Other Turtle Discussion :: Advice?

[Sir Max]

Ok so my friend has a RES..

-20 gallon tank

-5-6inch RES

-no place to bask

-cannot get out of the water

-gravel

-feeds him cat food

-no uvb light

i really feel bad for him..and i have been giving little hints to my friend about stuff he needs but he just shrugs it off

i really want to tell him like seriously he needs to change most of these things..

but i dont want to come off to blunt or as a jerk..

how should i tell him?

[sull324]

I had talk with peoples that did the same thing,no basking spot,no heater and any random food.you see most people just doesnt care,if they did care then it would have been in an correct setup.

You dont have to feel responsible for your friend.

If it bother you so much then you might suggest to move it to your tank.

[SINI5T3R]

offer like 10$ for it and get it off him or just plain out tell him "that can kill your turtle...".

[imderanged]

The way I would approach it, I would make my suggestions sound good by putting the emphasis on the ways it would make your friends turtle keeping experience better. Such as : "a bare bottom would be so much easier to keep clean that all that gravel!" and "Reptomin is cheaper than cat food and doesn't have to be refrigerated" You could even tell him "It's so much FUN to watch my turtle haul himself out to bask on a platform!" And invite him to see your set up. Also if you have any old equipment you don't need you could give it to him to get him started, or even buy a bottle of Reptomin to convince him to "give it a try"

You could also try and get him to look at THIS website!

[TheComputerGremlin]

I'm with imderanged on what she said.

Also, suggest that he becomes part of this "awesome turtle forum that you're on". He might read or post and we can help him out that way.

As for the immediate issues, you can definitely be a little blunt about the gravel, since that stuff can kill the turtle. Say something like, hey, I know the gravel looks nice and seems intuitive, but turtles can eat that stuff thinking it's food and get all blocked up and die. And you can always invite him over to see your tank and explain all of the features, like "this is a basking area that my turtle can lay out and get warmed up under, it also helps his metabolism" or things like that.

But ultimately it comes down to 1) it's his turtle and 2) don't offer to take the turtle unless you can keep it. Remember, we all want to save all of the animals, but it doesn't mean we can ...

[coreyvht]

my cousin has a 5-6 inch res in a ten gallon tank it had the dirtiest water and get this he has a filter he just dosent like to turn it on ...and he had a heater but didnt want to put it in there ..so i did i also clean that putrid tank ..i asked him for it but hes had it for 16 years ..so im giving him a dock (because he dosent have one )a 20 gall long tank best i could do ..he does feed it turtle bites...

it makes me mad that people have turtles they don't do research and when u educate them they don't listen

o and he has gravel

[Sir Max]

Well i bought a turtle dock from zoo med for him today 16.99$

and a bottle of reptomin 3.99$

all for a turtle that isnt mine haha.

even if he doesnt have a uvb atleast he can rest now

[coreyvht]

ya thats very nice of you for helping a poor turtle out tell your friend its his b-day present and christmas present

[mikee]

Sir-M I would suggest that he check out this forum. This turtle needs a larger tank, proper temps and lights for a start. Good Luck!!

[Sir Max]

Yeah i did i mentioned it to him and he said he would check it out!

[turtlebro]

I feel the same for you , very angry and dissapointed
In my country , many ppl doesn't care what a res need
If you advise them ,
They never take your advice for like you are younger and sthu you have no rights to advise him/her...
Many beginners take Ast as first turtles here but the heck they would listen
And suprisingly some even mix AST with common snapper ,snake neck and matamata.
Heck I live in a place with miracles!

[Moose]

my cousin has a 5-6 inch res in a ten gallon tank it had the dirtiest water and get this he has a filter he just dosent like to turn it on ...and he had a heater but didnt want to put it in there ..so i did i also clean that putrid tank ..i asked him for it but hes had it for 16 years ..so im giving him a dock (because he dosent have one )a 20 gall long tank best i could do ..he does feed it turtle bites...

it makes me mad that people have turtles they don't do research and when u educate them they don't listen

o and he has gravel

lol coreyvht I couldnt help but laugh at your post, bcuz it ABSOLUTELY pisses me off when all they have to do is something as simple as plugging in a device and they want to be lazy and not do it and then want to throw a big fit about how their tank is so dirty! Not only that i had a friend who has a turtle and when i saw that it had gravel and only an inch of water in the whole 20 gallon tank, i said you know that your AQUATIC TURTLE knows how to SWIM right? and her response.....yea, i know right?

ignorance must be bliss.

[CassieJade]

Yep buy it from him.