We just got some baby turtles.. help?

A little google would show you everything you need.

petturtle.com

some other turtle page

I saw those websites and a lot of the information is rather ambiguous. Right now, we don't have any lighting kit or decent tank. In the meantime, I'm trying to keep these little guys alive while we get some money for a proper habitat for them. I need to know how shallow or deep the water should be in the meantime, as there is nothing for them to hang on to at the moment. They're constantly swimming to stay above the water right now and I can't tell if they're desperately strugging to stay near the top all of the time..or if that's just what turtles do. =X

My girlfriend's brother used to have a littl turtle, it was about an inch in diameter, but it wasn't a baby, that's just how big it got. He kept it in an aquarium with about 1-2 inches of water and some rocks.

It died after about a year and he went back to the pet store to get another one and no pet store in town carried them, they said thay tend to carry diseases. Just something to look into.

Put a couple big rocks in there for them to climb on. Don't make them swim 100% of the time.

I don't know anything about turtles, but if they are swimming to stay above water, giving them the option to rest sounds reasonable.

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Original post by nprz Put a couple big rocks in there for them to climb on. Don't make them swim 100% of the time. I don't know anything about turtles, but if they are swimming to stay above water, giving them the option to rest sounds reasonable.

Yeah, from what I remember (if these are the same kind of little turtles I'm thinking of) you'll want to give them an area (rocks) to just sit, and have that slope off into about an inch or so of water. I honestly don't remember any kind of lighting setup he used.

Where I live, you can't get those turtles unless you are using them for instructional purposes and have certifications. Apparently it's too easy to get salmonella for them to be good pets.

Its very important that you get a heat-lamp, being that turtles are cold-blooded. If you are not going to use water in the aquarium(ie, for a desert turtle) you can buy a heat-rock that plugs in to a nearby outlet. Snakes and other reptiles like to sit on them or near them for heat. One of those little upsidedown hollow logs are great for the habbitat, giving your new friend a place to hide from peeping toms. Oh and turtle food. They make reptile pellets or something that are pretty cheap. Any decent pet store should be able to direct you towards everything you may need.

EDIT: Food, not fod.

Can you not ask for advise from a vet?..just curious.

Maybe you should first figure what the species the turtles are. I don't know if this is helpful but here's a site I found: Turtles

I had a turtle when I was younger. You can keep them in a plastic container but the best would be an aquarium if you can. Make sure you water isn't chlorinated, and that you have a surface they can climb and dry off on, as well as a heating lamp. I remember my turtle barely ate at all when I got him until he adjusted to the new environment. Try putting some fresh and clean lettuce in the tank as well.

I bought a light and put some rocks in there for them to surface on. However, they still haven't eaten once since we bought them yesterday. We have turtle food..it's the "right" kind, so it's concerning me that they won't eat.

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Original post by evelyn Can you not ask for advise from a vet?..just curious.

Boolean never made a comic about vets. So, no. I can't.

As I am very worried about your turtles, here's some info I've gleaned for you.

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It is VERY hard to get hatchling turtles to eat. They will live off of their yolks for about a week or two, depending on temperature. Do not worry if they do not eat for the first week because their yolks are sustaining them. The warmer they are, the more they will eat

source

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Most water turtles must be fed directly in the water, otherwise they cannot swallow

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Some hatchling and baby turtles will only eat live foods

source

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Do not purchase so-called "turtle food" containing dried flies or ant pupae—these are nutritionally worthless.

source

The food thing is common, when I got my turtle it didn't eat for 2 days. I kept on feeding it though and it started to eat right about the time it got used to its surroundings. So don't worry, it will eat when it’s hungry. I'm assuming here that you have a "Red Eared Slider" which is your common turtle breed.

First! The water must be un-chlorinated, I can't stress this anymore. The turtle doesn't look well if you stick it in chlorinated water, mine for example gets puffy eyes when in regular tap water. So what you should use is the $5 bottled water jugs, or take tap water and let it sit for 24 hours. Eventually the chlorine will leave the set out water and the turtle can use it.

Second, light is very important. Have an area where the turtles can bask and dry off, I'll often find my turtle up there for a couple hours a day. This is also good for their shell so it's a must to have some type of platform above the water.

If you're going to do decoration in the tank, I suggest you avoid small rocks and things that you'd find in a fish tank. Simple reason is, is the food and excrement's will break down and will get caught in the rocks. Now, unless you want to wash all of the little rocks in diluted bleach I suggest you stick with garden rocks. I find rocks like granite are nice, and make sure you have rocks that are inch from the surface of the water and in dark areas. Turtles will only sleep under the water, so the easier they can get air the less they will wake up and move. This doesn’t mean you should have a little bit of water, they like a lot of water (anywhere from 1\3 to 1\2 the tank). Golden rule 1 inch per 10 gallon (?) tank, I forget the unit. But if your turtle is 2 inches you need a 20 gallon tank, 3 inches .. 30 etc .... Two turtles may be different, but they both need room.

While your turtles are little it's rather pointless in filtering the water because you'll be changing it every week, this is why small rocks can be a pain. Food will pass through the turtle in around 30 - 40 min, so if you'd like to keep the tank clean feed the turtles outside the tank in a separate bowl so there is less to clean in the main tank.

Sometimes you'll find the presence of algae, nothing to worry about. This happens in nature, so just make sure it doesn't get out of hand -- when it gets to be weedy and string like then it's gone too far. The turtle will get algae on its shell, but because the turtle sheds from the inside out the majority of it flakes off with the shell slivers.

The turtles will also eat everything you give them, they will purposely store food because they don't know when their next meal will be. I feed mine every day, and usually a few more pellets larger then the total size of it's neck & head. If they are really, really energetic, they usually want something.

If you need any more questions answered just ask.

PS: You'll eventually get to a point where you don't startle the turtles when walking in to the room. Just before that you can start feeding them food in your hand.

Err ... also. The Red Eared Sliders will nip at you until it gets used to you, it doesn't hurt, but just a warning.

Oh yeah, turtles that are an inch long AREN'T young. They are pretty small to start off, as far as I'm aware your turtle is roughly less or a little over a year old.

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Original post by slaction My girlfriend's brother used to have a littl turtle, it was about an inch in diameter, but it wasn't a baby, that's just how big it got. He kept it in an aquarium with about 1-2 inches of water and some rocks. It died after about a year and he went back to the pet store to get another one and no pet store in town carried them, they said thay tend to carry diseases. Just something to look into.

You're talking about salmonella, yeah. They do carry this, so keep the tank clean and wash you hands. You also probably don't have any children but make sure that young children don't get a hold of them and start putting them in their mouth.

[Edited by - PumpkinPieman on August 27, 2005 7:35:19 PM]

hmm, turtles... from china town... in new york... you wouldn't have happened to have gotten four of them and named them after renaissance artisans, would you?

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Original post by capn_midnight hmm, turtles... from china town... in new york... you wouldn't have happened to have gotten four of them and named them after renaissance artisans, would you?

*hands capn a broken cylinder of ooze*

My aunt died from a turtleborne disease.

I have a turtle in a rather large tank, with enough water for him to swim but low enough so he can breath. I say if you plan on keeping the turtles, depending on how big your tank, is along with the number of turtles you have, you might want to get a pretty big one for extra room.

We have a waterfilter which gets all the crap out of the water I suggest you get one of these if you don't have one or they get sick easily, but you have to replace the filter every now and then. I think what type of waterfilter is determined by how big your tank is so many square inches per filter or something.

I don't think we have a heating lamp at all. We do have a study type of lamp that we turn on at night that gives off a lot of heat but we turn it off before we go to bed. The tank is located next to a window so the sun keeps it rather heated seeing as it gets pretty hot here.

We usually feed the turtle live tiny goldfish, she loves to chase them, bite them, and eat them alive. Don't know if a goldfish would work for food I would consult a veternarian first.

I do emphize if you don't already have one in place get a water filter that cleans the water, also change the water and clean the tank every couple of weeks. Just don't use like soap or bleach just rise and dry it really well.

Thanks a lot guys!

Is there any chance of seeing pictures of the little fellows?