I dont have any heating sorce for my turtle, how do i keep him warm?

Question

I just got my red baby eared turtle and dont have a heating sorce and i dont know haw to keep his water warm??!?!?!?

Answer 1

When i say this, i mean it 1,000,000%, their supplies cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars more than the turtle itself!!!!!! Well just taking care of turtles is extremely difficult for a LOT of people because they are VERY high maintenance, no joke. But if you are responsible enough, this is a RES setup.they are very high maintenance and hard to take care of.first read all of this and see if you have this setup, it costs at least $300, and is a regular setup.You absolutely need to get all of the supplies i mentioned or your turtle will get sick and die!!!!!!!!

************ This is a setup for a red eared slider the most common type of turtle, they get up to 12 inches, but you will see them as babies at a store commonly, so know that they will grow very big**************

You will need to get a 50 gallon starter tank and upgrade to a 75 gallon later on when your turtle is over 6 inches...If you can not get that big of a tank right now then for now you can use a huge rubbermaid container filled up with clean warm water 5/6 of the way. The water should be 75-82F, that can be achieved by buying a water heater at the petstore, along with a water filter. Water filters that are best are canister filters, like the Rena xp3 filter which costs $200, but filters very well. Do buy a filter please, even a cheap one at $25, is better then none at all, since turtles are extremely messy and p**p-ful (haha). The bottom of the tank should be bare, no gravel because they could choke on that mistaking it for food. On top of the water you need 3 things, 1. a basking dock ( buy a large size zoomed basking dock). 2. you 100% need to buy a basking lamp+bulb, you buy them separatly, then s***w the bulb in ( 50 watts) and shine it on the basking dock over a mesh hood( cut a hole out of it and place the light there!). 3. This is very important, you need a uvb light. It is a long thin light, you need to get the actual lamp+ the long skinny bulb. Reptosun 5.0 is the best bulb( together costs $55). Shine that onto the basking dock as well. Turtles need these together because they use the uva for heat, so they stay warm ( the basking site should be 90-95F, not colder) and they need the uvb rays to metabolize calcium and vitamin d3 for a stronger shell ( like you need it for your bones!) The diet for the turtle should be reptomin pellets ( and other nutricuos pellets!) crickets, mealworms, bloodworms, shrimp, and krill. All of this is found dead at the petstore!;) They also need vegetation, get kale, mustard greens, romaine lettuce, and collard greens. Drop all of the food in the tank once a day, and remove any leftover bits after a few hours. By the way ALL of the protien food ( dead food, that was alive once) should be dusted with a calcium supplement ( powder) and you need to get a cuttlebone found in the bird aisle of the petstore and drop it in the water for him to knaw on, keep it there for a while (month) until he eats all of it, then get another. Once all of these things are done your turtle will be pretty happy!

Answer 2

You need to get a heat lamp for basking and a water heater made for turtles.  They also need UVB lighting.  Here is more info:

RES



Recommended size of tank is 10 gallon of tank per inch of shell.  For example, a 4 inch long turtle should be in a 40 gallon tank.  Water depth should be 1.5 times the length of turtle.  A 4 inch long turtle should have 6 inches of water.  They need a basking platform.  Something that they can easily climb out of the water onto so they can be completely dry.  They need a water heater.  These are made for turtle tanks and will keep the water at 75-78F.  If water is too cold, they can get sick.  A strong water filter is usually needed, as these are very messy animals.  There are many types of filters available…get the most powerful one you can.  Water quality is also very important.  Filters do not remove ammonia waste, so frequent water changes are needed.  Clean water will go a long way in keeping your turtle healthy.  Do not use gravel or sand on the bottom of the tank.  This will make cleaning too difficult.  Also, turtles commonly try to eat gravel which can lead to fatal intestinal impactions.  



They need a heat lamp with a light bulb to provide heat for basking.  Place this above the basking platform.  The temperature on the basking platform needs to reach 85-90F.  They need this temperature to raise their body temps in order to digest food properly.  Use a digital probe thermometer to measure the basking temp.  These are sold as indoor/outdoor thermometers in most garden departments.  Set it to “outdoor” and place the probe on the basking platform. You cannot use stick on or dial thermometers, as these only measure air temps and not basking temps.  They can be off by more than 20F!  Adjust the wattage of the bulb or the distance to the basking platform to adjust temperature.  OR better yet, plug the heat lamp into a dimmer switch to adjust the temperature as needed.  Dimmer switches are made for lamps and are sold at most hardware stores.  You plug the heat lamp into the switch, and then plug the switch into the electric outlet.  Cheap and easy!  If the basking temp is too cold or too hot, the turtle won’t bask properly and will get sick.



They also must have UVB lighting.  These are bulbs specially made for reptiles and look like fluorescent light bulbs.  You’ll need a fixture to put them in as well.  A good place to get these from (and other supplies) is from www.reptilesupply.com.  Very good prices!  A Reptiglo 8.0 or Reptisun 10.0 are both good brands.  UVB lighting needs to be placed above the basking spot as well.  It needs to be within 12 inches of the basking platform.  These bulbs should be changed every 6 months as they lose potency long before the light gives out.  Both heat and UVB should be on for 12 hours a day.  This is best accomplished by plugging them into timers.  This helps create a normal day/night cycle for your turtle.  

Feed a good turtle diet.  Use several types and sizes and vary each day.  Feed all the turtle can eat in 15 minutes.  Babies can be fed daily.  Adults can be fed 3-4 times a week.  

For more info on care, health, and feeding, please see Austin’s Turtle Page.  It is the most complete and accurate web-site on turtles and tortoises I’ve ever seen!

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/ca...

Answer 3

heat lamp

Answer 4

Keep  his tank away from any outside walls. Those walls get colder.

Do you have a hood light at all? That can kind of help. Heaters aren't that expensive about 15.00 at Walmart. Before it starts getting colder before winter you must get a heater,K.

Hopefully you can get a light soon they need the UVA/UVB light to grow and not get sick.

The bigger the environment the bigger the healthier the turtle, at least a 40 to 55 gallon to START.  These guys cost allot of $$$$ and get sick from dirty water. .

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!

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 5

Get a special lamp for him from Petco or Petsmart AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

Answer 6

keep him in your underwear!lol

check out that site below it should help you

Answer 7

try getting a heat lamp, and mounting it on the top of his tank. placing the tank near a sunny window can probably suffice.

Answer 8

Go get him a heat source. Should be obvious.

He needs a heat lamp or water heat and he also NEEDS a UVB bulb for good health.