Well worth the money? fly river turtle

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Mine is active in the morning, late afternoon, and night. He's more active now than he was 5 years ago.

What's your tank temp? Not off of the heater but, read from a thermometer. I keep mine at 84F. He's alot more active than he was at 80-82F.
 
Just checked and the thermometer states around 82-83F. He's still chilling at the bottom with sand all over his shell.

As another note, I haven't seen my FRT eat before. Yester day i tossed a gnerous amount of talapia in the tank which as gone the next morning. Not sure if it was armatus that ate it all.
As a side note, I'm going to conver the tank in a brackish ASAP after I sell my armatus. I basically toss the talapia into the water and turn off the lights to go to bed.

i actually can't imagine my FRT being a turtle that begs for food right now. He is docile and won't go up to eat pellets that original owner always fed him. I'm just worrying that the turn is moving less becuase he isn't getting enough food.

I tried feeding him hikiri algae wafers and shrimp the first few days I got him and all he did was much on them and spit out all the mush out thus creating a huge mess.

How often should I feed him BTW? Was told once every 2 days.
 
I feed mine every day. He's active enough to warrant it.

I thought you already had him in a brackish setup. Unless he was in a soft neutral to acidic tank before, the change in chemistry would be my guess for the reason behind his listlessness and feeding problems.

BTW, the armatus swallows fish (fillets, too) whole. If you didn't notice dozens of small fillet pieces all over the tank, your FRT did not eat any of the fillets. The turt will tear off chunks and chew them. this will leave small pieces all over the substrate, filter intake, and decor.
 
Oddball said:
I feed mine every day. He's active enough to warrant it.

I thought you already had him in a brackish setup. Unless he was in a soft neutral to acidic tank before, the change in chemistry would be my guess for the reason behind his listlessness and feeding problems.

BTW, the armatus swallows fish (fillets, too) whole. If you didn't notice dozens of small fillet pieces all over the tank, your FRT did not eat any of the fillets. The turt will tear off chunks and chew them. this will leave small pieces all over the substrate, filter intake, and decor.
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PH of my area's water is around 7.5. There is a lot of limestone and calcium in the my area's water. I also added aquarium salt to the water.

So you are saying turtles are extremely messy eaters? I just recall that when I fed my FRT shrimp, he left a bunch of shrimp mush. It seems like he just chew on it and threw it back out. As for algae wafer, he chomps on them but does seem to be able to swallow them so he spits the small chunks out.
 
Have you placed any anacharis bunches in the tank yet? The FRT will graze on the plant if hungry and the plants will last a long time without falling apart as is the case with dried foods.

Forgot to mention, if he's in an acidic environment, and not eating, he'll be losing calcium dangerously fast. A severe calcium deficiency will cause his shell to warp and his jaws will soften and not regenerate his chewing plates making it difficult for him to feed. Not to mention leaving him open to internal osteopathic problems. IMO, quick steps need to be taken to get the FRT into a better environment as soon as possible.
 
Are you peeling the raw shrimp? I had to peel the shrimp shells when the turts were younger. My male is large enough now that I don't have to peel the shrimp.

Aquarium salt? Are you referring to a marine mix or simple boxed coarse salt? Marine mix contains trace minerals, vitamins, and buffers that are better for the turt than simple sodium chloride.
 
Oddball said:
Have you placed any anacharis bunches in the tank yet? The FRT will graze on the plant if hungry and the plants will last a long time without falling apart as is the case with dried foods.

Forgot to mention, if he's in an acidic environment, and not eating, he'll be losing calcium dangerously fast. A severe calcium deficiency will cause his shell to warp and his jaws will soften and not regenerate his chewing plates making it difficult for him to feed. Not to mention leaving him open to internal osteopathic problems. IMO, quick steps need to be taken to get the FRT into a better environment as soon as possible.
Click to expand...

When you are talking about acidic, do you mean a PH under 7? i tries to give the turtle lettuce but he won't eat them. I will get some anarchis bunches tommorrow.
 
Oddball said:
Are you peeling the raw shrimp? I had to peel the shrimp shells when the turts were younger. My male is large enough now that I don't have to peel the shrimp.

Aquarium salt? Are you referring to a marine mix or simple boxed coarse salt? Marine mix contains trace minerals, vitamins, and buffers that are better for the turt than simple sodium chloride.
Click to expand...

I gave my turtle peeled shrimp. i use the aquarium salt that is used for healing for fish. guess i'll pick up some marine salt and anarchis at the lps tommorrow. You think the armatus can handle some harder water?

PH around 7.5. I can regularly see calcium buildup at the water level at my tank.
 
I had it once, it got too big and started to terrorize my tank and started to bite every fish. If u have active fish that swims constantly, then its fine. Had to sell him bc my prize fish were getting killed.

I could tell u this, its the coolest wetpet to have and the guest will fall in love with it. You can hand feed it and its very friendly!

As far as water parameters, i just did water changes weekly and it did just fine. Very healthy. I didnt bother adding salt or anything

Show us some pics and good luck!


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
late up date but the turtle has been eating for about 4 days now. swimming fine. Strange thing is, he seems more active during the after noon than at night.

He eats hikir algae pellets, talapia, and worm pellets. My big question is how can I make fruit sink to the bottom. I tried to feed apple slices but the apples always float. What can i do to make it sink. I've seen a youtibe vid where a guy attached a metal spoon at the end of an apple slice to make it sink but i'm afraid my turtle will him itself.
 
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