Post by wayne020668 on Mar 14, 2011 21:52:41 GMT
" hi my name is ?? ?? ( as always we keep this to help others ), i was wondering if you could advise me on weather my soft shell would be stressed or simply hunting, she seems to just sit under the deep bed of sand for hours and was thinking of changing it and only seems to lunge for food as soon as i put it in, she is well cared for and we offer plenty of basking area's but have seldom seen here out of the water all foods are varied but not always taken although since using your soft shell food she seems to smell it and want it, any advice you can offer me would be of great help... regards "
hi,
soft shell's will sit under the sand for days if needed as turtles go they are very lazy and will wait for food to come to them, the sand is spot on so no need to change anything these animals in the wild will live hunt and sit in sand beds of rivers till food swims past, then if they sense or smell it then the game is on " its food i want it" hunting mode will kick in, and don't stop offering all other foods "and i know your scoping most out as we do here" but we find these animals will only take what they need and leave the rest leaving you thinking that they wont eat it.... has a few bites gone...? to find out if she's stressed then offer her things like live river shrimps as these animals thrive on vibrations of the shrimp and sooner or later will hunt them down, these can be sought from any good fish or pet stockists, stress in these animals we find means harmful abrasions on the neck or legs if the eyes and nose are clear and there are no abrasions then you don't have to worry like we said they are killers but lazy, finally soft shells are 95% aquatic so although the basking is not a problem this should never be withdrawn as we have found here the hard way over 20yrs that they seem to get everything they need quicker than most turtles & terrapins, we hope this helps you and feel free to ask anything else and if we can help we will...
regards wayne...
hi,
soft shell's will sit under the sand for days if needed as turtles go they are very lazy and will wait for food to come to them, the sand is spot on so no need to change anything these animals in the wild will live hunt and sit in sand beds of rivers till food swims past, then if they sense or smell it then the game is on " its food i want it" hunting mode will kick in, and don't stop offering all other foods "and i know your scoping most out as we do here" but we find these animals will only take what they need and leave the rest leaving you thinking that they wont eat it.... has a few bites gone...? to find out if she's stressed then offer her things like live river shrimps as these animals thrive on vibrations of the shrimp and sooner or later will hunt them down, these can be sought from any good fish or pet stockists, stress in these animals we find means harmful abrasions on the neck or legs if the eyes and nose are clear and there are no abrasions then you don't have to worry like we said they are killers but lazy, finally soft shells are 95% aquatic so although the basking is not a problem this should never be withdrawn as we have found here the hard way over 20yrs that they seem to get everything they need quicker than most turtles & terrapins, we hope this helps you and feel free to ask anything else and if we can help we will...
regards wayne...