General Care Discussion

Biscuit the res and I have been together for about 2 months. I am a total noob when it comes to turtle care, but then I found this site! Lol. I have a 55 gal tank set up with about 20 gals of water cause I needed to keep the water level low to keep the basking area 8-9 inches from the source. Biscuit doesn't seem to mind, he still swims and pushes a marble around at the bottom, (I know marbles are not supposed to be used, but this one is the size of a golf ball and I check it daily for damage) if I took that marble away, I dont know what he would do.... anyway I digress. I don't know if I am over feeding him. His shell is bumpy, but not overlapping. He eats 10 pellets a day, kale once a week and 6 comets weekly, til recently when he would rather have them as pets... Am I doing this right?

Here he is begging.

He looks good from the pic, but I would need to see the carapace (top shell) to get a better idea. I'm not sure what you mean about the basking area, but he would probably like more water. I'd ditch the gravel as he will eat it and it might cause impaction. It'll also trap waste and foul up the water quicker.

I completely agree with Steve. Get rid of the gravel and add more water. You can leave the tank bottom bare or add sand or big rocks. Can you take a picture from further back so we can see the lights and dock?

Can't get rid of gravel, yet til I can find him something else to play with, the marble he loves is glass and without gravel it wakes every one up and makes me think that the tanks going to crack as he pushes it a round

Was keeping the water level low cause the basking light is right on the screen, did not want less than 8 inches from light to dock.

Here's a dry pic of him

Sorry for multiple posts like this, but my internet connecyion wont let me post more than one pick at a time. He is about 5.5 inches long but how old does that make him?

You can buy or built a stand for the heat light. And add more water. Your turtle might already be eating the gravel. I would get rid of it asap. Other than that your turtle looks happy!

I'd go with a stand as well. Are those fluorescent lights UVB? You can also use a lower wattage bulb to bring it a little closer to the basking area.

I'm no expert, but I would will fill the tank to 3/4 full and lose the little pebbles. Here is my set up, using large rocks, shells and fake water plants.

Tried to upload image but was too large... Here he is on youtube. 2-3 yrs old.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZV1misskpM

It's not like he is gonna be able to jump out... lol
Give him more room to swim about.

The flourescent is the tank light, not basking. I am torn, he likes the stand up on the bottom like in that first pic, so I don't want to take that away from him. I understand what you are saying about him eating the gravel although I have not seen him do anything with it except push his marble around in it. Can't afford a special stand for the basking light so it just sits on top of the screen which only covers half the tank. Also, I have to think of my cats, who like to try to climb on top. With only half a screen, if I fill it 3/4 full would they be able to get out if they fell in? On a really tight budget....

Making a gradual change to the tank, don't want to stress him out, took out about 6 lbs of gravel. Question though. Does it have to be pet store rock? Can I get tumbled planter rocks?

Do you have a uvb light? Not sure but I assume by basking light you mean heat? You can use any kind of rocks you want.Keep in mind gravel will trap a lot of stuff and is real hard to clean. You can buy play sand real cheap at home depot,menards etc.Here is the link on how to use sand. As for the screen you can use wire shelving to make a real nice cover for the whole tank. Link for that also.

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General Care Discussion :: Am I doing this right? or overfeeding my turtle...

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