chinese softshell

[danny]

please please help ive gone and done a crazy thing
ive just brought a soft shelled turtle with out knowing a single thing about them.
i know its irresponsible but i just could not resist and i plan on gaining a lot of knowledge
over the next 24 hours (with your help i hope)
thanks in advance . im off now to surf the net and will check this thread in a hour or so
many thanks danny

 

[danny]

have i posted this in the rong place ???????????????????

 

[dr_sudz]

It's just really early sunday morning. I would send SimonL a pm he is extremely knowledgeable about turtles, I think he ether has a soft shell or is wanting to aquire one. It may take him some time to get back to you but he is the guy I would ask. Unless your able to get someothers here to speak up before then.

 

[lovespunaround]

I know a good bit about softshells. Not Chinese specifically, but softshells. I've had one for about four years now and I've done a lot of reading.

habitat: with turtles, outside is always best if you can do it because a)it's outside and b)you can provide the turtle more space for less money, and softshells do well with lots of space. You can use a plastic kiddie pool or a Rubbermaid bin or a livestock feeding trough...pretty much anything that'll hold water as long as it's durable plastic. If your climate is the same as the turtle's natural climate, you can keep it outside year-round as long as your water's deep enough. However, I'd keep the turtle inside in winter until it's a year or two old. Give it a smooth rock or piece of wood to haul out on in the sun, but make sure the container is partly in the shade as well. A good water temperature is anywhere from 75-82. They're very messy so you'll need to change the water regularly, and this even more important because softshells are more prone to infection than most turtles. Also make sure your turtle has somewhere to hide. They're nervous and won't eat enough if they're out in the open. I throw dried leaves from a nontoxic tree in the water; you can use sand (for burrowing), but I think that would just be too much of a hassle to clean.
If you're keeping the turtle in a fish tank, this stuff is pretty much the same; you'll just have to put a lamp over the basking spot.

food: insects, bits of raw fish, canned cat food, dry dog food, shrimp (fresh or dried), floating turtle pellets, worms, crawfish, pelleted fish food

and I think it's it. Hope it helps....

 

[danny]

thanks guys that a great help
any more advice would be welcomed dan

 

[paul112]

I just got one too Go to the Early Learning Centre or similar, and buy cheap play sand. Gravel will cut them up. Anything in the tank should be smooth. Food wise:
-Reptomin pellets
-Prawn
-Crickets/mealworms
-Feeder Fish
-They're not keen in plant matter
Males need a minimum of a 90G tank, females could need a pond or 150G.
Good luck,
Paul

 

[softturtle]

I'm not to sure about how big chinese softies get, but I bet its a decent size.Give these turtles as much room as you can. Rememder gallons doesn't matter, floor space does. I use rubbermaid tubs for mine(cheaper than fish tanks). Don't get me wrong though, once I can afford a 4'x6' or 6'x8' tank, I'll get one. To make your turtle calm (as someone stated earlier) use a layer of sand a few inches deep for your substrate. This will make your new turtle feel right at home. You probally won't see him for a while but he'll start coming out more and more often once he figures out your where the food comes from. They can be nervous turtles but they tend to grow out of this. Feeding them is pretty easy. If it squirms, wiggles or swims, it will get eaten. I feed worms, grubs, crayfish, fish, insects, pellets and beefheart. I have also made a mix of all of these that I freeze in cubes and use as the staple of their diet. You could feed them a diet of just pellets (there are a bunch of great total diet pellets on the market now) but I just like to give them a varied day to day life. They get hyped up by moving food items. I would give the turtles a dry basking spot and a submeged basking spot(mass of floating plants or ropck under waters surface). Water quality is an issue. So a powerful filter system is a good idea. All that along with regular water changes should keep your turtle nice and healthy.

 

[danny]

thanks guys much appreciated