Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 8:58 pm New Turtle Owner and Loving It!
Hi everyone! First, I'd like to thank everyone here for posting all of this very helpful information!! I had gotten a gift certificate for Christmas to a local pet shop and one day while out shopping, my wife and I thought, lets get a turtle, with really no idea of what to expect. She's always loved turtles and I've always thought they were neat, but neither of us have ever owned one. We thought the pet store would be able to tell us all we needed to know.....but we were mistaken. They gave us basic stuff, but also sold us an inadequate tank, told us to only feed pellets and treats, nothing about vegetables, or UVA/UVB lights. We did get a basking light and platform. Anyway, thanks to this site, we have been able to make improvements, but we are still trying to make it better. I am hoping to post pictures of my setup in the appropriate forums to get suggestions, as well as get more ideas from everyone here. I'm very grateful there are communities out there like this devoted to answering questions about taking care of animals the proper way. Tucker is the name of our turtle by the way. He's a 4.5 in red eared slider. We have him in a 20 gallon tank....soon to be replaced. He likes his pellets, but won't eat his veggies.....at all! Hopefully that will change. Anyway, thanks for all of the information you all have provided to us so far to make Tucker's adjustment to our home easy.
Two good methods for trying to get Tucker to eat his veggies are using freshwater aquatic plants (they will either be eaten or survive as tank decoration) or using a "veggie clip" to hold lettuce in place.