Habitat - Indoor :: tank dilemma: paraplegic turtle

[pall willeaux]

If you have been following my story, you know that I have Cooper, a rescued hatchling about 1.5" long. He has a new friend, a turtle that is just shy of 2" whose back legs don't work.

They get along together fine but the paraplegic turtle (haven't named him yet) has problems swimming to the top of the water to get air. We have a tank that measures approximately 36"x24"x18" and we put about 3cm of clean sand in the bottom with a couple of rocks that came from their creek. We filled the water to about 4" from the top of the tank last night and place both turtles on their floating basking platform.

They both slid off and swam/played, but while Cooper could make it to the top of the water, the other turtle had trouble and couldn't seem to get more than a couple inches from the bottom. As a temporary solution to keep him from drowning, we drained the water level just to the point he can turn himself over completely and built up the sand gradually to the rocks in the corner. there is about 1 inch of water over that area and he can easily get up and down to breathe.

Cooper seems unaffected for now but we know he would probably like more room to swim based on what we saw when his tank was full last night.

Is it going to be possible to keep both turtles together? They enjoy each others company so much I'd hate to break them up. I was thinking about a tank with a simulated river bed effect where the sand has a steep-ish incline and the basking area would be dry but they can easily slide to deeper water and back out.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[TartarugaVerde]

i really like your story... and your willingness to help the turtle...

i'm a newbie too, so i would not be able to help you much... i'm have tons of questions myself too....

turtles like to swim, so i think your idea is ideal to the application, you create 2habitats in one... and the turtles can choose... or you could make a ramp from the bottom up so the turtle could use their front legs to move up... i dunno just a suggestion... i hope the pros jump in and help you out!

keep up!!!

[papoopeepoo]

If I did my math correctly, your tank is just under 70 gallons. In the long run this will be big enough for a single male turtle. For the time being if you want to make this tank useable for both turtles, go right ahead.

As you watch to see what the disabled turtle can and cannot do, accommodate as best you can. A slope of stones may help, or even level steps leading up to the surface. If the steps are separated enough, you may be able to save some swimming room for the more capable turtle.

The most important thing is to make sure each turtle is getting an equal amount of food during feeding time. Feeding them in separate containers can help your filter, and minimize fighting.

[blulite]

try building him platforms at various stages to aid him to rest a little on his way to the top.

also call him limpet..beint that a limpet is actually a shelfish of some sort that sticks to rokcs and that he has a limp (well sort of) and will probably spend a lot of time on rocks seeing as he cant use his back legs.

poor guy. give him a prawn from me.

[theartbook35]

They have not been raised together, so, I really wouldn't keep them together. I got lucky with mine, Typhoon used to just hate deep water and Hurricane loves it, and Typhoon learned to get over having a deep water level. The disabled turtle can't get over it though.

Personally, I'd get a new set up that the disabled turtle can have to itself. It will be safer too, because if they decide they don't like each other, the turtle who can swim well may see the non-functioning legs as a weakness, and may attack, as do most animals in nature. I do firmly believe turtles have the potential to get attached to each other, but I have no doubt in my mind that they do not have the kinds of "friendship/partnership" values that humans have. Cooper may simply never give a crap about the fact that his/her tank mate can't use it's back legs.

The other option is, watch how much water the disabled turtle can tolerate. After a while, as it gets stronger, raise the water level a little bit, and wait until it gets strong enough to tolerate that too. Then keep on going with it. I would provide several plants that are sturdy with good gripping areas, because turtles do like to climb, and hopefully that will increase the strength in the front legs. Someone else on the site has a turtle with back legs that for a while did not work, and I vaguely remember but I think she had him in deeper water for a while. You could also angle some driftwood branches throughout the tank, for resting spots. It would certainly look cool, while serving it's purpose.

As far as names go, how about the Greek name "Elpida"? It means "Hope".

[blulite]

i know this sounds a bit silly, but what if you got him drunk?????

if peeps end up legless when theyre drunk, maybe it could work the other way round for limpet.

he might get legged...

sorry not trying to affend just thinking out typing..

[marisa]

I'm sorry, I have no idea of what is meant by the above post...

As for keeping them together, you may be able to do so now, but at some point in the future, the disabled on is most likely going to need his own set-up to acommodate his special needs. For now, it's important that he have easy access to basking and places to rest if he gets tired. It sounds like you're doing a pretty good job of this already.

If you feed them together, make sure he is able to get an equal amount of food. If not, then you may want to remove the other one temporarily from the tank and feed the disabled one first.