help/advice

[jasminebmarie]

iv spoken too soon! she has been splashing all day and wont eat, it seems to be that she doesnt eat on days that she splashes

[turtlegirl]

Grass is perfect for outdoor exercise. Concrete is fine too as long as they don't climb and fall back onto concrete which could cause shell damage and even internal injuries. Just make sure they are in an escape proof cage or pen with a secure high fence. WARNING _ dogs love to chew the shells of turtles and tortoises causing severe injury so lock your dogs indoors when turtles are in the garden

Unlikely that they will eat grass(not like tortoises) but if they do, no problem as some veg is good for them anyway - as long as you haven't sprayed grass with pesticides! Mine love to eat dandelions and lettuce but only when I put the leaves in their tank. Turtles have no saliva so they can usually only eat on or near water which they need to swallow their food.

RE Splashing, not sure what else to suggest as with mine splashing is attention seeking behaviour, often linked to begging for food especially at breakfast time. My sliders splash whenever they see me but they crave attention. They like being picked up, associating it with being taken out in the garden and a couple of sliders even enjoy having their heads stroked! They also secretly hope I will give in and offer them an extra treat like dried shrimp... must admit, I find those little heads rising out of the water looking up at me irresistible.

Not eating - nothing to worry about if they miss a meal or two but if a turtle that was eating normally suddenly stops eating for several days something could be wrong. Check
1. Eyes and nose- should be clear with no sign of discharge or swelling
2. Check shell and whole body for any injuries which can easily become infected and need immediate treatment.
3. change of habitat can put them off their food. Maybe even moving to another room especially if tank layout and decor changed too as a result of moving.Newly adopted turtles often don;t eat for at least a week
4. Excessive basking and lethargy can be a sign of illness or injury

[benturner89]

Just a suggestion to the splashing, my turtles go absolutely mad and splash if they think that there is food on the ledge of the tank, or more often than not there is a bit. No matter how small it is at least one of my turtles will find it, so it may be worth checking nothing looks too much like food above where she is splashing? Other than that, one of mine will splash each every time I come into the room begging, once he realises he's not getting anything he goes off and looks elsewhere. And one of the others will splash and beg even when I've put food in above her head, im sure she knows it's there and is just trying to coax more out of me. Once I've moved away from the tank she'll eat fine. Im no expert, but if anyone can back up this comment it may be of use.

[turtlegirl]

Absolutely right Ben, food is the main reason for splashing. My slider and map turtles greet me enthusiastically whenever they see me, especially at feeding time. However they will splash anytine in hope of an extra treat between meals like lettuce or pondsnails ..... or even being taken out to bask in the garden However I like to think that my sliders at least genuinely enjoy interacting with me and respond to the sound of my voice (no I am not naive enough o think they actualy undertand me)- some even like being picked up and stroked. Musk turtles ignore me completely even at feeding time and never splash.

[benturner89]

Mine are an absolute nightmare, I'll clean the splash marks off the inside glass, within about half an hour there is bound to be splashing!

[jasminebmarie]

they do splash when i come in the room and beg for food, but my female splashes randomly in one corner of the tank i can put food in or infront of her and she ignores me and the food and continues splashing, its only every now and then , she stayed in one corner of the tank most of the time,not sure what it is maybe she is just a very strange turtle her eyes and nose and legs alll seem fine i check weekly for signs of illness, i think its proberly nothing she is just being a pain! x

[benturner89]

Haha, I think you'd know if she was ill, when mine was ill last month she lost all enthusiasm to do anything. Also I've been told that a turtle cant see the glass, so they will keep swimming into the end until they realize its not possible to go any further.

[lynndelu]

Hi my name is Lynn & we have had our 6 year old yellow belly slider for 2 months now , we were a bit nervous as we knew nothing about turtles but I was anxious something was wrong as she was frantically splashing against the glass for hours on end and was very bad tempered . I decided to take her for a walk in the garden and she started digging a hole with her back legs and laid 3 eggs it was so cool my kids were so excited afterwards Sushi calmed down there is no more violent splashing and she is lovely .

[turtlegirl]

Grass is best as long as it is free from pesticides and chemicals, They can scratch their plastron on rough concrete, Just make sure that the enclosure is escape proof when they are outside and/or watch them carefully ALL the time. Never turn your back on them not even for a second. They can climb up to 2 ft and even dig under wire mesh fences!
They are unlikely to eat grass as turtles can't eat out of water, unlike tortoises. If they do it won;t harm them as any green veg is good. Though mine will eat lettuce cabbage and dandelions, they have never shown any interest in grass.

[madmax]

Hi my name is Ian, have only been on this site a coupe of days and very new to the forums,

I have two turtles one is a map male and the other is a yellow belly female. They were in a tank 30inches long by 13inches wide and 15 inches high. Also had a UVB Lamp, 150 watt heater, an external 404 fluval. With normal aquatic lights that was with the tanks. (This is what i got with the turtles when i brought them.)

I have recently moved them into a 5 foot long by 20 inches wide and it is 2 foot 3 in height tank. Inside the tank there is two 4 foot aquatic tube lights, 1 UVB lamp, 150 watt heater (Glass), 404 fluval (External), 1 floating platform (Basking platform) two pieces of bog-wood, one piece of larva rock, a cube (tank) which is a foot by a foot and inside that there is graval and then sand on top.

My water level is a foot high (Roughly 35 - 40 litres of water) can hold more if needed. The depth of the tank is 2 foot 2 inches.


This is what i have and am waiting for.
I am waiting for the arrival off two UVB Lamps and two basking lamps, i have two metal (500 watt) thermostats, i also have two external HW-304b (Output 2000 L/H external filtres), i have two sets of the 4 foot tube lights.

MY QUESTION IS:
Do i put both 500 watt heaters in the tank, two UVB Lights, two basking lamps, two external pumps, 4 lights, more water, is there anything else i need to stick in the tank as they are both adult.

Thanks Ian.

[turtlegirl]

Sounds like a great setup!
Just make sure that the tank does not overheat with all those lights and 2 x 500W heaters.
What arrangements do you have for basking?

[madmax]

thank-you but right now i 'm only using a 150 watt heater and one set of lights (two 4ft tubes)
as for the basking lights i have ordered two of them waiting for them via post
my two turtles have a cube and a platform they use i will add another platform for them very soon
but what i needed to know was because of the size of the tank do i put in my two 500 watts my lights (2 4ft tubes make 4 lights ) plus two external pumps with a total hourly turnover of 4000 lts an hour plus two uvb lamps
and two basking lamps or do i put one of each in my tank im only trying to make sure my turtles are very happy in there tank
thanks again ian

[turtlegirl]

One of each shpuld normally be enough. Place lights right over the basking area so they will get full benefit from the UVrays which don't penetrate water much. Keep an eye on water quality and test it weekly at first for ammonia and nitrite. If water is cloudy or smelly or has very high ammonia levels after a few weeks use 2 filters.

HINT: "Seed" your new filter media with some old dirty media from old filter to establish a colony of good bacteria that process toxic ammonia and nitrite, turning it into harmless nitrate. Otherwise it will take at least a month for the bacteria to grow there naturally and the filter won't work effectively the first few weeks. I do this with all my new filters for both fish and turtle tanks.

[madmax]

thanks i will go for that and thanksfor helping me ian