Habitat - Indoor :: I need some help with my habitat.

[Dormant]

I have one baby red eared slider...I don't know it's exact age but it's young and probably a little bit bigger than a Silver Dollar. It seems to be eating fine...occasionally it eats off the arachnis plants that I have in my 20gallon tank, and it also eats turtle pellets that I bought at the pet store. All in all, it looks healthy according to basically every turtle article I've read, but I want him to stay healthy for a good and long time.

When can I start to feed my turtle live food and when would it be most healthy for him? I hear smaller turtles are more carnivorous and grow to be more omnivorous.

When should I invest in a water heater? It's cold in Connecticut, but the tank is close to my heat vents and my turtle also has a UVA light as well as a UVB light.

Also, how soon should I invest in a filter?

One last question: How deep should the water be? He's a good swimmer, definitely shown improvement since I got him last week...I'd say the water is about four-five inches deep right now, and he has two surfaces he can climb onto/bask on.

Thanks for the help, might update thread later with more questions.

[powerofvoodoo]

Turtles don't need live food, and I personally have chosen never to feed my turtle meat. If you do choose to feed it live food, rosy red minnows are the best, as long as they don't have parasites. Even then though, it should only be given to your turtle as a treat. The pellets will give your turtle the protein that it needs, and too much protein can cause pyramiding.
Since you're in CT, I'm willing to bet that if it hasn't snowed yet, it will snow soon, so you need to get a water heater ASAP. The heat vents and light bulbs are not a stable heat source for the water and it needs to be ~80 degrees depending on the size of your turtle.
Invest in a filter as soon as you can, but I don't think that it is as important as a heater right now. Because your turtle is still small and you have a 20 gallon, the water should be pretty clean right now, but they are VERY messy and you'll need to do partial water changes pretty often. In my 20gallon long, I use an AquaClear 70, which works really well, but you could also use an AquaClear 50 (I bought mine thinking I was going to get a 30 gallon tank but that didn't work out)
I would make the water as deep as possible in your tank with plants that he can rest in when he gets tired, as well as his basking area(s?).

[Dormant]

I should mention this is my first turtle ever...I'm completely new at this, but I'm willing to put forth any effort into giving this turtle a great and long life.

I'm going to run out and get a heater ASAP. Looks like I'll be working Thanksgiving for the double time and a half.

I figure I should get a filter while I'm out, too. I have no problem cleaning the tank, but I don't have much time during the week to clean the tank out...I have my weekends, so I want the tank to be as clean as possible.

Are you sure the water level can be raised? I'd love to raise it for him, he loves swimming, but I'm afraid that it might be too much because a few others have warned me against raising it to high for him.

I think I'll tank a snapshot of the tank in a little bit to show you all what I'm working with and you can give me a better analysis of what I need to do for him.

[powerofvoodoo]

Again, as long as you get plants and stuff that he can "rest" in, he'll be fine. Remember, these are aquatic turtles that normally live in ponds. If they can live in ponds, they'll be fine in a tank.
I'm glad you're investing in a heater and filter so soon! =)

[Dormant]

I have some Anacharis plants in the tank, he loves to much on them.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/ ... 0_1122.jpg

That's a pretty good pic of my tank that I have set up for him...how is it?

[Sgt. Pepper]

I think you could definitely raise the water level and he'd be fine. My turtle is less than 2 inches long and he's in a 50 gallon tank and he loves it. He has his basking platform and anacharis plants to rest on.

You also might want to think about taking those rocks out. It'll help a lot with keeping the tank clean until you get a filter. Rocks trap an enormous amount of waste! And then once he gets bigger if any of them are smaller than his head he could try to eat them.

[Dormant]

Ok, I'll think I'll remove the rocks when I clean the tank tomorrow, and then I'll see if the water level needs to be raised because he could possibly be good to go if I just remove the rocks because they take up a good one and a half inches in the tank.

[Bumby's Mom]

I wouldn't raise it all the way at first. Raise it halfway and give him a few days with it then raise it all the way. Make sure to get a filter that is for twice the size of the tank. He will be fine in the water just give him some fake plants to rest on. I have plastic plant that have suction cups on the end and I suction them so they are a little in the water and a little out of the water and the babies just love them.

[Dormant]

okay, my girlfriend and I went out and bought a filter and a water heater today. I put some anacharis around the heater so it's partially hidden from view.

I hope this past week hasn't been too stressful on him...we're now considering a bigger tank for him because with the filter/heater/basking rocks he seems like he might be cramped, but I think he'll be fine because of how small he is right now.