Feeding and Nutrition :: Feeding my RES

[LMJC]

Hello! A couple weeks ago I adopted two, and it was recommended that I to feed them outside of their tank to help keep the water cleaner and to "get them used to being handled" However, them seem very nervous and will not eat unless I feed them in the tank. Any suggestions?

[blackforces get you]

hello and welcome. if they get nervous, wait a while to feed them. give them a couple hours and then feed them. and by few hours maybe about an hour and a half to settle in. if you do it as a routine, theyll get in the habit and be comfortable

[steve]

How big are the RES you have? How big is their tank?

[TurtleKeeper48]

Just to be clear – you are trying to feed them outside the tank, but in another tank… right? You know they can’t eat on dry land under any circumstances, right?

[LMJC]

Thanks for the responses...the tank is 20L, and they are about 4 inches from head to tail ...I did not know that they cannot eat on dry land, the customer service rep gave me some false info...thanks again, maybe I should just feed them in the tank and clean it more often...

[Kemul]

You can feed them in a container. Get some water from the tank and put it into the container. That way, you do some water change too while keeping the tank's water cleaner. The problem is that the turtles need to get accustomed to this feeding style.

[LMJC]

I think I will just continue to feed them in their tank. They are comfortable this way, I don't want to stress them out! Also, is it ok if the water gets a little cloudy? Should I be changing the water constantly so it is always crystal clear? My filter doesn't seem to be doing its job...

[SSMcLeod]

It depends - what all do you have in there? Somethings you can add as a decoration can make it cloudy. Also if you have water moving over the substrate stirring up all that settles (be it the sand itself, or things to heavy to get moved by the filter).

[LMJC]

I don't have any substrate in the tank. There is a plastic plant for decoration, and they like to climb in the plant...

[vear]

Is your tank new? It could just be cycling. What filter do you have? You need a lot more filtration for turtles than you do for fish. Also, when you say your tank is 20L I assume you mean 20 long, so 20 gallons, right? not 20 liters I hope. Your water shouldn't be cloudy unless it's either A cycling or B your filter is not good enough for your size tank and turtle.

[LMJC]

The tank is new, yes about 20 liters of water is in it, half way full... I bought it at a store that specializes in aquariums and products for fish and reptiles. It was a kit, it came together with lamps and lights, a filter and a basking platform. Is my tank too small for my turtles? The sales rep recommended it...I assumed he knew what he was talking about. I also assumed the filter was good enough because it came with the tank.

[Kemul]

Well, the tank is too small even for one turtle. Going by the recommended tank size in this site, a turtle needs 10 gallons of water per inch of Straight Carapace Length (SCL) or 15 liters of water per centimeter of SCL.

Your tank is cloudy perhaps because the amount of water is too little to accomodate two turtles and the filter is not good enough to filter the wastes of those turtles.

Based on what I read, most pet stores don't know how to properly house turtles. I find the information in this site accurate, so I try to follow it.

If you can, upgrade the tank.

[vear]

20L is really really tiny. I have a 20L tank with 1 betta fish in it! Have you gotten a chance to read through the main site? redearslider.com Please read it, you will learn more than you ever wanted to know about RES. My tank is about 285 liters and I house 1 single male in there. Females need about 470 liters! Your water will never stay clean in such a small tank, plus your little ones will soon get really big and won't even fit in that tank.

I would start saving up for an upgrade, you will need one sooner than you realize. Glass tanks tend to be a lot more expensive than plastic stock tanks, you can look into getting a stock tank. You will also need a large filter - that will set you back a little more. My filter cost more than my tank.

Read through the site

Oh and by the way, most pet store employees have no clue what they're talking about Sorry.

[LMJC]

Yeah I have been reading through the site, and it looks like I made some mistakes...Your right, the employee had no idea what he was talking about, he even sold me gravel, which I had to take out after what I read, and observed...too bad I spent $200 on the kit. I adopted them because the previous owner had them in a tank less then HALF the size I have now, and I felt sorry for them and have always wanted turtles. He didn't even have a filter just one basking platform that they had to share (and that was really small too) I have a very small apartment, but I'm moving things around and building more shelves so that I can fit the turtles into my space Thanks a lot for your advice, I am saving up for a bigger tank and filter...I realize now I should have done more research, but knowing what I know now, I can do what I need to. Thanks again!

[vear]

Hey, it's great that you adopted them, sounds like you want to give them a good life Most people make A LOT of mistakes at first, mostly b/c we tend to trust the pet stores. But anyway, I live in a really small apartment actually. My living room and dining room are just one long room. My tank is smack in the middle of everything - it divides dining room table from the living room =) If you move some stuff like you say you're doing you can always squeeze a tank somewhere up against the wall.

About your kit, maybe you can try selling it on craigslist as a fish tank. It has a small filter right? You may be able to get a little bit of money for it.