(Part 3) Top products from r/turtle

That is a red eared slider. It is quite possibly the most popular pet turtle species. These turtles are popular because they're prolific and they look like little turtles, unfortunately in a few years that little turtle will have grown exponentially. Most of the time it's a parent who bought the turtle for a kid, kid loses interest, parent doesn't know what to do...

Do not release the turt. It would die in Toronto and even if it did not, environmentally if anyone releases a non indigenous species into the wild, although it sounds harmless enough there are large implications when it comes to OTHER reptile populations. This little turt could mate and create a bunch of other turts that eat up food sources etc...

1. Keep the turt as best you can
   
2. Find a home for the turt via craigslist or a rescue
   
   1A.
   
   A 10 gallon tank would be a great starter tank for a RES this size. 10 gallon tanks usually run about $10 at petsmart or petco so there is probably a similar cost up there
   
   1.B
   
   You will need two lights to run during the day:
   1 UVB fixture with a bulb
   
   and 1 heat lamp. Some people splurge and purchase heat lamp bulbs specifically made for reptiles, however I have found that using a household bulb provides the same amount of heat. User a bulb that the fixture can handle.
   
   1C.
   
   The turt will need a basking platform. There are super cool options but simple and efficient is the way to go if you're starting.
   
   1D.
   
   You will need a filter. Turtles poop a lot more than fish do so when you're shopping for filters always double the GPH needed to account for the extra nitrates.
   
   1E.
   
   You will need food. Every food is different and let me tell you from experience that you can spend hours researching what is best to feed your turtle...
   
   Protein:
   
   I have learned that omnivorious turtles such as a red eared slider do well if they are started with a protein rich diet and then transition into adulthood with an omnivorous diet.
   
   I would suggest doing the following: go to the grocery store and buy a small Salmon fillet. It may seem silly, but it will last you a very long time. Keep the Salmon in the freezer and feed the turt a few small strips (a serving size should be thought of as, if the turts head were empty, how much food could you fit in it). Make the strips small enough so that the turtle can swallow it.
   
   Feeding tip: Salmon or any other form of protein such as bloodworms, krill etc... can be quite messy because of the amount of oil in the meat. Many turtle keepers (me included) prefer to feed turtles outside of the tank in order to keep the living tank clean. get a small rubbermaid tub or something, make sure it's clean of course and fill it up with enough water for the turt to float around. feed the turt in that water, when you're done, discard the water and put the fat n happy turt back in the living tank. This method lowers the frequency of water changes and keeps the tank cleaner. Handling the turtle like this to feed is also helpful to make the turtle okay with being handled.
   
   Calcium:
   
   As you will read, reptiles need calcium in order to stay healthy. Snakes need calcium in the form of rat bones, bearded dragons eat crickets but turtles do best when supplemented with a cuttlebone. There are turtle specific cuttlebones but they're more expensive and the only real different is that they do not have the hard backing that the cuttlebones for birds have. All you have to do to remove the backing is toss it in a saucepan, boil it for a minute or so, let it cool and then that backing can peel off. This also softens up the cuttlebone some. It's not easy to get the backing off in one fell swoop, but turtles don't care if the cuttlebone is in one big piece or if it's in little white chunks. Calcium supplementation is vital for young turts just as the protein is. Once a week or so is good for calcium.
   
   I have rambled. I am passionate about reptiles so I tend to nerd out. Anyway. Please feel free to PM me with questions, I would really love to help in any way.
   
   Chad

Your tank setup needs a bit of work. Generally there should be 10 gallons of water per inch of shell. For a 4 inch turtle, a 40 gallon tank is good. A bigger tank allows for some room to grow.

There should be water in the tank at least twice the shell length of the turtle, so you'll want a lot more water. Turtles are primarily aquatic animals. But don't simply just add a bunch of water. Slowly increase the water by an inch or two each day so your turtle adjusts to swimming and how deep the water is.

Get rid of the blue substrate. It's small enough for the turtle to eat and is a possible choking hazard. It's also a pain in the ass to clean. If you really want rocks, you can get river pebbles that are bigger than the turtles head and he won't be able to eat. The rocks really don't so anything for the turtle though - it's just tank aesthetics for you. They do tend to make cleaning more difficult as well. Add in that space is already limited in a 10 gallon tank and I would remove the bottom layer altogether.


With the addition of more water, your current baskin rock is not likely going to stay above the water level. I would recommend a ramp that adheres to the side of the tank. I use the medium version of this ramp for my 5+ inch RES. I used the small one when I first got my turtle and had a 10 gallon tank and both I and my turtle love it.

There's 3 important things when it comes to lighting. First is a heat source so that the basking area is warmer than the water. I don't remember the ideal temperatures, but they should list them somewhere on the site you found (I think 85ish for basking? Don't take my word for it though). From the pictures, you may want to move the lamp closer to the basking spot. The second important thing is UVB. These lights typically don't produce heat, but the UVB is crucial for the turtle's shell. This is often neglected by newer turtle owners, but during the day you'll want these two lights. I now use some size of this double dome lamp after using two separate lamps for a while. The third thing is to provide a change from day to night. A night bulb is fine, but completely optional. The important thing is that the turtle recognizes the fact that the "sun" has gone down when the main lights go off. It doesn't really matter if a night bulb comes on or not. Timers are the best way to regulate the bulbs. You can get ones aimed at reptiles at your local pet store or online (with more features), or you can use Christmas lights timers.

Finally there's water temperature. Like with the basking area, I don't remember the ideal water temperature. I think it's 75ish, but again - check Austin's turtle site or one of the other RES sites. If the ambient room temperature is the right temperature at all times of day throughout the year, then you may be able to get away without a water heater. More likely than not, you'll want a water heater to keep things at the right temp. It's especially more important since you'll have more water in your tank soon. Some underwater tank heater is probably fine. Ideally one that you can adjust the temperature on - but one with a built in temperature setting that matches the ideal temperature is okay for now. By the way, with all the temperatures that you want to monitor, getting a laser thermometer is often recommended. I don't have one, but you'll definitely want to have some way to measure the temp of the water and basking area.

I'll see about posting a couple pictures of my turtles setup (both my 10g tank from my starter kit and my 40g tank now) so you can get an idea of how much water is needed.

Turtles like treats like these or these. You could also buy a cuttle bone, as they enjoy biting on those for some extra calcium. Another supply that might be useful is [turtle habitat cleaner] (http://www.amazon.com/Nutrafin-Turtle-Biological-Habitat-Cleaner/dp/B002CZ0JUC). You can also buy decorations for a turtle tank (big rocks for turtles to climb, plants, "castles"). I hope this helps, good luck finding a good gift!

I'm totally rusty with my evolutionary biology ... but I think Yes to everything, and then I'm thinking that the divergence happened with the evolution of being able to move legs and breathe at the same time (Sea turtles cannot do this even now). HOWEVER, I need to check myself with that information and go back into some old textbooks to double check I am remembering that correctly.

This book is where I am going to look to double check myself first and is an amazing resource for the why's and how's of aquatic turtle biology: [Life in a Shell:A Physiologist's View of a Turtle]
(http://www.amazon.com/Life-Shell-Physiologists-View-Turtle/dp/0674050347)

Edit's to add answers to the questions: Yes, Tortoises evolved from aquatic turtles and returned to the land. They started as a land creature, moved to the sea, and then came back to land around the end of the Cretaceous period. (Verified this here )

According to class notes from Vertebrate Zoology (ages ago) - fossil evidence of the split isn't really evident (Much like bat's seemingly just appeared out of nowhere, the divergence onto land permanently seemed to happen quickly and there isn't a good record showing when it happened, but only that its first seen on the Asian continent.)

Other notes I have say that the defining characteristics of tortoises are land use and giant fat feet - but that isn't very clear or scientific. (Later) Yes, Ok I am correct there - but its that they don't have webbed feet but large heavy feet for walking on land, are generally bulkier and that tortoises are generally herbivores, where as other turtles are omnivores.

I think I see what you mean. Turtles are actually really good at climbing, and they can usually climb up onto their basking platform without needing to touch the bottom of the tank. There are ramps that have a longer segment that goes into the water so the turtle can sort of wade up onto the basking platform, like this one: https://www.amazon.com/OASIS-64225-Turtle-Ramp-12-Inch/dp/B0002DIM9G/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_199_tr_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=5DZYNJXZ16TSNW5D8V31

Filter size depends on the turtle and tank size. For example if your turtle is 4 inches long (down the length of the shell not including head and tail), I'd recommend a 40 gal tank with a filter rated for an 80-100 gal tank. You want to look at the tank size recommendations for filters ('tanks up to 100 gal', for example) instead of the 'GPH'/gallons per hour ratings. Sunsun is a cheaper brand that a lot of people on this sub use, example here: https://www.amazon.com/Sunsun-Canister-Filter-264gph-HW304-525gph/dp/B07DLCXNPK/ref=sr_1_3?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1541686346&sr=1-3&keywords=sunsun%2Bfilter%2Bcanister&th=1

Eheim and Fluval are also good filter brands, although they are more expensive.

Ok. I would go about 6 weeks before you clean the filter, and when you do rinse your sponge and cotton in tank water, not tap water. Don’t rinse the bio balls or rings at all, just shake them off a bit. I would also suggest purigen to help with chemical filtration. I noticed an immediate difference when I switched from carbon to purigen. The take home is bacteria is your friend, and you need an established colony in your filter. I never change my media, just rinse it. My purigen lasts about 8 weeks before I have to change the bag.

You could use a dechlorinator like this to remove the chlorine. I use a fine mesh net to pull out chunks of uneaten food or other debris and had one of these filters in my smaller 10 gallon tank. It worked fine, good enough at filtering small bits of food and waste out of the water. I'd just add a little fresh water every few days and completely change the water/clean the tank once every 3 weeks or so.


Having a filter would be the easiest way to reduce the amount of times you have to completely empty the tank.

> What food brand are you feeding the turtle? Very important.

Reptomin Floating Food Sticks and Fluker's Buffet Blend for Aquatic Turtles (mostly Reptomin). I supplement with live feeder crickets (1x / month or so) and small amounts of steamed broccoli (2x / month). He generally won't eat other veggies, like red leaf lettuce, kale, or any fruit.

> How deep is the water?

Not deep enough, i'm sure. He's in a 55 gallon aquarium, with about 18 gallons of water, providing about 9 inches of depth. In the photos below, I keep the water level up to the slate basking stone. The plastic container that forms the base is hollow, so he can swim under the platform. I change the water every 7 days (sometimes as long as 10 days if my schedule gets pushed). Filtration is a Tetra 20i equivalent. I change filter media with the water changes, and use Ammo-Carb as the media.

I'm looking at building an overhead sump filter, or upsizing to canister filter (I'm a renter and worried about a disaster scenario involving a leak). I've also constructed a larger (taller) basking platform that I need to tweak a bit to fit, but will allow me to get a full 12 inch depth of swimming water for him.

> Are you adding chemicals to the water?

ReptiSafe to neutralize chlorine. Ammo-Carb as the filtration media

> Post photos of the enclosure.

This is how the enclosure has been configured up until now. I have a 60W halogen flood to provide heat and was using a ReptiSun 5.0 compact fluorescent until recently, when I upgraded to a Reptisun 10.0.

Turtle is currently in dry dock as I'm treating for what I think is shell rot. I actually have a vet appointment tomorrow to have him examined for both the shell issues and the lesions.

This turtle is at least 10 years old, probably 15ish (I got him as an adult from friends who couldn't care for him anymore)

Here's the photos:

Basking Setup

Full Tank Setup

Food and ReptiSafe

Filter Media

If you just buy a bigger filter - see below link for $15ish - it will keep the tank clean so you only have to lightly clean it once every 10 days or so.
https://www.amazon.com/Aqueon-06081-QuietFlow-Filter-125GPH/dp/B000SP340U

I use this one for my one res. Works pretty well in a 20 gal.

Marineland Penguin Power Filter, 50 to 70-Gallon, 350 GPH https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009IMDQM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_BK.PybG26P2C1

Do you add beneficial bacteria to your water/filter. It's likely a lack of proper bacteria in the filtration system causing the cloudy water.

There are different options but here is one example from Amazon. Anytime you do a full water change or replace the media in the filter, it's a good idea to add more bacteria into the water.

Pro-tip: you could never give your RES too much water. :)

Just get a screen to put over that tank. Assuming you have a standard 10 gallon, boom: http://www.amazon.com/Zilla-11752-Screen-10-Inch-20-Inch/dp/B000QFQ2ZG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1371081772&sr=8-2&keywords=10+gallon+tank+screen

Thanks for all the information. I will look for an external canister. You're right about it being a hang-on-back filter, for the record it's this one: https://www.amazon.ca/AquaClear-20-Power-Filter-Listed/dp/B000260FVG

Okay! Is this the right one then? Link

I had a similar issue and solved it by using a lamp stand/hanger.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D58KL8D/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_zxc3DbJXBSCWP

Your water heater should have a built-in thermostat. Set it to the temp you want and the heater will turn itself on and off to maintain that temp.

If you meant thermometer, I just use this style that sticks to the glass: https://www.amazon.com/Liquid-Crystal-Horizontal-Aquarium-Thermometer/dp/B000633PU8/ref=zg_bs_2975477011_13?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3VCAYQ0V3WFSMTZVBB7P

I've tested it with my thermocouple temp gauge and they're accurate enough.

Zilla Reptile Terrarium Covers... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QFQ30K?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

Exo Terra Repti-Glo 5.0 Compact... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00101JI2Y?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

BYB - 150W 110V Ceramic Infrared... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HFNZ59Q?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

REPTIZOO Dual Lamp Fixture for... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CWKXYPP?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

MUST Swap the UVB bulb every 6 months.

Depends on your area. Check and see what a 55 gallon tank costs, and plan on $100-120 for a good pump off amazon.

That book looks awesome and a must have, but holy smokes the price tag!

https://www.amazon.ca/Turtles-United-States-Canada-Ernst/dp/0801891213/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466010396&sr=8-1&keywords=Turtles+of+the+United+States+and+Canada


:(