A few questions

[tubbsss]

We bought two yellow bellied sliders for our daugthers in March from a local pet shop. Before we bought them we asked the man working there about their care and what sort of set up we would need.

He told us all we needed was the tank with a filter and gravel and a rock for them to lie out on. He sold us these items and sent us home with two baby turtles and a box of pellet type food. After a few days they still were not eating and I was beginning to worry so I did a bit of research online to see what could do to help them.

This is when I found out about needing UVB light and not to use gravel. So we went straight out to buy the lighting and threw away the gravel. We have a few nice round smoothe pebbles on the bottom of the tank now (we got them at the seaside and I boiled them in a big saucepan for a few hours to ensure they were clean and clear of salt water before cooling and putting in the tank).

Once we had the tank set up this way they seemed much happier. They bask then cool off and swim around and even come over to the glass when they hear our voice. So I was happy enough that we were doing everything right.

But we have had them now for almost 9 months and they do not seem to be growing much, they have grown a little, their shells have gotten a bit bigger but really not much. I am starting to worry as I have seen on a few sites they can grow to 4 inch in first year. I do not know how old they are as the man in the pet shop said he wasn't sure when they were born but as we have had them for 9 months surely they should have grown a bit more by now. The shell is about an inch and a half long. When someone says 4 inch do they mean whole body length or shell??

Their tank is about 1 foot wide by 1 and 1/2 foot long and the wafer in the tank is about 10 inch deep. They have a basking rock about 6 inch by 4 inch. There is a filter which keeps the tank nice and clean, we top the water up every week and do a full clean out every month. There is a UVB light which we keep on through daylight hours. We do not have any live plants but I just read they might be a good idea for them to nibble on, so I am gonna get some this weekend. I never had any food in their tank before as we feed them in a seperate bowl.

We feed them prawns or small bits of fish/dried pellet every other day and they also get some lettuce and they love apple. We put some food in their bowl and leave them in the water for 45 min or so and by then they have eaten and also been to the loo. So we put them back into their tank and throw awy the leftover food.

The seem happy and swim and bask. They have come to know us and come to the glass when we enter the room, we keep them in the living room and they seem to like this as a while back we moved them to my daugthers bedroom but they just moped about in there and never swam or really did anything. So we moved them back out to the living room and they are back to normal, they must have missed hearing us all living our lives around them as my daugther spends little time in her room they wont have seen much activity. They know when its feeding time and when they are in there feeding bowl they like to poke their heads out of the water and watch us if we are near. They also enjoy getting out for a ealk around the tils on the floor a few times a week, we would sit in a circle round them so they can't get inder the sofa etc and they wander around from one of us to the other. Other than lifting themout and into their tank we do not handle them often as I am unsure if they would like it or not. Even when they are out for their walk around we just watch them but do not touch.

Anyway I wanted to explain exactly how we care for them so any one who is an expert can advice me. I worry they should be growing alot more, are we doing something wrong??? The pet shop we got them from had no UVB bulb and no filter and had about 20 in one tank just anout 3 feet long and 1 foot wide with just a few inch of water. I read somewhere if they are not cared for well in the early weeks they may not ever grow right and might not live as oong as they should. I want to do all I can to keep them fit and happy please advice me.

Thanks

[tubbsss]

Excuse all my typos

[GoingPostal]

Well first off that tank is way too small, you need probably a 40 breeder at least, if you plan on keeping both longterm I would go ahead and get like a 120 or 180 so you aren't buying and replacing filters and equipment every upgrade. You aren't feeding them properly from the sounds of it either, you would want aquatic turtle diet, plus some insects, worms, good veggies. Lettuce has no nutritional value, it's like junk food. Is there a heater in the tank and a basking light where they can get out of the water and warm up? Also you should be supplementing calcium, some will chew on cuttlebones, mine never did but worth a try.

[tubbsss]

Thanks for that, I want to be sure we are taking proper care of them. The man in the pet shop sent us off thinking it was just a matter of putting them in the tank and giving them some fish every few days. Since starting to research online I have found conflicting advice, I was adviced previously to feed them as I have been doing but I will take your advice and change their diet. We have been on the look out for a bigger tank and we do have the lights etc that you mentioned.

Thanks again!!

[XSReptiles]

What a waste. I just spent well over 30 minutes writing and proofing you a lengthy reply which got lost because I some how got signed off.

Anyways austinturtlepage.com is loaded with pretty much all you need to know about general care requirements for turtles. Turtleforum.com is the best online community you can join as well.

You need to ensure your aware of your turtles basic needs. Below is a list of thier specific needs.

Specific minimum enclosure size, general recommendation is 10 gallons per inch of turtle (Female YBs get over 10'')
Diet requiring good well balanced pellets supplemented with certain leafy greens, veggies, fruits, and animals.
Water temps within 74-82 degrees
Basking temp within mid 80s to low 90s
Filtration with both biological and mechinal filtration with filters off while adding tap water and de-chlorinater added before they are turned off. Chlorine kills benifical bacteria.
Water changes to add fresh water and remove nitrates.

As far as your concern of their growth turtles will grow as varied rates even ones housed together can have vast difference in their rate of growth. Yet YBs can grow to be 3-4.5'' or so their first year. Proper measurement of turtles is the length of their shell in a straight line not over their carapace measuring the curvature of their shell. If your guys are 18 month or more as you stated and less than 2'' I'd would agree in that their is reason for concern. My only suggestion is to ensure you are providing proper diet, water temps, basking temps, and clean filtered water. Yours might be growing slower due to not having the best of care and diet or might simply be ones which would not survive in the wild and picked off at a young age by nature. Most hatchling don't make it in the wild some don't simply because they aren't fit to survive fall to predation and the natural elements. No one can really answer the reason they aren't thriving. A vet could run a blood and fecal sample and determine if they have parasites or have a certain disease.

[tubbsss]

Thanks for your advice, I am not sure of their age but we have had them 9 months and they have not grown more than half an inch in that time.

We bought these turtles not realising all that was required, we followed the advice of the man in the pet shop, which has obviously been a load of rubbish. He lead us to believe it was really just a matter of putting them in the tank and feeding them. Which after a week or so we realised was wrong when I found a site where a man gave advice on how to care for turtles, the advice given has been what I have been doing since. He seems to also not know exactly what he is doing. I can not believe we have been caring for them wrong all this time, we are gonna get this all sorted this weekend. They do have a heat bulb which keeps the air temp between 80 to 90 but we do not have a water heater as the water is usually around 75. And they have a UVB strip bulb, these are both above their basking rock. We do replace some water each week and clean out each month and the filter keeps the water nice and clean.

By the sound of it we have not been feeding them right, the dry food we give them is King British Turtle and Terrapin complete food, and like I said they also get fish/prawns and some lettuce or fruit (usually apple).

Thanks for the link, I am so glad that my concerns of their lack of growth has made me investigate into their care. I just feel guilty that I never looked into this further before, we just assumed that first web page we read all those months ago was right.

They do seem happy and healthy, they bask with their heads and feet turned up to the lights and they swim about and play around in the water. They also eat well and I assumed they were getting enough as they never finish what food we give them and thought they wouldn't stop eating unless they were full. But I guess there is a difference in being full and getting the right types of food and vitamns.

So hopefully if we change what we are feeding them and take on your advice and the previous advice they will start to thrive more.

We also had planned to get a new tank and have been keeping our eye out, although we had thought there was no rush, we thought what they had was enough for now, so we will also be getting a new tank asap...hopefully we find a good second hand one.

Basically we need a bigger tank and to change what we feed them....is this all we need to do? Should we feed them every day or is every other day ok like we have been doing.

Thanks again, I am so glad we can now get things sorted as they really are the best wee turtles and such fun. PS they are called Terri and Torres.

[XSReptiles]

Thanks for your advice, I am not sure of their age but we have had them 9 months and they have not grown more than half an inch in that time.

We bought these turtles not realising all that was required, we followed the advice of the man in the pet shop, which has obviously been a load of rubbish. He lead us to believe it was really just a matter of putting them in the tank and feeding them. Which after a week or so we realised was wrong when I found a site where a man gave advice on how to care for turtles, the advice given has been what I have been doing since. He seems to also not know exactly what he is doing. I can not believe we have been caring for them wrong all this time, we are gonna get this all sorted this weekend. They do have a heat bulb which keeps the air temp between 80 to 90 but we do not have a water heater as the water is usually around 75. And they have a UVB strip bulb, these are both above their basking rock. We do replace some water each week and clean out each month and the filter keeps the water nice and clean.

By the sound of it we have not been feeding them right, the dry food we give them is King British Turtle and Terrapin complete food, and like I said they also get fish/prawns and some lettuce or fruit (usually apple).

Thanks for the link, I am so glad that my concerns of their lack of growth has made me investigate into their care. I just feel guilty that I never looked into this further before, we just assumed that first web page we read all those months ago was right.

They do seem happy and healthy, they bask with their heads and feet turned up to the lights and they swim about and play around in the water. They also eat well and I assumed they were getting enough as they never finish what food we give them and thought they wouldn't stop eating unless they were full. But I guess there is a difference in being full and getting the right types of food and vitamns.

So hopefully if we change what we are feeding them and take on your advice and the previous advice they will start to thrive more.

We also had planned to get a new tank and have been keeping our eye out, although we had thought there was no rush, we thought what they had was enough for now, so we will also be getting a new tank asap...hopefully we find a good second hand one.

Basically we need a bigger tank and to change what we feed them....is this all we need to do? Should we feed them every day or is every other day ok like we have been doing.

Thanks again, I am so glad we can now get things sorted as they really are the best wee turtles and such fun. PS they are called Terri and Torres.

You should be fine without a heater if its staying at 75. I prefer alittle warmer but its within their ideal range. Yet its best to have one before you need it if your house getting coolers later in winter. The basking temps you started should be ok I'd try to adjust it by getting a bulbs a few more watts or alittle closer to have it atleast 86-88 low 80s isn't getting them much warmer than the water temp. You actually need to remove water not only top it off. The filter is working the way it should will collect the waste and have beneficial bacteria which break down the ammonia their by-product is nitrite. Yet another set of bacteria and thus produce nitrate which then stays in the enclosure needing to be replace by you. Just cause the water is clear doesn't mean its clean make sure you read up on aquarium filtration so you under stand the whole process of biologic and mechanical filtration.

You shouldn't be offering so much food to your turtles that they are always leaving some uneaten. Turtles can easily be overfed becoming obese. Common recommendation is to offer enough pellets to fill your turtles head if it was a bowl. I don't both measuring out any specific amount for one I fed multiple turtles in my enclosure. I simply ensure all pellets are consumed within a few minutes. If I regularly have pellets left over once I check on them its an indication to me I need to reduce the amount provided. You turtles less than a year only and small then 2.5'' or so can be fed pellets daily while juvi and adult can be fed 3 times a week.

Taking a look at your brand of pellets its not anything I would feed my turtles for one crustaceans aren't the best choice for turtles except for the every so often small meal. Reptomin is very common brand and accepted as a good choice for turtles. I have used it as a pellet of choice many years ago and have used it for time to time in recent years for hatchlings. Zoomed and many other big reptile companies also produced their own brands I can't comment on them as I only used aquamax and with reptomin being the only other brand I've used long term. I would make sure to offer pellets of dark leafy greens like turnip greens. Everything else can be in small amounts and varied amounts. Read up to find the best choices.

Xavier

[tubbsss]

Thanks again for your advice......never heard of that food brand, I am in Northern Ireland, where are you? I will check online to see if we can order it in. We are off today to have a look for everything we need!!!!

[XSReptiles]

I'm in the US see if you can find reptomin, zoomed's turtle pellets, or some other more popular brand. I'd stay away from pellets which have anything else such as those freezy dried shrimp in them.

Xavier