Habitat - Indoor :: Water level

[kingchris626]

Hello,

First time post. I just adopted two Red Ear Sliders. They were living in a small platic tank. The original owner said they are less than a year old. They are about 2.5" in length. I just purchased a 20 gallon aquarium for them. I want to be sure that they don't drown. I put them in the water and the seem to be scrambling to get to the surface of the water. I only have about double their length of a water level. I have to have it that high in order for the filter to pump, otherwise I'd have to buy a different filter. I'm doing everything I can to take good care of them. I have all the lighting necessary and have been doing plenty of research.

Thanks

[Love of Animals]

They should be fine. They'll get used to swimming real fast. Raise the water slowly everyday until you get it as high as possible. Two Res can reach a shell length of 10-12 inches each so start saving now for a huge tank and a great filtration system. We usually recommend 10 gallons of water for each inch of shell. That is to keep the water good quality. Turtles put a huge bio load on a tank. Filter should be rated for 3 times the amount of water. Filter ratings on the box are for fish not turtles. Do you have a UVB light and a heat light for basking and a proper basking area? Turtles need to dry off completely daily. A water heater is recommended to keep the water a stable temp. Read through all the old posts and the basic care sheets. There's a lot to learn. That's where I started. And WELCOME!!

[Moose]

Love of Animals said it all! ESPECIALLY just starting added more and more water each day, when I first got my turtles I was worried about them drowning, but as soon as I went on vaca my roommate filled the tank up and they LOVE TO SWIM!!! Just when you decorate make sure there aren't any small places for them to wedge and get stuck in. If you have a turtle dock, I personally would recommend taking off the bottom suction cups and just keeping the top, for some reason almost every turtle on this forum loves wedging and hanging on the bottom bar of the dock lol GOOD LUCK!!!

[richieboy]

Yup thanks to Love for really showin' me the ropes!

[Love of Animals]

Awe thanks Richie

[turtlesrmom]

Krush is a Rescue Turtle and I had to start from scratch learning about him. I had a tiny little turtle as a kid but Krush is about the size of a dessert plate. I read all the recommendations and have begun setting up his environment and tweaking it where necessary. (takes more effort than I expected) I filled the tank to capacity (55 gal) and put the little dude in and he swam around in a frenzy. I thought he was drowning. I took him out and cuddled him until his breathing returned to normal! I let him stay in his old, smaller tank overnight then tried him in the big one today and he seemed much happier and less anxious. Maybe the frantic swimming was just him getting used to a new environment? He hasn't seemed interested in food yesterday or today but I think that might be due to the new surroundings. Anyway, I'd appreciate any comments on his care because I have a slow internet connection and can't read every post or I'd be here all day!

[Moose]

yes ma'am it is typical for turtles not to be too interested in their food for awhile bcuz their environment is still new to them. Don't worry though, they will come around, just keep a good watch

[richieboy]

Him swimming frantically was probably him loving the water. I dunno but I think sometimes when I see my turtle darting around that means she's happy.

[kingchris626]

I do have a UVB bulb and a day blue bulb. How much light do I give them? Can I give too much? My RES's are loving their tank more and more. I can see them swimming much better and they've learned their habitat pretty well. They are still pretty scared of my presence though. I sometimes feel as if I don't feed them enough. I give them enough to eat within 5 minutes. But they seem very hungry when they eat. I feed them every night. I do have a water heater to control the temperature. I'm excited about ugrading a big tank in the future.

[turtlesrmom]

I'm having cloudy water troubles but I see that is addressed in another topic in the forum so I'll go there.

I just wanted to say thank you to all for the reassuring words on Krush's behavior. Still trying to set up a ramp to the homemade basking area that allows him to access the ramp without escaping. (he almost did last night)

To answer kingchris626, I have read that an amount of turtle food equal to the size of the turtle's head is enough for the day. With that he can have unlimited suitable vegetation. I also read that their diet should consist of 75% vegetable matter and I should only give protein matter (crickets, minnows, salmon) once per week. As for lighting, I have a 13W Repti Glo 5.0 UVB set on a timer to go off and on every 12 hours. This is what I was told to use at the Pet Shop where I bought his supplies.