Habitat - Indoor :: Got it set up, anything I'm missing?

[xstefanx]

He's here! Little Donnie got here this morning, I camped out in the living room last night so I would be sure hear the door when the UPS guy got here. Brought him in cut open the box and was actually shocked that he was still this small. I'll have to ask Marc when he was born but I want to say it was like early April or something. I would say probably under 2". Couldn't find my memory card for my camera until just now so I'll get pictures up ASAP.

He's been swimming up and down against the glass a lot, I through in some food for him and he's thus far ignored it, when I walk away from the tank and leave him alone for a while he's been climbing up on the dock and drying off and stretching his neck out and just looking around. So cute.

[untsmurf]

Yay! Congrats on the new arrival. I can't wait for the pics. Don't be worried if your turt doesn't eat for a while. It usually takes time for them to settle in before they feel comfortable enough to eat. Just be sure to net out any uneaten food.

[xstefanx]

Alright, took a nap, couldn't sleep while waiting on the UPS guy =D Here they are.
















Was only able to get a few good ones because he's been swimming like crazy and I can't keep up with him. Mainly up and down against the glass looking for a way out. Also he really has take to hiding behind that intake tubing. I'll have to try and get out and get him something else to hold on to under the water. When I first put him in I put him on the dock where he stayed long enough for me to turn around and look for the food and was gone when I looked back =D

Only reason I even got any shots of him up on the dock was because I took a nap, and apparently so did he. He'd gotten up there a few times before but would dive off if he saw me coming. Once he woke up enough and I wondered off he braved up and dove off to get back to his hiding place. Where he's been sitting for the past 20 minutes or so.

When I first put him in and he dove off he was having some trouble with swimming against the current of the filter. If you look at my pictures I still have it at the top of the tank because I can't figure out how to attach tubing to lower it down. I asked chris on his sand thread since that's where I saw the idea but haven't heard back yet. Anyway, he's so small that my XP4 can just push him around a lot, I move the out take so it was more at the wall for now and he was doing better, any advice on getting it towards the bottom would be helpful though.

edit: noticed I missed a few pictures, added them in

[xstefanx]

Still not able to get him to eat, I've tried three times now dropping pellets in near him and he just darts off. I leave him alone for a while to see if he'll eat while I'm gone and I come back to soggy pellets and him off playing some where else....

I might try some tuna here in a little while. give him a few small pieces and soak the pellts in the water and see if that gets him to eat.

[untsmurf]

Well, it's definitely not a plain RES. It looks like maybe a cumberland slider. The care is the same, but just fyi. He's really cool looking!

I had the same problem with setting up my xp3. I followed the directions and couldn't get the intake as low as I wanted it. I sort of rigged my own setup, similar to Chris's, using some tubing and pvc pipe. I can take pics for you this weekend if you like.

[xstefanx]

Oh he's a rio grande res forgot to mention that.

Pics would be great. He hasn't learned where it is yet I guess so he keeps swimming into the out take flow which which launches him across the tank.

Tuna was a no go either. At what point should I be worrying about him not eating

[Kemul]

Very nice looking turtle!

Well, keep trying the pellets. It's worrying if it doesn't eat anything for two weeks.
When my turtle was sick from respiratory infection, it didn't eat for a month.
It's really amazing how turtle has the energy to survive in that condition. Your
turtle looks very healthy, so no need to worry too much yet.

[jozzep]

Oh he's a rio grande res forgot to mention that.

Pics would be great. He hasn't learned where it is yet I guess so he keeps swimming into the out take flow which which launches him across the tank.

Tuna was a no go either. At what point should I be worrying about him not eating

Yup, rio grande.He looks great.Give him a few weeks.Turtles are always stressed when they get to a new home, especially after being shipped cross country.

[xstefanx]

Well last night I snuck up on him and was able to watch him from the under side of the tank without him noticing me for about 10 minutes. Was the first time I'd seem him biting at anything. Swam over to the bubble curtain and took about three big bites at the plastic clip holding it to the suction cup, not even sure he made a scratch on the thing. So he swam off for a while then landed down on one of th new fake plants, seemed to smell it and then took two bites at it and realized I was laughing at him =D Again I don't think he even managed to scratch the plant. He's cute when he's biting though, pulling his head pack slowly while opening his mouth then lunging at what he's going to bite. Pretty funny. Still not eating, I tried taking him out and putting him in a small rubber maid container with some water pellets tuna and zucchini but he just curled up in his shell and gave me the stink eye so I put him back in his tank where he swam for the next hour.

[Kemul]

Oh, some turtles won't eat if a person is watching them. You may want to try
putting your turtle in a small container with the food and put the container in a
secluded area. Avoid watching directly for some time. You know if the turtle eats
by looking for missing food pieces.

I still have to do this for my turtle Ramen. Heine doesn't care if anyone is watching
while it's eating.

[xstefanx]

Yeah I've tried this twice now. Yesterday and tonight. No go and as soon as he's back in his tank he swims frantically away and into walls and such. I'm going to they and put him in another container everyday and see if he'll eat that way. The tuna can be messy in the tank

[marisa]

You've got a cutie there. Try to find Reptomin Baby (smaller and a bit more calcium than the regular pellets) for him. Petsmart should sell it.

[xstefanx]

Thanks, I'll look into that, I was curious if maybe the pellets were too large, when they are dry they seem small enough but they swell up in the water.

[xstefanx]

Well he's kind of eating. I left some pellets in there longer then I intended to and they sank to the bottom and I was being lazy about netting it out. He was swimming around a lot so I went over to watch him and he sank to the bottom to watch me =D After a few minutes he walked over to a pellet and started to eat it. At least he's eating, now only if he'd eat them fresh

Also basked a lot today, looks cute while he's doing that, he's always on guard at the moment, still scared. But because of this he stretches his neck out as far as he can to make sure he's paying attention to whats going on so that if there is much movement he can dive back in quickly.

[xstefanx]

I had the same problem with setting up my xp3. I followed the directions and couldn't get the intake as low as I wanted it. I sort of rigged my own setup, similar to Chris's, using some tubing and pvc pipe. I can take pics for you this weekend if you like.

Were you able to get these taken? no worries if not, as long as I keep the water level a bit higher it looks like it's cutting the flow off a bit, but if I can figure out a way to get the output lower that would be good.