Red Ear Sliders
- Thread starter boom215
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boom215
Member
unfortunatley they wre an impule buy. I got two last week. Both maybe 1.5's long. I have them in a 75g tank with about 4-5 inches of water, a 150 watt uvb bulb and a 16inch floating baskin area. It looks like neither if them were eating very much. The one is ery active, usually hanging round by the intake of the filter, but is all over the place. Well today, the one that has done nothing at all besides sleep. and maybe move once in a while died. I dont want this to happen to the other one, i have 7 rosy reds and pellets in there now, and i tried tuna bu he seems to like nothing. I need to know if i should just give them some more time or what. Thanks im writting this in a hurry so if its mummbles sorry.
jrotunda85
Member
boom,
Sorry to hear about your loss; however, I have two RES and one Diamond Back Terrapin. When I first got the RES they were a little hesitant to eat but in a matter of days they began eating. We feed ours a mixed diet of consisting of: reptomin, krill pellets, ghost shrimp, and (this will sound weird) lettuce. In my experience, RES are not really "hunters" in nature whereas the DBT I have will mainly only eat live food so the rosy reds might not be the best option, especially when they are getting settled.
I would recommend getting some reptomin and letting it float in the tank and make sure you have good filtration because turtles are dirty...dirty...dirty little suckers and they can ruin a clean tank after mealtime! Also make sure to put give them plenty of light (they need a light bulb that gives them the full spectrum including UVB -- MAKE SURE THE BULB PUTS OUT UVB AS THIS IS VITAL TO THEIR WELL-BEING AND DEVELOPMENT). As for getting them to eat, I would give them a few days to themselves in a quiet room or atleast without bothering too much because they are going to be frantic the first couple of days or possibly weeks after you get them home.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask and I hope you get the little guy eating soon! BTW, a great resource for turtles is: www.turtletimes.com
Sorry to hear about your loss; however, I have two RES and one Diamond Back Terrapin. When I first got the RES they were a little hesitant to eat but in a matter of days they began eating. We feed ours a mixed diet of consisting of: reptomin, krill pellets, ghost shrimp, and (this will sound weird) lettuce. In my experience, RES are not really "hunters" in nature whereas the DBT I have will mainly only eat live food so the rosy reds might not be the best option, especially when they are getting settled.
I would recommend getting some reptomin and letting it float in the tank and make sure you have good filtration because turtles are dirty...dirty...dirty little suckers and they can ruin a clean tank after mealtime! Also make sure to put give them plenty of light (they need a light bulb that gives them the full spectrum including UVB -- MAKE SURE THE BULB PUTS OUT UVB AS THIS IS VITAL TO THEIR WELL-BEING AND DEVELOPMENT). As for getting them to eat, I would give them a few days to themselves in a quiet room or atleast without bothering too much because they are going to be frantic the first couple of days or possibly weeks after you get them home.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask and I hope you get the little guy eating soon! BTW, a great resource for turtles is: www.turtletimes.com
jrotunda85
Member
Originally Posted by boom215
unfortunatley they wre an impule buy. I got two last week. Both maybe 1.5's long. I have them in a 75g tank with about 4-5 inches of water, a 150 watt uvb bulb and a 16inch floating baskin area. It looks like neither if them were eating very much. The one is ery active, usually hanging round by the intake of the filter, but is all over the place. Well today, the one that has done nothing at all besides sleep. and maybe move once in a while died. I dont want this to happen to the other one, i have 7 rosy reds and pellets in there now, and i tried tuna bu he seems to like nothing. I need to know if i should just give them some more time or what. Thanks im writting this in a hurry so if its mummbles sorry.
Also, on a side note, RES are very active swimmers and they need fairly deep water to be able to swim around in. A general rule of thumb is that the water in the tank should be AT LEAST 3-4 times as deep as their shell length with more being alot better. As far as the tank a 75g is a very good setup; however, over the years they can get fairly big (females around (10-14 inches in length) so they may need a new tank in 3-4 years!
unfortunatley they wre an impule buy. I got two last week. Both maybe 1.5's long. I have them in a 75g tank with about 4-5 inches of water, a 150 watt uvb bulb and a 16inch floating baskin area. It looks like neither if them were eating very much. The one is ery active, usually hanging round by the intake of the filter, but is all over the place. Well today, the one that has done nothing at all besides sleep. and maybe move once in a while died. I dont want this to happen to the other one, i have 7 rosy reds and pellets in there now, and i tried tuna bu he seems to like nothing. I need to know if i should just give them some more time or what. Thanks im writting this in a hurry so if its mummbles sorry.
Also, on a side note, RES are very active swimmers and they need fairly deep water to be able to swim around in. A general rule of thumb is that the water in the tank should be AT LEAST 3-4 times as deep as their shell length with more being alot better. As far as the tank a 75g is a very good setup; however, over the years they can get fairly big (females around (10-14 inches in length) so they may need a new tank in 3-4 years!
boom215
Member
thanks for the quick replies. i have looked at that website before, lots of info but wehen i tried to become a member it asked for a bunch of info said wait for an email and i am still waiting. I will look for some ghost shrimp tom. and i have been unable to find that repto... stuff at the four pet stores i know of. i have some banana in there now. My light seems to dry the food out real quick, should i throw all food in water to float or....
grips
Member
When I had RES, I would feed them in a seperate container. That way, I could keep track of how much they ate and limit the amount of waste in the main tank. After a few weeks, the turtles would rush to the front of the tank and get all excited for feeding time. They would actually swim into my hand and more or less beg me to pick them up.
The turtle you have sounds pretty small. It's illegal in Illinois to sell a turtle less than 4 inches (not sure about other states). It can be hard to get a turtle to eat at first. One thing a turtle can rarly resist is a wriggling worm. Go buy some live dew worms at a bait shop and drop one in the water. The turtle should waste no time slurping it down like spaghetti.
Sorry for your loss.
The turtle you have sounds pretty small. It's illegal in Illinois to sell a turtle less than 4 inches (not sure about other states). It can be hard to get a turtle to eat at first. One thing a turtle can rarly resist is a wriggling worm. Go buy some live dew worms at a bait shop and drop one in the water. The turtle should waste no time slurping it down like spaghetti.
Sorry for your loss.
jrotunda85
Member
Originally Posted by grips
When I had RES, I would feed them in a seperate container. That way, I could keep track of how much they ate and limit the amount of waste in the main tank. After a few weeks, the turtles would rush to the front of the tank and get all excited for feeding time. They would actually swim into my hand and more or less beg me to pick them up.
The turtle you have sounds pretty small. It's illegal in Illinois to sell a turtle less than 4 inches (not sure about other states). It can be hard to get a turtle to eat at first. One thing a turtle can rarly resist is a wriggling worm. Go buy some live dew worms at a bait shop and drop one in the water. The turtle should waste no time slurping it down like spaghetti.
Sorry for your loss.
I forgot to mention that mealworms are also a great treat for RES as well!
When I had RES, I would feed them in a seperate container. That way, I could keep track of how much they ate and limit the amount of waste in the main tank. After a few weeks, the turtles would rush to the front of the tank and get all excited for feeding time. They would actually swim into my hand and more or less beg me to pick them up.
The turtle you have sounds pretty small. It's illegal in Illinois to sell a turtle less than 4 inches (not sure about other states). It can be hard to get a turtle to eat at first. One thing a turtle can rarly resist is a wriggling worm. Go buy some live dew worms at a bait shop and drop one in the water. The turtle should waste no time slurping it down like spaghetti.
Sorry for your loss.
I forgot to mention that mealworms are also a great treat for RES as well!
jrotunda85
Member
Originally Posted by boom215
thanks for the quick replies. i have looked at that website before, lots of info but wehen i tried to become a member it asked for a bunch of info said wait for an email and i am still waiting. I will look for some ghost shrimp tom. and i have been unable to find that repto... stuff at the four pet stores i know of. i have some banana in there now. My light seems to dry the food out real quick, should i throw all food in water to float or....
If it floats, let it. I put some of the stuff that wouldn't float (i.e. the lettuce) on the basking area and they would carry it into the water although be careful because RES need water to properly digest so if they start eating on land make sure they go into water shortly afterwards. As for the Reptomin I've never seen a pet store that DIDN'T carry it...it's in a big green and yellow bottle if that helps. If not, try to order it online, there are thousands (if not more) sites that sell it.
thanks for the quick replies. i have looked at that website before, lots of info but wehen i tried to become a member it asked for a bunch of info said wait for an email and i am still waiting. I will look for some ghost shrimp tom. and i have been unable to find that repto... stuff at the four pet stores i know of. i have some banana in there now. My light seems to dry the food out real quick, should i throw all food in water to float or....
If it floats, let it. I put some of the stuff that wouldn't float (i.e. the lettuce) on the basking area and they would carry it into the water although be careful because RES need water to properly digest so if they start eating on land make sure they go into water shortly afterwards. As for the Reptomin I've never seen a pet store that DIDN'T carry it...it's in a big green and yellow bottle if that helps. If not, try to order it online, there are thousands (if not more) sites that sell it.