I was wanting to set up my empty 40 gal breeder tank with cute turtles..lol obviously im talking about small mud or musk turtles, but was just wondering if anyone had suggestions on what species. keep in mind that i need small aquatic turtles that arent overly expensive. thank you!
turtles...turtles...turtles
- Thread starter cmorain42
- Start date
I've been seeing Mississippi red bellied mud turtles (Kinosternon subrubrum hippocrepis) recently offered for sale at reptile shows for $10 (same as regular musk turtles), and they're pretty colorful (at least when they're young). I've purchased two (one for my cousin and one for my sister), and both turtles have been pretty neat to watch and love eating aquatic turtle pellets and shrimp. Razorback musk turtles (Sternotherus carinatus) are pretty cool, too, but they cost a little bit more (say them for $20). Those two species are my favorites for musk and mud turtles, so that's what I'd go with.
You could also put some Corydoras catfish in with them in order to keep their water area tidy; they seem to do well with these turtles since they're pretty sturdy and don't have large fins that could be easily nipped.
Ya, online prices aren't the greatest. Unfortunately, you missed the most recent Iowa reptile show; it was last weekend. I would go through the show's list of vendors to see if they have any or can get any; there's no sense in paying extremely marked up prices as well as shipping when you can support someone who's local.
Ya, that's not too bad at all if you can't get them locally. Just remember that they're not the best swimmers, so they'll need a decent amount of land as well as some floating plants and/or a dock while they're young.
I'm a huge fan of the under-rated stinkpot or common musk turtle Sternotherus odoratus. I have been keeping them for years and when I come into the reptile/fish room they come to the front of the tank and beg for food. Two really good books I would suggest checking out are Turtles of the United States and Canada by Ernst, Lovich, Barbour and Keeping and Breeding Freshwater Turtles by Russ Gurley (who is a really nice guy. I got to meet him and spoke with him for a little while a few years back. Super nice, super informative, guy). As far as tanks with mixing fish/turtles right now I have a tank set up with cardinal tetras, guppies, neon tetras, cherry barbs, a juvenile musk and a juvenile mud. Plus there is a red cedar tree almost a foot tall growing hydroponically in the tank. It makes a wicked good filter. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[/FONT]
Oh, one other piece of advice...do not get your turtles via Glades Herp. The quality of the animals coming from them in the past 2-3 years has gone downhill entirely not to mention the poor customer service. Once again good luck. 
I agree, you can't go wrong with Stinkpot Musk Turtles. I have a pair and they're great little turtles with loads of personality. I also have a Red Cheeked Mud Turtle that would also probably work in your setup. Sadly, they're getting to be quite expensive here. When I got my female back in 2008 she was $35 bucks at show. Since then I haven't been able to find her a mate for under $100 bucks.