General Care Discussion

Hi all. Just wanted to offer a quick update about Rain the female red eared slider (and possibly hybrid with something else) that I found in the park in February when her owners threw her away there....you all helped me a lot with getting used to her.

Petsmart took back the zoo-med turtle tank kit for a full refund and they are getting back their $80 crappy zoo med turtle filter tomorrow- the manager said he would give a full refund on it. She is currently living in a 40 gallon clear container filled almost to the top with a nice button down screen cover I made for it. This is to bridge us over into her final home, a 100 to 125 gallon tank that will serve as her home for the rest of her life. Her fluvial fx5 canister filter came today, and I got it set up and working after a lot of tinkering. Its HUGE but very quiet...the water is already perfectly clear after running for only 30 min. Its not too much current for her even in this small container...she is very very happy right now. She swims around in there, sleeps on the bottom and plays in the current from the outflow valve.

She is doing well on a diet of blanched zucchini, carrots, sweet potatoes, reptomin sticks, rare cooked whitefish. I cannot get her to eat endive or red or green leaf lettuce...she doesn't like it. she had a little bit of strawberry one day. I'm working to diversify the diet and keep it matching the parameters listed here- i'm definitely keeping it way more vegetables than protein as directed and feeding only every other day.

I saw her poop for the first time the other day...it was horrific. In one instant the water went from crystal clear to something resembling what is in the toilet when a person has diarrhea....but i could see the form of the poop and she ate it up as fast as she could get to it. Now my guinea pigs are poop eaters by the design of their gut- they are supposed to eat their droppings and for some reason seeing them eat their poo is not disturbing...its very neat, just looks like they are eating a little chocolate egg. But the turtle....augh. i hope I never witness that again and I'm glad I've got an overkill filter in there now after witnessing the horror.

I wanted to buy a 70 gallon tank on sale in petsmart with its stand for only $250 when I returned the zoo med kit, but I realized that I cannot budge something that size by myself no matter how determined I am. So now I am looking into options on craigslist for 100 gallon aquariums where the person will bring help and carry it into my house setting it on its stand...I will likely have to pay them a bit extra to do that or order from a local aquarium shop that has a delivery service....but I'm working on it now that I have the fluvial fx5. I was glad to be able to return all the substandard petsmart stuff...so at least I didn't waste any money. I even got a refund on those stupid little rocks the guy told me was safe for turtles and I let the manager know about how those rocks kill turtles.

One of my guinea pigs developed heart failure a couple of weeks ago and he had to stay in the vet ICU for a day until his cardiac medicines started working...he is home fine now....but I saw that they have a little turtle ICU set up at my vet's office too incase Rain ever needs it. I still have not taken her to the vet but she is doing amazingly well with absolutely no health concerns yet (knock on wood). I will still get her a well turtle check soon...i figured since she is so healthy it was more important to get a bigger home and kickass filter first.

In her filter right now I have pre filter media in the top basket over a bag of zeo-carb, biomax and fine filter pad in the middle, then more biomax and water polishing pad on the bottom...i'm still learning about what will work best.

So that's all for now. Just wanted to give an update since you all are the ones who have helped me know what to get her. I will feel content when I finally have her in her large home, settled in for good. But she is so thrilled right now even with this intermediate upgrade, compared to that stupid zoo med thing she was stuck in before

Right now she is sleeping on this rock sculpture thing I got her that sits on the bottom far underwater...she looks almost like she's smiling.

that's great good job! make sure to post pics

Good news on both your turtle and the guinea pig. Post up some pictures!

Great news!

I still remember the first time I saw my son's turtle poop after he was beyond hatchling stage. Wow! I suddenly understood why I needed such a large filter for such a small turtle.

If your turtle explodes with diarrhea, you may be going a little heavy on the veggies, or it might have been the small amount of fruit. However, the diet your Rain is on is better than most humans I know so I absolutely am not going to criticize it in any way. The effort you're putting in here is incredible.

I can't wait to see pictures of the final setup.

Great to hear! I was going to say, Rain eats better than I do! Do canister filters involve additional indoor plumbing, or is it self-contained?

I would simplify the diet so you have a reference point w/the poop. For veggies, try using a veggie clip, add some freshwater aquatic plants or try the jell-o recipe. Very glad to hear they took back the Zoo Med stuff.

Hey all. I am THRILLED with the fluval fx5 canister filter. quiet and her water is clean, sparkling and impeccable which will make a big difference in her health over the course of her life. Ataraxiamb, it is self contained...a circle of flowing water from the aquarium to the canister filter and back out to the aquarium. I got it for around $250 on Amazon, but buy from an established seller. My first try at buying it the person took my money and ran so I had to use Amazon's help to get a refund and reorder. I use a simple inexpensive bulb pump priming aquarium vacuum tube to drain the 'tank' once a month (using gravity..it drains to the floor of my shower around the corner from her tank...you just prime the vacuum and then let it trickle over about an hour until its drained. Then I use a longer fluval 4 foot hose to fill the tank from my kitchen tap...plan on doing the deep cleaning once a month or so).

Apondfortimmy, her poop that I witnessed was solid in form, so I wouldn't exactly call it diarrhea, but stuff was floating around it. *shiver* I don't want to remember. I will keep an eye on it and ask the vet when she goes. I am ready to try the jello shot idea...Steve, you read my mind...that's why I came to post today, to ask if people see any drawbacks to doing it. I would like to get her eating some red leaf lettuce, endive, dandelion greens and kale in the shots...also some crushed up calcium. Is the unflavored jello safe for them as a regular part of diet?

Here are some pix. I wanted to wait until I got her a proper aqurium, this is just a goofy container still not large enough-a medium bridge to her permanent home, it is still not ideal in size but she is more comfortable in it than that tiny zoo med thing.

I got some screen scraps from my local hardware store for free, used a sharp box cutting type knife to score out the internal square of the lid, and attached buttons with wire through some poked holes to make a button on/button off screen cover (she's a good climber, gotta keep her from falling)...you can see my guinea pig city off to the right, they are also transitioning homes into a tower structure I am building with huge industrial shelves and chicken mesh wire...coming soon:

I got a little bracket shelf at the hardware store to suspend her light...a simple blue daylight colored bulb and the 26w reptiglo 5 i think its called?...:

Look how clean the water is, WITH in-tank feedings sometimes (she is still getting socialized, gets nervous when fed outside):

Taken through the clear container wall:

Took a pic of Roxie too. She is my neighbor's dog, kind of neglected because the lady has a brain injury and never walks her. I have been walking her with my dog for a year, and now that he passed away I still walk her and have her over for company sometimes. We watch dog whisperer together. I REALLY miss my dog.

so questions I need help with:
1.) any drawback to the jello shots?
2.) I want to get Rain a multicolor LED bubble ring for her final large home...they are beautiful...is that ok for her? any danger if I bury it under large quartz crystals?

here it is: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=23969

Thanks for all the help and encouragement everyone.

I lived closer to you, I would come shake your hand.

She's so cute! And the dog is also adorable. Glad you're at least able to get some canine company. I admire your handy work on the temporary tank.

Thanks for the answer about the filter. I'm probably going to upgrade Bill to either a 40 gallon or a 75 gallon in December, and I was hoping the filter didn't need any plumbing, considering I live in an apartment.

The one problem I see about the LED bubble ring under the crystals is that it might crack, and you don't want pieces of glass floating around in your tank.

Hey are you the one that has the YouTube account? I love watching your unboxing videos!!

General Care Discussion :: Update on Rain the Turtle (Rainforest Jasper), doing great!

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