All Turtles Message Board

marln828 · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2006 Posts: 1

my grandson brought home a small turtle from his camping trip in virginia/chesapeake bay area about 3 weeks ago. we bought a 10 gal tank and put some pea gravel on the bottom...which I am now going to get rid of thanks to your site. Embarassed

we live at the albemarle sound in north carolina and we have been cleaning the tank every week and replacing the water with water from the sound. I have now seen your beautiful pictures of tank setups and would like to set up one too. my question is can we use fresh water for this tiny turtle??? any suggestions would be appreciated. we dont have a pet store nearby but there is a walmart. what kind of lights should I buy and what kind of filtration system should we get??? Since the turtle is so small...by the way how or where do you measure him or her...its shell is about 2" wide...will the 10 gallon tank be ok for awhile or do I need to immediately buy a larger tank...money is a little tight so I want to get whatever is needed the most for its survival first and then work on the luxuries.
Im sorry this is so long but we already love our little "ted" and we want to be sure he is ok.
thanks

turtle_grl77 · Level 4 Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Posts: 985 Location: Florida

Here is alink with useful info. welcome to the board.
http://www.allturtles.com/care_sheets/water_turtle_carehousing.php

dixieee · Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 4:56 pm Post subject:

welcome to the board Smile

glad u removed the substrate Wink

to measure the turtle's size, measure the length of the shell from beginning to end in a straight line like that:

now if u're tight on budget, there are some things u can do without for now IF u can provide the following:

1- 2 hours of direct sunlight daily. direct is not screened by a window or anything. (this will the replace the need for the UV bulbs) if u're lucky enough to be living in a warm area now since it's summer time Smile

2- a stable indoor temperature of about 79F. the temps should be stable and fall in the 70's range otherwise u'll need to get a water heater and a heat bulb.

3- cleaning the water everyday (since it's a 10-gallon only). if u can't do this then u'll have to get a water filter. a good filter should be 4x the aquarium's size to function well.

4- other accessories could be found at ur home. for a basking area u could get a block and clean it well or any piece of log. make sure it's smooth so it doesn't scratch the turtle.

good luck and if u need anything don't hesitate to ask Smile

btw, what species is little ted? do u have pix?
_________________
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

James · Level 2 Joined: 22 Apr 2006 Posts: 85

If the turtle came from the sound you may want to ID it. could possibly be a marine turtle and most of them are protected.