Turtles in BareTanks

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Feel a softshell. Its smooth, like a frog. The spiny has a little roughness to it.

Softshells like a round-grained, clean, nonabrasive sand. They can get infections from abrasions. A bare bottom tank for a softshell is very stressful.

The only thing that can hurt their feet is a very rough, ragged gravel/sand. Big round grains are fine. Bare bottoms are just so... blah. Its just another thing youd be taking away from them along with its freedom. Give it as best an envionrment as you can. Turtles are tough, its hard to hurt them.
 
haha, thanks.
what brand of sand do you reccomend for softshells?


and can the reevs, snake/sideneck turtle not have any substrate in their tanks?

and one more thing..i asked thsi somewhere but didn't get a reply so..
you know how fish are weak against sudden temperature changes?

what about turtles, since when I feed him I take him out of his 70F+ tank water to, cold water in the tub for feeding.
 
JEAE21;1146077; said:
haha, thanks.
what brand of sand do you reccomend for softshells?


and can the reevs, snake/sideneck turtle not have any substrate in their tanks?

and one more thing..i asked thsi somewhere but didn't get a reply so..
you know how fish are weak against sudden temperature changes?

what about turtles, since when I feed him I take him out of his 70F+ tank water to, cold water in the tub for feeding.
Click to expand...
try to get your feeding tub same temp as tank
 
OK; do you want me to? or is it a must?
 
Ok thanks!
I'll probably take some aquarium water and put it in the tub then
 
soft shells are one of the most sensitive turtles i have ever kept. one of the main diseases is bacteria which eats away at the shell. i have a foot long softshell who died of that. i kept it alone in a barebottom tank. i think softshells need a rock where it can sunbathe out of water in order to harden the shell. the shell cant always be wet nor always try. it must be a mix of both. thats y barebottom is probably not encouraged. the lack o 'good bacteria' cultivated in my tank was probably one of the reasons why my turtle died.
 
For softshells, especially if your temp, filtration, and water changes aren't perfect, it's beneficial to place a turtle calcium block and a sulfa block in the water to help with shell maintenance/disease control. Providing a food high in omega-3 and vitamin D3 will aid the turtle's system to absorb the calcium it needs.
 
Why do you want a feeding tub? Don't waste your time. A good filter will clean out food stuff in a snap. Hes gonna crap annyway, its not like it'll keep his tank any cleaner.

Just a suggestion, do what you like. I'm not starting a whole 'nother debate in here.
 
alot of chinese turtle breeders use bare bottom tanks and have had plenty of success doing so.... with that said if youre going to provide bare bottom you better make sure you just dont have a turtle dock for it .... give it some land space as they deserve it and use it quite often......tanks suck for turtles in my opinion I use www.turtlelandtubs.com for my spotties and they are great!
 
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