Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: Hello from Dragon Turtle and Me

[DragonTurtle]

Been visiting this website for over a year, love it, thanks to all who keep it alive for the rest of us RES lovers! Well, now I have a concern, so I'll post that in a sec...

I have 1 RES, Dragon Turtle (my 5 year old named her), rescued from an evil turtle shop in Chinatown, downtown L.A. She was about the size of a quarter when I got her, now fits the palm of my hand. Here's a bit on her setup:

100 gallon tank (3/4 full)
UVB light over basking dock
Temp 76 degrees, with heater
A few fake plants, a few fake rocks and shells
2 Pieces of driftwood
Water Filter
Water from tap, treated with Reptisafe

Diet:
LOVES bloodworms, brine shrimp, and feeder fish
Likes earth worms, insects, and fish flakes (for feeder fish)
Won't eat pellets, fruit, or veggies
But occasionally will eat lettuce

Excercise:
Prefers to swim all day and night
I force her to bask once a day
Loves to take walks around the house, and outside during the warm weather.

[missibsu]

Welcome to the forum!

You may have to deny her the treats in order to get her to eat the veggies.

How are you forcing her to bask?

[DragonTurtle]

Thanks for the warm welcome. The doc says she's doing alright with her current diet, not to worry about it anymore. So I won't push veggies so hard anymore.

Dragon Turtle refuses to come out of the water, she simply loves to swim. So we have to physically pull her out of the aquarium and put her in a dish with the lights over her. I asked the doc about her not wanting to come out (in another post someone commented that I should raise the outside temperature to intice her out). The vet said that some young RESs truly prefer the water over dry land, and that's okay. Just as long as they have the option to bask in a good solid platform, if they want to. Dragon Turtle's shell is in excellent form, and she's overall in great health, so I guess I'll keep pulling her out to bask.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Wow your setup sounds good! I didnt know RES could eat fish flakes,when i had feeder fish in with them i would always take them out of the water while i was feeding the fish.Well as long as the vet says her diet is ok then thats good,but im curious how does she get vitamin A and calcium,stuff like that if she wont eat veggies or pellets? Or does dragon turtle get those vitamins from the fish flakes lol?

[SpotsMama]

On the basking, the basking spot needs to be warmer than the water to motivate the turtle to get out and bask. The rule of thumb is that the basking spot should be at least 10 degrees warmer than the water. My turtle likes it even warmer than that. You may already have it covered, but if you haven't, why don't you check the temperature on the basking spot. Do you have a heat lamp or incandescent bulb over the basking spot to make it warm?

[DragonTurtle]

...im curious how does she get vitamin A and calcium...

I give her calcium supplements, a powder (I forget the name at the moment) that I put over her food. We just came back from the vet (for a bacterial infection) and I thought it might have been her diet that led to the immune deficiency, but the doc felt her diet was good and more likely it's been recent changes in her water and plant environment.

She doesn't LIKE veggies, but I can usually get her to take carrots and lettuce if I'm super patient. The vet felt that as she ages, she'll expand her diet, and not to worry too much about it for now. I defer to the doc...

[DragonTurtle]

The rule of thumb is that the basking spot should be at least 10 degrees warmer than the water. Do you have a heat lamp or incandescent bulb over the basking spot to make it warm?

Yep, I do. The water is regulated at 76 degrees, the basking area registers about 84. I'll try moving the bulb closer to warm up his basking area, but I noticed today that his docking area is now sinking under his weight - it's a stationary floating dock. So she's not actually drying completely out anymore. Tomorrow my husband is going to modify the dock so it won't sink anymore. Between the bulb and the modified dock, maybe she'll be more inclined to bask.

Thanks for the inquiry, it made me check my setup more closely.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

...im curious how does she get vitamin A and calcium...

I give her calcium supplements, a powder (I forget the name at the moment) that I put over her food. We just came back from the vet (for a bacterial infection) and I thought it might have been her diet that led to the immune deficiency, but the doc felt her diet was good and more likely it's been recent changes in her water and plant environment.

She doesn't LIKE veggies, but I can usually get her to take carrots and lettuce if I'm super patient. The vet felt that as she ages, she'll expand her diet, and not to worry too much about it for now. I defer to the doc...

Oh ok thats cool .