Habitat - Indoor :: turtle advice

[animal-lover_14]

It is winter as you all should know and I have had my res 4 about 5 months and I have just got a 10 gal and I did not get a hood and I was woundering if anybody had any advice about keeping doller my turtle warm because the water feels like you are sticking your hand in ice and I allready put water in it but since the water was frezzing so I just put him in myold betta tank.

[cam722]

What is your setup like? Do you have a heater, basking area with uva/uvb lights? Do you have a thermometer so you know what the actual water temp is?

[animal-lover_14]

I have a basking platform and trormeter but no type of lites to keep my baby warm .

[megcornell]

You're going to need to get a water heater, and lights to get your turtle to bask. To keep a turtle healthy he needs a stable water temp of 75-78 F and he needs to be able to bask and get his shell completely dry. With your current tank there's a good chance with winter coming that your turtle will get sick

[Kallistos]

You need to purchase a light that will provide heat, this can be attained by a simple daily light bulb. UVB rays are also required, do a search for reccomendation on how to provide this. The easy fix for the water is a water heater, I reccomend the Stealth heater.

Please provide these two things immediately, if the turtle is in cold water then it may try to hibernate. If the water feels like "ice" then it may be somewhere around 60 degrees or less.

[cam722]

You may wish to do some reading on what the basic care for a turtle is...

http://www.redearslider.com/index_habitat.html

Start there and move from topic to topic with the links at the top of that page.

[animal-lover_14]

I know how to take care of a turtle but I just got the tank and she is warm now because she is in her old tank I just don't have all of the things for the new tank.

[Kallistos]

Is the new tank the 10 gallon tank? If so, then what size is the old tank? The best brands for heaters like I said before is the Visi-Therm Stealth Heaters. For UVB it's really up to you, as long as it provides adequate UVB then you can't go wrong!

[animal-lover_14]

it is 5 gallons and thank you for the advice.

[Kallistos]

Your welcome, I'm curious how large is your little baby? Just a piece of advice, instead of working up in increments of tank size, it'd be a lot cheaper in the long run if you set-up a permanent enclosure. The 10 gallon tank you purchased will last for maybe another 6-8 months before it becomes too small. Try looking into cost-effective rubbermaid tubs if you're on a budget. Keep asking questions, I wish I had when I started my fist enclosure!

[animal-lover_14]

This is not my first enclosure for turtles just for this one I have been involved in animal recovery programs many times before and my turtle is a under n inch.

[megcornell]

so you moved the turtle from a 10 gallon to a 5 gallon tank? I'm just not following the conversation too clearly, sorry.

[animal-lover_14]

yes because the turtles water in the 10 gal was very cold.lol

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Yeah..thats rather odd aint it? Get the water heater and the basking lamp and bulb as soon as possible.Your turtle can get very sick if you dont provide a stable temperature of 78 degrees or 75 if it is an adult.You might wanna get something bigger like resowner said because that 5 gallon isnt even big enough for a one inch turtle...

[animal-lover_14]

it is going to be temperory until like tomarrow