes it is tempting to get a 6 or 8 foot tank LOL, I bought a ramp but mine only go on the large cork wood sections I got from a reptile shop at Penshaw, Sunderland. Also If you go to any garden center, ( I went to a Koi center in Sunniside, Newcastle) you can get floating water hyacinth, I read on a online care sheet Musks like eating at them.
(If you do want a larger tank, use ebay, and search for local ones, youl pay stupid money in a pet shop)
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