All Turtles Message Board

Rennifer

My mom got me one of those turtles you see in the mall and one of the little plastic tank things they have there for them but I KNOW this is too small for her (mostly because she keeps trying to climb out the sides and she's almost tall enough to).

When my mom bought her she didn't know how costly turtles can be, but I fell in love with my turtle and wanna give her the best home I possibly can.

That being said, I have a very limited budget. Do you guys have any suggestions for me to give her a good tank with proper heat and basking areas along with places to hide etc. for around 100 dollars? She already has a good basking light so that cost is eliminated. Should she get a heat lamp or an actual water heater? (or both maybe?)

And what's the best substance to put in their tank like on the bottom or something (i.e. sand, gravel, or nothing at all)?

I really want her to have a good home and I'm saving up all the money I can for her Sad

I feel aweful having her confined in this tiny little plastic thing right now Sad

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

You can use a rubbermade storage container for a tank for now. You can buy PVC at home depot or whwever and build a basking dock for around 15 bucks. I built on using PVC and plexiglass. You need a filter heater no substrate is good. In Fact its prob best until you get her in to a tank and then you can buy river rocks. You need a UVA/UVB bulb and like I posted in your other post you can use a regular house light to help ith heat.

Rennifer · Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 4:16 pm Post subject:

Ah, thank you again so much! You are extremely helpful

Since I have the other house light on her now would it be okay to turn her basking UVA/UVB light off at night?

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

Yes it is ok to have it on 12 hours and off 12. You could buy a timer and it will be 1 less stress on ya.

Rennifer · Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 6:37 pm Post subject:

I'll just set the alarm on my cell phone to let me know every twelve hours. I'll turn it on/off around 8 since thats around when the sun comes up and down. Thanks Smile

jenniferf · Level 1 Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 5

Hello there!

I am a poor college student and needed cheap ways to set up for my turtles. Here is my set-up:

1. Freshwater creek rocks - $6.00 per bag (very large bags at Wal-Mart) You will want enough so that your turtles can dig a little bit - enough to cover the bottom with maybe 1/2"-1" of rocks.
2. 55-gal. plastic tupperware container ($13.00 at Target)
4. Floating basking rock ($11.99 at PetsMart) These come in different sizes, depending on how big your turtle is.

[img]5. Heater - Rena Cal Top Light (I think maybe $15.00 from any good pet store).
6. Thermometer (any with a suction cup will do.)
7. ReptoMin Food Sticks - about $15.00 for a very large container at PetsMart. This food is wonderful! My RES's love it!
8. Rep-Cal Aquatic Turtle Food - you will want 2 or more foods so that you're mixing it up for your turtle.
9. Jurassi Safe water treatment (specifically for reptiles and amphibians to remove ammonia.) This is about $10.00 at PetsMart.
10. Easy Balance with Nutraband (stabilizes pH) - $7.99 at PetsMart.
11. Finally - a filter! A couple good brands are Fluval, Bio-Wheel, Top Fin, and Rena.

I would recommend starting out with AT LEAST 30 gallons. Once you know the size of the habitat, then you can use that size to determine the wattage of heater and size of filter.

Very good ideas of decorations are large rocks that you find outside - just be sure to boil them first. Also, slates and stacking rocks can be found at PetsMart or any good pet store for VERY cheap prices.

Be sure that you have enough in the water for your turtle to stand on to put their faces out of the water.

Plastic plants are cheap, and turtles love to lean on them and sleep at night.

Remember that the UV lights needs to be on for MAXIMUM of 12 hours a day, and turn it off for 12 hours while you sleep.

Turtles also love eating veggies, and these are very good for them - cantaloupe, apple, lettuce, watermelon, tomato, etc.

As a treat, once a month or so, I get half a dozen Rosy Red Goldfish - this gives my turtles exercise as they try to catch them, and this is an awesome source of protein, and fun for them (as long as you can deal with the gruesomeness of seeing live beings die, it's not messy AT ALL, s no cleaning necessary...) These are about $0.12 per fish at PetsMart. You should give your turtles something like this every once in a while to keep their natural instincts in tact.

Very Happy

That's all I can think of right now, let me know if you need anything else. For now, here are pictures of my set-up and pictures of my turtles (Randy and Mac - I go to Randolph-Macon Woman's College, so the name makes sense):

fishandcandy · Level 3 Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Posts: 200 Location: Indio, CA

This is what I bought for my set-up:
20 gallon glass tank - onsale for $26.99 at Petsmart
Aquaclear 50 power filter - pricematched from Petsmart.com for $19.99
Marineland Visi-Therm Stealth heater 100 watt - pricematched $14.99
Lily pad with pink flowers - $4.99
Small plant - $2.99
Ramp - around $15 at Petsmart
Clamp lamp - $5.87 at Walmart
Glass thermometer - $1.97 at Walmart
60 watt light bulb

You can see pictures here:
http://www.allturtles.com/msgboard/viewtopic.php?t=8668&highlight=

You might want to get a rubbermaid container instead of a glass tank. That was my original plan, but when I saw this tank I just went ahead and bought it.

You also need food (such as Reptomin) and cuttlebone (like birds eat).
I don't have a UVB bulb, I take my turtles outside for sunshine.

I use water dechlorinator in my tank. It's from the fish section but it's different from the fish water treatment. This only dechorinates, it doesn't have the stuff about slime coating for fish.
I don't really worry about the water that much. I have a filter and I do weekly water changes plus add water when it's evaporated.

Here's a good turtle site:
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/care.htm

fishandcandy · Level 3 Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Posts: 200 Location: Indio, CA

jenniferf - your turtle on the basking platform appears to have some pyramiding isssues. Not sure if you're aware of that.

jenniferf · Level 1 Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 5

What do I do about Pyramiding? Where does it come from? How do I fix it?

Thanks...

Rennifer · Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:09 am Post subject:

jenniferf - Thank you so much! I get paid in a week so that's when I'm gonna go out and get all the stuff for her tank, I can't wait to give her something really nice! I'm worried about putting rocks in that are too small though because I'm afraid she might end up accidentally eating them or something. She's got variety in foods already (I accosted the food section of the boards about the same time I made this topic), but I'm not sure about getting her the reptomin stick. She's still just a baby, would it be okay for her?
Also, I think pyramiding has something to do with diet or a calcium deficiency or something, though I'm not too sure. I was being an over protective worry wart about my turtle a while ago so I vaguely researched every turtle illness there was to make sure she didn't have them.

fishandcandy - Thank you so much for all your ideas! I love the idea you had to quiet the filter. You don't have rocks at the bottom of your tank, so I'm guessing it's okay to go either way about them.

Both of you have adorable turtles! Very Happy