All Turtles Message Board

catel19 · Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 9:01 pm Post subject: New turtle owner needs help

I have a question:
I have read (in a few books borrowed from the library about turtle) hibernation. I was originally concerned because my baby red-eared sliders were sleeping during the day, even with the basking light on, and have stopped eating in the last 2 days. Based on the books I have read, I believe they are trying to hibernate. it has cooled considerably here, and the temp of the tank, at night and early morning, runs around 65-68 degrees. the tank is part land and part water, and they have been hiding inside of a little log on the dry land because its dark in their. also, i have read numerous lists of warning signs for bad health, and my turtles have none, leading me to believe they are doing ok. my only concern is this: in the complete idiots guide to turtles and tortises, it claims that a turtle under 1 year of age should not be allowed to hibernate. can you guys provide me some feedback based on your experience on whether or not you agree with this, and if so, how do i keep them from hibernating? do they sleep like bears, where they cant be woken up, or do they just become lethargic? any help is greatly appreciated.
cate

dixieee · Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 9:16 pm Post subject:

welcome to the board Smile

yes turtles under 4 years shouldn't hibernate. the water is too cold. it should be in the low 80's for babies
_________________
Wed 10/27/2004 is the worst day..i lost my best friend Leo

so now i have a female RES, Green, and a cute stupid male YBS, Mint

5/4/2006 RIP Lemon, u were my first rescue and i'm so proud of u. will never 4get u

catel19 · Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 9:29 pm Post subject:

thanks for your reply, that brings me to my next point - the guy at petsmart said that they dont sell sliders under 4 inches in diameter because its difficult for them to stay warm enough to survive. so, i bought a tank thermometer, and a basking bulb. does the water need to be a certain temp? and how can i keep my babies from hibernating?

TallysMom · Level 2 Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 60

Keep them warm -- low 80s for babies, as dixieee said. They are cold-blooded animals -- they get their temperature from their surroundings and can't regulate it themselves (that's why you don't find reptiles in really cold places). They need a certain minimum temperature to keep their metabolisms running.

Turtles have evolved to take advantage of the cold season, in a way -- when it chills down, food is scarce, so they don't expend energy that couldn't be replenished.

They don't need to hibernate if they are warm and well fed, and besides, how boring would that be for you!

Good luck -- your setup sounds interesting, I hope you will post pix.

catel19 · Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 11:32 pm Post subject:

huge thanks to you wonderful people for your help Smile

i immediately ran down to petsmart and one of the associates helped me out. my little brother (whos an adult, so hes not really little anymore, except to me) lives with his girlfriend, who bought these two baby sliders at the swap meet. when they bought a puppy a month later, she was bored with the turtles and didnt want them anymore, so she gave them to me knowing my husband and i would care for them. when we first got them on sunday of this week, they were in this tiny little reptile holder, with nothing but an inch of dirty water to float in - nothing else. they had been living like this for the whole time chris and maria had them, which had been about 3 months. the day we brought them home, we went to petsmart and bought a "build your own habitat" home for them; it's plastic, and has this little ramp that leads to a higher, dry level for the animal. we filled the bottom part with aquarium gravel, with about an inch and a half of water, just enough to cover them. i built a gradual slope with the gravel, which resulted in the left side of the tank to be completely above water level. there are a few floating plants, and a plastic tree stump with a little opening for the turtles to crawl into - compared to where they were living, this is a mansion. thanks to your guys advice, i determined that i needed a way to heat the water, which is difficult because there's not enough water for a regular water heater, and the tank is plastic so i cant use the heaters you place under the tank (this is what the box said). so petsmart helped me out and advised me to purchase an additional light, but this one is a red heat light. the temp has increased to 82 degrees since we put it in, and the turtles have already become more active. the petsmart worker also said the turtles may have stopped eating because it was too cold and they werent digesting their food. we'll see how it goes now,and i will keep you updated. she told me to check out the internet for proper care, and i told her "the internet is what got me in here tonight!" i dont have classes tomorrow, so im hoping to spend a good part of my day on this site, checking everything out. thanks so much for your help, you are awesome.

dixieee · Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2005 3:39 am Post subject:

ok u're on the right track now Smile

2 things to mention only, raise the water level cz they love swimming, are good swimmers, and need water so if they flip on their backs they can turn by themselves without waiting help from u if u weren't watching. make it at least double their heights or better, raise it to the maximum u can but do it gradually so they can learn how to swim (they learn fast so don't worry) Smile

the 2nd thing is tha gravel, make sure it's bigger than the size of their heads so they don't try to eat them cz it blocks the intestines and gets serious.

hmm so what else, yeah i agree it sounds like an interesting setup so could u post pix? we'd like to see the babies too Very Happy

it's nice to know that there are people who still care like u cz most abandoned turtles were so cz their owners thought they weren't "cute" anymore after they got bigger. sad Exclamation

and about the 4-inch law, it's not exactly cz they can't survive although no one can deny that it is much harder to raise a hatchling that an adult turtle but the fact behind that rule is that turtles carry salmonella (they're not infected with it, only carry it) and many people don't know how serious this could be if they didn't take care about the hygiene and this resulted in many people being infected with that virous. but don't worry it's no big deal, just wash ur hands well b4 and after holding the turtles and everything will be fine.

so good luck with the little guys and if u need anything we'll be here Smile

_________________
Wed 10/27/2004 is the worst day..i lost my best friend Leo

so now i have a female RES, Green, and a cute stupid male YBS, Mint

5/4/2006 RIP Lemon, u were my first rescue and i'm so proud of u. will never 4get u

catel19 · Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 9:38 pm Post subject:

ok, i removed the gravel, and i have added more water. my mom will be visiting this weekend, and she is bringing her digital camera so i can take some pics. i will definately post them, and hope to get them on here soon. thanks again!

dixieee · Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 4:28 am Post subject:

can't wait to see them Smile

_________________
Wed 10/27/2004 is the worst day..i lost my best friend Leo

so now i have a female RES, Green, and a cute stupid male YBS, Mint

5/4/2006 RIP Lemon, u were my first rescue and i'm so proud of u. will never 4get u