|
Post by jasminebmarie on Jun 16, 2012 13:00:19 GMT
Hello my name is jasmine, I have two yellow bellied terrapins which i have had for a year and three months. There is three reasons why i joined, 1) I wanted to find a forum that i could talk and share things with fellow terrapin owners . 2) my two are starting to grow alot again and need to get a new tank, but dont want to keep spending out on larger and bigger tanks that they will outgrow in a year, so was thinking of making a set up myself but wasnt sure on how to or any ideas?? , 3) my female has been acting strange for the last two weeks, she spends all of her time swimming and splashing in the corner, like she is trying to get through the glass, she still basks but when she isnt she goes back to the corner to splash,and now she hasnt eaten for two days?? her eyes,nose and shell looks healthy and are well looked after , hope someone can help! x
|
|
|
Post by turtlegirl on Jun 16, 2012 20:59:24 GMT
Hi Jasmine Sliders are lovely - I have 10 myself -but they do grow bigger, like most turtle species though nowhere near as big as snappers and softshells.
If you are upgrading and will be keeping your turtles indoors, it would be best to get a 4ft tank which will last them a lifetime. They are expensive though, unless you find a 2nd hand bargain on Ebay or Gumtree.
A much better and cheaper solution is to get a plastic tank. You can get large cheap Turtle World tanks for around £60 which can be used indoors or buried in the ground outdoors to make a pond. This brand is made from new food quality plastic guaranteed safe for pets. Apart from being much cheaper than glass aquariums, plastic tanks are unbreakable and being opaque will solve the problem of turtles trying to get out through the glass. Message me for details of where to get them if you need one.
Regarding the behaviour of your female, it may be that she needs to lay eggs. Even females that have never been in contact with a male will lay infertile eggs sometimes. Try building her a nesting box filled with a mixture of sand and compost and put her in it every day for an hour every day. If you have a garden you could also take her outside but watch her carefully and preferably put her in a pen or other enclosure as turtles are great escape artists and can disappear in seconds. Beware, turtles can walk at least as fast as humans on land in spite of webbed hind legs and are excellent climbers too, easily climbing 3x their shell length or more.
|
|
|
Post by jasminebmarie on Jun 17, 2012 16:04:37 GMT
Thank you so much,i have been worrying about her and the homing problems, my male turtle is always fluttering his hands and flirting with her but she always seems to swim away,i will put her in a nesting box tonight, how long do i have to do this for? x
|
|
|
Post by turtlegirl on Jun 17, 2012 21:49:38 GMT
Start with 30 mins a day then increase to 40 on 2nd day and an hour after that every day till she lays. Watch her to observe signs of digging. make sure nesting box has a lid or cover with an old towel so she will be in dim light and feel secure. If she is scared she will spend all the time trying to escape out of the nesting box instead of laying
Better still combine the nesting box with her current tank setup with a ramp to access it directly from her tank.Place her in nesting box daily for a week and let her come out and walk back down the ramp into her tank when she feels like it. It helps if you can put the basking lamp over her nesting area.I will try to find some photos of the best setup
|
|
|
Post by jasminebmarie on Jun 18, 2012 10:44:00 GMT
okay thank you, is she old enough to lay eggs? she was the size of a 50p when i got her and that was march last year x
|
|
|
Post by turtlegirl on Jun 18, 2012 22:06:41 GMT
How big are your turtles now? They may be a bit yung to produce fertile eggs. My female slider is older, maybe 4 years though small for her age and shows no signs of egglaying, thankfully! Still if your boy has started fluttering claws you can assume they are growing up. Sounds like they may be "teenagers". females can also lay infertile eggs, even if kept alone without males.
If she is too young for egg laying, maybe it's just the turtle instinct to escape. Some turtles are restless and will keep trying to get out if they can see through glass. The best solution is to use an opaque plastic tank. If you have a glass aquarium, they maybe you could line 3 sides with aluminium foil and bubble wrap as I do to retain heat and stop turtles trying to get out. Even better, you can get thin plastic backgrounds with patterns like tropical rainforest or lake which make your tank look muck nicer as well as solving the problem.You can stick backgrounds to the outside of the tank with sellotape.
|
|
|
Post by jasminebmarie on Jun 19, 2012 19:36:41 GMT
this is the female x Attachments:
|
|
|
Post by jasminebmarie on Jun 19, 2012 19:40:57 GMT
and this is the male you can see from his claws that they are much longer than the other one? i assume this means that this one is the male? sorry about the poor quality. I am currently bidding on a 4ft tank so hopefully they will be more entertained and stop splashing as me and my partner are loosing sleep over her splashing at half 4 every morning! x Attachments:
|
|
|
Post by wayne020668 on Jun 19, 2012 21:36:15 GMT
hi welcome to our vastly growing family... ;D the splashing is often but not always caused by the terrapins looking for foods... we get this a lot here and can be resolved by offering foods an hour before you go to bed and leaving your basking light on till you go to bed... the reason is when they are fed and full and been basking its like a man after a big Sunday roast and wants to sleep... give it a go might just help you... regards Wayne..
|
|
|
Post by jasminebmarie on Jun 19, 2012 22:06:57 GMT
she doesnt seem to want to bask , she has sat on her large rock decoration and basks but her body is still in the water, i have been feeding them live meal worms and they love searching for them, i have fed them more than normal,i know i shouldnt but it was just to see, she eats then carrys on splashing again, or she will ignore the food and keep still when i sit next to the tank then get bored and splash again, just at a loose end and dont know what more i can do i love my turtles hate not being able to help her x
|
|
|
Post by jasminebmarie on Jun 19, 2012 22:08:27 GMT
i dont know if she is fine or if there is something wrong with her or is ill? x
|
|
|
Post by turtlegirl on Jun 20, 2012 23:03:20 GMT
Don't worry splashing is perfectly normal and usually associated with begging for food as Wayne said. I too used to get woken up at dawn by baby turtles in the tank beside my bed. There is a simple solution -cover their tank with an old towel etc. at night. This not only keeps heat loss down, thereby reducing heating bills, but more importantly allows turtles to sleep right through the night till you remove the towel at breakfast time -allowing you to get some sleep too!
|
|
|
Post by jasminebmarie on Jun 22, 2012 11:40:47 GMT
we covered up the tank at night and seemed to keep the splashing down, we moved them down stairs last night and since then noone has seen or heard them splashing!! dont know why being in a different room has helped but it has.they have been on their best behavior. does anyone else find that their turtles seem to move decorations or ornomints around into different places ? i thought i was going mad when each time i check on them they seem to move things into the same place? x
|
|
|
Post by turtlegirl on Jun 23, 2012 22:46:07 GMT
Yep "rearranging the furniture" is normal turtle behaviour. Mine dislodge their turtle docks almost daily and often move the filter, knock off the spraybar etc. Guess it gives them something to do! The also like to dig up substrate if you have any.
|
|
|
Post by jasminebmarie on Jun 25, 2012 0:20:35 GMT
the same with my turtle dock! also they like to dig all the stones up and push them against the filter to block it up!!, with regards to taking them outside in the garden for walks- i have four dogs so i can keep them indoors when i take them outside but imwoundering about what surface they can walk on? we have a mixture of concrete and grass in the garden, what would be best?im also worried about them eating grass?and the dogs urinating on grass?
|
|