Urgent Care :: New RES owner.. questions

[dubbzie2]

I have two Red Eared Sliders that are both babies and I have some questions that I couldn't find the answers to in my research. First off, I have had these two for three days and they've been in a 20 gallon tank for the last 2 days. One of them loves basking, he is always on the basking dock taking a nap. The other seems to swim all day and only comes up to poke her head out. She also seems to have difficulty climbing the dock although I have seen her on it twice before. I got a new dock today because I figured that they may want separate docks, but she still only comes up to stick her head out then continues swimming around. The new dock is easy to climb. There are some little plastic plants in the tank on which she climbs onto the leaves. She slept on the leaf last night and napped on it today. I know that they won't drown unless they can't get their head up to the top, but she is always swimming. I am also worried that she is not basking enough.
Next, the water has become very murky upon the addition of the new basking dock which is a half log type thing. I also added some rosy red minnows I believe because I was reading about the need for live food as a means of nutrients as well as exercise in hunting. I do not know what is causing the murkiness/cloudiness of the water because the filter is good for a 20 gallon tank. Also, the tank has only been in use for about 2 days so the water is clean. There is gravel at the bottom which has been cleaned as well.
FInally, the two RES's seem to get along well with each other. I have seen them swimming with each other and floating over each other. The other night they fell asleep right next to each other and one of them had her claws on the others' shell. However, i see them biting at each other now and then, but it is only a bite then they swim away. I am wondering if they are just doing this because they are hatchlings and don't know what everything in the tank is or if they are doing it as an act of aggression.
Please comment back, any feedback will be greatly appreciated!

[dubbzie2]

Also, my girl Res, Tori, who spends pretty much the whole day in the water, also sleeps in the water. On the first night i put her on the dock because it seemed like she had trouble climbing it and I woke up and she was sleeping on a plastic leaf. tonight she was laying on the dock next to the other RES, TJ, and he is now in the middle and she is on a leaf again. She is on the leaf completely submerged with just a little bit of her face (maybe nose or top of mouth) sticking out. Is this okay? They don't seem to be fighting so I don't think it is aggression thats driving her off the basking dock. Regardless, there is another basking area in the tank that she can sleep on. Is the water maybe too warm and she doesn't want to leave? Or the air too cold? Also, she is bigger than TJ so maybe the water is cold for him and not for her?

[Feliaretta]

I'm not an expert but I'll give you my opinions. If you've only had them 3 days, don't worry about how much they're basking right now. Give them AT LEAST a week to get used to their new home before you start worrying about that.

The cloudiness could come from the new basking dock if it was dirty or had tannin in it, or it could be that your tank is cycling. Google that if you don't know what it means.

It is generally a bad idea to have gravel in the bottom of the tank, if there are pieces small enough for them to eat it could cause a bowel obstruction which would be a serious problem. Most people have bare bottom tanks or use gravel or large river rocks. I use sand, Mostly because I like the way it looks and it's easy to clean.

I don't know about the biting, if they are babies I would think they were too young for aggression. They might be hungry or just getting used to things in the tank like you said. If they aren't hurting each other I'd keep an eye on them and see if the biting stops. If they are hurting each other they should be separated.

A lot of times they prefer sleeping in the water, as far as I know most of them prefer sleeping in the water. Mine do. Personally I think it's more strange that the other one sleeps out of the water.

How big are they and how do you know their genders? You usually can't tell the gender until they are at least several months old as far as I know.

[dubbzie2]

both tiny id say 1" and 1.5". and the gender is just what we believe lol

[Feliaretta]

Ok lol then be prepared to find out that you might be wrong about the genders.

[valladin82]

My RES is only 2" and I -THINK- I'm starting to see the male attributes developing. Its tail is pretty long compared to my smaller yellow belly and so are its claws, still no solid proof yet though. When I got mine as hatchlings I also had a bunch of fake plants and stuff in the tank and for a while they just hid. I got a buddy that has had turtles all his life and he said thats normal because in the wild when have you ever seen hatchling turtles out in the open basking? They spend most of their time hiding in plants at the surface. I had a lot of problems with murky water at first too and it was because I was feeding them pellets and food in their tank and the filter couldn't keep up with everything at once. So i started to feed them in separate containers outside of the tank, personally i like this more because I get to interact with them and examine them to make sure they are ok.

I'm no expert but I've definitely learned a ton from people on this site, far as I can tell the researching and discovery never ends with these guys. An unusual thing I noticed mine doing to each other was not attacking or biting, but "grooming". The RES was shedding some skin and I witnessed the yellow belly actually picking off the dead skin. O_O I tried to look this up and found nothing. So something new that mine do apparently. I wouldn't worry too much about them not basking, give them some time. Maybe try having a TV or some music running in the room they're in so they get used to some noise. I left music on for mine and now I can walk past w/out them diving in the water..if its tied who knows. Makes me feel better though. LOL

[steve]

Hi, welcome to the site.

Water needs to be consistently maintained at 80F (you need to have a submersible water heater to do this).

Can you post a picture of the basking area?

Does it have a heat lamp over it? It needs to be warmed to about 90F during daylight hours. A UVB lamp over the basking light is required during this time too.

Have they been eating?

Aggression can certainly lead to less basking. Most hatchlings are not very aggressive towards each other but it does happen.