On Sunday my mom took my kids to Chinatown (dun dun dun) and brought them home with two 2.5 in baby RES turtles. My kids (who are 6 and 4) decided to name them Hikaru and Kaoru. I had planned to put them in a 10gal tank inside the house. But when I read how much space they needed I got them a plastic tub for them to live outside. the tub at the moment is on a floor mat on concrete and half in the sun and half in the shade. And in a spot where it only gets morning and midday sun. We had been renovating our house so I found a 2 pcs of 6"x12" porcelain floor tile along with some river rocks that my husband had collected a few years ago in the plastic tub. One tile is tilted against stack river rocks as their basking area and the other tile is leaning against the side wall of the tub so the can hide behind it. The water level is 6" high in the middle and 7" along the edges. They have been living there since Monday afternoon.
We live in the San Fernando Valley in California, which means hot summer days and mild summer nights and 50-70ish degree winters. Them being outside in their setup right now is fine except I don't know the water temperature. When I checked on them this morning, they were under the basking tile and found a small alcove there where there is air. (the tile won't move, its held in place by an upside down ceramic tile) but the water seemed a cool. But in the afternoons when we've come home, the water is warm.
The turtles haven't eaten... ever since we got them or at least not in front of us. I first tried feeding them when we got home in the afternoon. They didn't eat. Then I tried to feed them before I went to work this morning but I think they were still sleeping. I left some red leaf lettuce shreds in the tub too. It looks like there are less of them.. but I really can't be sure. After reading here, I saw that sometimes when they move to a new place, they won't want to eat for a few days. But, I also read that when the water is cold, they won't want to eat either.
Now (Finally), my conundrum. I bought them a zoo med 511 filter which I haven't set up yet. I wanted to set it up for use in the tub. But now I'm kinda scared that I need to regulate the water temperature more ( bc they might not be eating bc the water is cold at night). I have a heater for that 10 gal tank for inside use, but no lamps for sunlight or a basking area setup. So I'm wondering.....
Should I move them into the 10 gal tank where I can regulate the temp, but they would have to wait until I get the chance to buy the UV lamps and set up the 511 filter there? OR should I leave them where they are and move more of the plastic tub into the sun to help raise the water temperature that way, and set up the filter there? Will the filter be too strong in a 10gal tank? I think its just right for a 30 gal tub.
With the first option.. that would mean moving them out of their 30 gal tub into a 10 gal tank. And if the reason the aren't eating is bc of the stress of moving.... that would be kind of dumb to downsize them when they are used to being in a bigger space. With the second, I worry about the water temperature.
Or maybe I am overthinking everything? I do that a lot too.
Thanks for reading
