General Care Discussion :: New turtle not moving much?

[paulcbz]

Hi i'm new to the forum and I have an urgent question to ask!

So I got a new 7 month old male 3-striped mud five days ago, and he hasn't really moved much since I got him. He's either in my sloped beach like side of my tank, or he's chilling in my fake plants near the surface. He also ignores the food I put inside, maybe he's just adjusting? But him not moving much is worrying me.

It's a 55g tank that has housed a painted turtle in the past, only about 8" of water but has tons of places for him to climb, plants, driftwood, etc. water temps are around 78-80 degrees, and basking area is around 88-90. I think it may be my filter output as it's actually pretty strong but only on the surface, I have a rena xp3 that I got secondhand and apparently the person before me rigged the motor a little so the output is pretty high. The 6 black skirt tetra in the tank don't mind the current as it's just the surface. Could it be the current that's keeping my turtle from exploring? Or is he still adjusting?

I have plans to introduce a female 3-stripe mud this Saturday around the same age as my male, I was planning on this before I even got the first little guy so it has nothing to do with him not settling in well. do you think adding her would do more harm than good? Or will it not matter much.

Any help is greatly appreciated! I'm getting pretty worried.

[steve]

Since he's pretty young, it's important that he eats consistently. I'd try different things, like live prey (minnow, crickets, meal worms, etc). Make sure he gets privacy and that his water is not cold. How is the filter rigged? The only thing I could think of is that the pump was changed with one with more power. You can leave the filter off for a awhile, though it shouldn't be a real issue in a full 55 gallon.

I would hold off keeping them together in the same tank, that would almost certainly make things more stressful.

[paulcbz]

Here's a pic of my setup.
http://imgur.com/0NzYOFp

The right plastic plants, and the slope to the left are usually where he's chilling.

I'll definitely hold off on getting that female then. I moved my filter output so it's against the glass, it's helped with reducing the current. Do you think my water level is too high? I lowered it to about 7" at its deepest can't really get any lower because my rena's input can't go any lower..

I had a basking spot, but I was told by someone that there isn't really any need for it. I still have the mvb over to the left.

[devilduck]

Sounds like you have everything in order. It maybe just an adjustment phase but I'm not too familiar with muds.

Is that all sand on the beach side of the tank? I'd be concerned that the weight of all that sand and water on one side of the tank.

[steve]

It's a very nice setup. Any luck with eating yet?