Turtle help?

[ScubaChick0121]

Well my friend bought a baby turtle about 3 weeks ago and realized that the little critter cages is a horrible home for it. she wants me to have it but i only have a 20 gallon open. its either a map or painted turtle (pretty sure she said map) and is very tiny from petland. My question is how long would the baby be able to live and have enough room in the 20 gallon? how deep would i hav to make the water?

 

[Sarah88]

im sure a much more experienced person will chime in on this one but as far as i know map turtles do not get that large, as for right now i would fill the tank half way and put in a ramp and put a basking lamp and uvb bulb over the ramp, i think it will be ok in that set up for a good while since (everyone correct me if im wrong) but maps only get like 6-7in max so as an adult i would be alright in a 30-40g tank

but yeah those little containers with the island in the middle they always try to sell with turtles really suck but unfortunately most people working at places like that dont really know what they are talking about and most customers then have to find out the hard way. thats why it is always best to research any new pet before buying it

GOOD LUCK with your new turtle!

 

[Boneyman]

The general rule of thumb for housing is 10 gallons of water per inch of shell. That 20 gallon should be good for a few months but get ready to move it into a 75. A 75 should be good enough for most map turtles.

Make sure you have an area for it to completely haul itself out of the water and get completely dry. As for lighting you'll need heat and UVB, I use a Megaray which provides both.

The above is easy to provide but the real challenge is filtration. Turtles have a really heavy waste load so the general rule I've heard for filtration is double the tank size. So your 20 gallon will need a 40 gallon filter.