Help me with my "Pet turtle" food and gender?

Question

I have a red eared turtle from last one year. Initially I kept him/her in a small tank but not I have arranged for a nice water tank with land, heating bulbs etc.

I believe that the turtle is about 18 months old, not too sure but definately more than 12 months old. I measured the length other then the head of the turtle the length is 3.5 Inch.

Problem is that my turtle begs for food always. I am not sure how much food to serve. I serve only turtle sticks. Now days I serve thrice a day with bbout 12 sticks in one time. He/she will finish it off in 2 minutes and ask for more.

I am afraid serving more food. The water too gets dirty in 5 days, almost green and then the turtle destroys all the arrangement done by me, like water filter, land etc.

Other problem is should i bring one more friend for him/her?

Please help me... I am in really tuff situation.

Thanks!

Gaurav

Answer 1

I have had my 2 slider  girls for 36 yrs. Plus an 8 and 5 yr old and now a 2 yr old adopted from this site.. Been in a pond for almost 7 yrs now. Got them on my 18th birthday! What a long lasting gift! This is allot of responsibility for all these years. My kids aren’t even that old!

The bigger the environment the bigger the healthier the turtle. Remember 10 gallons for every inch of turtle. I have used kiddy pools and plastic pond liners from most nurseries and worked great.

Did you know that they need to bask under a reptile light UVA/UVB for 8 to 10 hrs a day for the vitamin D that they need to grow. So that means getting a turtle dock also.

Leave the heater on 75 to 78 degrees always.

Their water needs to be clean otherwise they get sick easily from dirty water cause they p**p allot.

Total Body length: 5-8" average, up to 12 inches max. Life span: 15-25+ years

Males have the longer front nails and are used in mating. And are considered mature at about 5 yrs old. You can’t start sexing till about  3” across.

You need a good filter system! Gravel larger than they can swallow.

You need to feed them feeder guppies, goldfish or minnows for protein and calcium daily drop 20 or so in the tanks and watch them disappear in a few days!

This way when they swim for their dinner they get exercise also!

They sleep at the bottom of rivers, streams. lakes or ponds or your tank to avoid predators like coyotes,  foxes, owls, hawks, possums, raccoons and even some wide mouth bass.

TOSS in a bird cuttle bone in the water for calcium. it will dissolve real slow and if they eat it that’s fine!!

They can have garden worms, meal worms, crickets, flies, crayfish small frogs, dragon flies and  anything that moves only as a treat.

They need leafy greens Romaine, Butter lettuce. (Iceberg and cabbage are bad for them, any other leafy greens will do) for vitamin A that they need at least 3 to 4 times a week.

You probably already know that they get sick easily, shell rot, respiratory sickness, lopsided swimming, coughing, blowing bubbles from their nose.

**Swollen cloudy eyes means lacking in Vitamin A. Which we all need for good eyes. Google ‘vegetables with Vitamin A.

I wish you luck.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29035692@N0...

Answer 2

To determine the gender, the tail thing is correct, but the easiest way to figure it out is look at the claws.

If the claws are wolverine like, as in, they are very long (approaching an inch), then its a male.  If they are short, about a quarter of an inch, its a female.

Having two turtles in one tank means you really have to have a large tank to support them both, but as long as they are around the same size, then yes you can house them together.

It's kinda hard to have a turtle tank arranged the way you like it, most tanks are fairly bare.  

They'll have a filter, gravel and a land area and that's about it.

As for your feeding, you are giving too much.  

A healthy turtle will always consume what you give it - but that doesn't mean you should feed it in excess.

You should only feed it one time, a couple times a week.  Feeding too much can cause you to have an obese turtle which can create health problems.   This will also make the tank get less dirty as frequently.

Start also feeding it some dark leafy greens and vegetation as that is also an important part of their diet.  

Answer 3

on red eared sliders  you can tell the  gender by the length of the tail   or can have a vet prod them to be positive as far as the food situation  Your feeding him everyday??? thats too much  turtles like gold fish will eat  till they are full and the food they dont eat will dirty the tank (Get a Filter for it)

The  tank  problem is simpel get some rocks from your landscape retailer  they have rocks  for ponds that your red rared slider wont be abel to move  you should searcjh  care of "Red eared sliders" " theres many sites on them

The males have longer tails  you should get another one male or female  I have two males that must be g*y cause they try to mate.