Urgent Care :: Baby turtle sleeping a lot? Is this normal?

[muddled]

Okay, so last weekend I was done doing grocery shopping, and a man with two little tupperware-sized containers with turtles in ht shows up and tells me that he's selling the turtles. I don't know much about turtles other that I've seen them before, but I knew that the poor turtles were really stressed out and not happy being treated as they were, so I took one home.

The turtle is probably the size of a quarter -- he told me that the turtel was 8 months old, and since the turtle is very tiny I'm not sure I believe that? Anyway, the fact that he's a rear eared slider is pretty much all I know.

I went to this website, I read what kinds of habitats are good for baby turtles, so I got the turtle a 10 gallon tank (I will get a bigger one once he starts growing more -- for now, this is all that will fit!) and filled it up halfway -- I got a little docking spot and a 70w light for the docking area, and a 50w heater.

The turtle seemed to be happy at first, but today (a day later) I noticed that he's sleeping a lot! All the time! I know I'm not supposed to tap on their glass, but just to check if the turtle is still alive I will tap the glass, and sometimes the turtle will open his eyes, and sometimes it will ignore me.

Is this normal? I bought Tetra ReptoMin baby pellets for him, and he just won't have any. What kind of live foods do you reccomend I feed him; perhaps he's not getting enough nutrition?

Also, the tank is super stinky! What kind of filter should I put in the tank; something small and perferably not noisy, because I'm keeping him in my office cubicle, and I'm pretty sure that my coworkers aren't too happy about the smell already, I don't want to bug them even more! ;-;

Please help moi? ;-;

And by the way, nice to meet you all!

[Nettle]

Hatchlings are very prone to illness. Do his eyes look swollen? Does he breathe with his mouth open out of the water? It's possible he's just had it rough up until now and needs some down time.

For 5 gallons of water, I'd suggest a waterfall filter with disposable cartridges. They make a lot of noise, but it's not difficult to make something to silence it (I stuck in a narrow cutting board for the water to flow down).

Do you have a water heater that keeps the water around 78* F? That could be the cause of lethargy.

[steve]

Here is a list of enticing foods to try: http://www.redearslider.com/entice_eating.html

[res08]

can you take a pic of the turtle and the tank?

since it is in your cubicle I suggest an internal filter for silent operation

[marisa]

Welcome. What is the temp of the water and basking area (s/he needs a UVB light in addition to the heat light you have for him).

Try some food that moves---they like earthworms (cut one up and put the pieces in the water where he can see them). But keep offering the Reptomin Baby.

I don't like them all that much, but for one tiny turtle, you might try a Fluval 2+ filter; it's submersible and very quiet. But he will outgrow it very quickly.

Are you sure you don't want to keep him at home? You wouldn't be as limited in the filter you can use and you could create a much better habitat for your baby...

[Cim*Forever]

When I bought a baby turtle (about the size of a quarter) I brought the little guy home and he was lethargic and had one swollen eye, so I got him eye drops, and just let him be for a little bit (offering food everyday) and about 5 days later he came around and was eating and swimming and basking.

Its possible your guy might just be getting used to his situations. If he has any of the symptoms of respiratory infection(im not sure what all the symptoms are, you can search is on the site though) I would look into taking him to the vet.