My new Southern Painted

[wolfsburgfanatic]

thanks for the kind words everyone, hes getting more active every day

Is he eating yet? I've had good luck feeding finicky juvenile turtles krill pellets (Tetra Reptotreat Suprema). I think the fact that they stimulate two senses with bright orange color and strong smell is irresistable to the little guys. Bloodworms will probably have the same effect.

Still no luck on the pellets, I'm offering ZooMed Aquatic Turtle Food Hatchling Formula and Tetrafauna Reptomin baby but hes not interested. He did devour a cricket last night though, so that was a relief. I put the cricket in the water, but it swam up onto his dock and he spent the better part of 15 minutes "playing" with the cricket and trying to figure it out... it reminded me a tiny reptilian version of my Boxer I finally nudged the cricket back into the water and he wasted no time in making a meal out of it. I'm still going to work on getting him on pellets as a staple, but I'm glad hes eating something for now I'm gonna try bloodworms too since I have it on hand anyway

You should pick up a bunch of Anacharis. Your turtle would probably love to rest on that stuff and it's safe for them to nibble on. Ever since I saw Dan Fellers Snappy pics I really try to avoid putting anything artificial in my turtle tanks. The risk is not worth it to me.

I really want to do all live plants in the 20G Long, trying to create sort of a marsh-like environment for him. I'm not very familiar with anacharis but after a quick google search it seems pretty easy to care for. I was planning on using low light, hardy plants (my experience with plants is basically zero) like anubias nana and/or java fern with some duckweed for floating cover. My only concern with a set-up like this is that he'd basically have a constant food supply and could over-eat and have problems right? Oppinions and suggestions are welcome

 

[Vicious_Fish]

I doubt it will eat much of the water plants at this age. They're more carnivore than herbivore at that size. Another good floating water plant to try would be Water Lettuce.

I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this but have you tried feeding your turtle bloodworms? Most baby turtles go nuts for them.

 

[reptech]

and you could also try crickets

 

[Jfitz]

what size setup do they need when their older?

 

[Noto]

Anything with a footprint over four square feet at an absolute minimum, but of course bigger is always better. A 100 or 120 should be good.

 

[wolfsburgfanatic]

and you could also try crickets

he devoured a cricket last night, check post #31 thanks for the advice though

tried bloodworms tonight and it was a success! Its so nice to see him eat 2 nights in a row; I was really starting to worry. Thanks for all the help everyone!

 

[coura]

he devoured a cricket last night, check post #31 thanks for the advice though

tried bloodworms tonight and it was a success! Its so nice to see him eat 2 nights in a row; I was really starting to worry. Thanks for all the help everyone!

You have uv ligth rigth? If yes you can feed him bloodworms and lots of it Try also artemia and mosquito larvae

 

[coura]

Very true but I don't consider the genus Glyptemys as basking turtles.

I was talking Emydae

 

[wolfsburgfanatic]

You have uv ligth rigth? If yes you can feed him bloodworms and lots of it Try also artemia and mosquito larvae

yup its a zoomed reptiglow 5.0 though, not a reptisun like I thought... but yes he has UVB. How much is a good amount to feed for a turtle this small? I had heard that you're supposed to feed an amount about the volume of their head once a day at this size, but I don't know how accurate that is.

 

[Noto]

Sounds about right. Give him as much as he wants; you can't overfeed them at that age.