new turtle keeper

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
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it seems to me a basking place is missing..beyond that, seems good enough for starters for a small aquatic turtle..
 
That's a 20 gallon long, right? Just be prepared to upgrade it fast! Most young turtle species grow fast when given warm water, good lighting and a varied diet. The smallest species of turtle that could live in there the longest would still probably be a Stinkpot Musk Turtle.
 
Youre doing the pond when it gets bigger right? You don't need UV. It's been proven through long-term use, something the people in the recent UV thread didn't consider. So use that bulb as long as you get your proper temps. But when that burns out/breaks or whatever, next time all you need is an indoor floodlight. Those reach perfect temps as long as you increase/decrease the height from the basking spot instead of buying fancy high wattage bulbs. Floods are also safer and cheaper to both buy and operate.

If you plan on keeping a turtle in that tank permanently, just about the only thing that would work would be a stinkpot, and only one stinkpot.

Big ol' honkin' chunks of gravel aren't the best choice, but they dont hurt. You can try sand with pea gravel mixed in. Turtles like to bury themselves sometimes. Don't worry about impaction either. Unless a turtle swallows some SERIOUS rocks, they should be fine if healthy. Reptiles are built to pass just about anything, and they do provided they can function properly.

Depending on the species you choose, you might need more or less land.

Where's your filter?
 
Oh sorry, you have a filter. :)
 
Vicious_fish: Reptiles grow healthier and more steadily more so with a healthy, stable diet than a varied one. More variables gives more chances for something to go wrong. A good turtle pellet, veggies (Depends on the turtle) and an occasional mouse or earthworm is perfect. Some people insist on feeding every little this and that: crayfish, tuna (lol), roaches, feeder fish, crabs, shripmp, and stuff you don't want to know about (hot dogs anyone?).

So its not necassarily whether its varied, its whether its stable and healthy. Quality over quantity. ;)
 
Dude, you can do what you want, but I have pet turtles that are as old as you and they have been fed a varied diet their whole lives. Most of these turtles we're talking about are not specialized feeders and eat many different types of things in the wild. Same with us humans. That's like saying I could survive my whole life, healthy as a horse on nothing but just pizza.
 
"That's like saying I could survive my whole life, healthy as a horse on nothing but just pizza."

No its not. I said a few (not just one) HEALTHY items with a little variety thrown in, not just every this and that you can find. If your statement is true, I would have said 'feed him ice cream his whole life, hell be fine'. I said a few healthy items, not one unhealthy one. That would be like the snapper brought into our nature center one day. A guy caught it as a baby, kept it in a rubbermaid box and fed it hot dogs its whole life. It looked like one giant breast implant or something o.O

But everyones turtles are different to the individual. Btw, what turtles have you kept? I'm curious. I don't agree with you, but I don't disagree either.
 
Vicious_Fish..you told me to feed tuna but are you talking about raw or canned? since you told loconorc canned tuna isn't expensive.

also, his pellets ill be zoomed & reptomin. Give him vegies/fruits once a week. gave him carrots today, he loved them..he even picked up the mess from the bottom. I think he likes the color orange, haha only the orange goldfish seem to be disappearing.

and occasional crickets. and always have fish in the tank.

what else should i put on his diet list?
 
at2;1139578; said:
its all i got so far.





what do you think of these products?

i'm no expert but i think african sidenecks get pretty big...you might need to upgrade in the future.

as for your heater..it's supposed to keep a constant 78F.. damn thing only goes to 75.3F in my tank..room temperature is not the problem either..
 
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