Two new baby turtles. Help!

[loveofpets93]

Health care tips??
I also need names. (unisex prefferably)
Anyone know how to tell their gender when they're seven days old??:cool:

[Bettachris]

what type of turtles, the most common being a red ear slider. in which case males have longer claws than females.

(given u have a red ear silder) mines lived for 10 years and was about 10 -13 inches long. geneally not hard, just change water every week with an interal filter.

[Jerica]

Most places its illegal to buy baby turtles, or did you grab them from the wild? Just make sure to always wash your hands after handling them. As far as telling gender at that young I can't be for sure this is accurate, but in most turtles males have longer tails, females little tiny tails. Males usually have a concave plastron (bottom of shell ie belly) Males also may have red eyes and females yellow in some types. Males can also have longer claws. Most turtles can live to be quite old, the smaller turtles can live 50 some years or more, larger turtles like the galapagos and those (though I know thats not what you have) can live a couple hundred years. No matter what kind of turtle you have they can live very long, much longer than a dog or cat. Depending on the type of turtle you have you need different set ups and different foods, if you tell me what kind you have I can help you figure that out. Many times petstores don't really know how to care properly for them and give you wrong info. Turtles also can easily get Vitamin A deficiencies and Metabolic bone disease if not fed properly. So what are you feeding your turtles and what is their "cage/aquarium" set up like? Sorry I'm not trying to say you don't know what your doing or anything, its just a lot of people get turtles and don't really know how to care for them.

[tinkerbell21]

It actually isn't illegal to buy them under 4 inches, its just illegal to sell them. sadly that law isn't enforced...thats why there are thousands of res across the world with no homes.

Leslie

[I_Love_Iggy]

I know the 4 inch law has been liften in canada(Supposedly) but you need a permit ti have turtles(unless you bought them from someone who has a permit). adleast thats how it is in Newfoundland

[loveofpets93]

Sorry, didn't post much, I was in a rush; they're red-eared sliders and I believe they were under 4" but at the time I didn't know it was illegal nor did I know they lady I was buying them from had no idea what she was doing..now they're healthy and happy though. My aquarium setup? I have one ten gallon tank in the living room with small pebbles at the bottom but not so small they can swallow them, I have fake lillypad plants and another fake plant, shells, a bridge leading to a basking area, a basking spotlight, a ultra-violet ray light, a heater, a thermomoter (always make sure its 80 degrees - 82 degrees)...I'm feeding them RectoMin Baby (2 pellets each in the morning when I wake up and before I go to bed), and occasionally some whole-krill treats. I take them outside in a water bowl when it's bright out so they can get some outdoor time and I keep an eye on them and they stay out for oh...five/ten minutes? I'm going to feed live critters as they grow but for now I'm sticking to pellets...and...I have a calcium supplier that dissolves into the water completly after a week or two and it prevents shell rot, and I tap-condition my water if I happen to use tap water to filter out chlorine...I have a filter, too. Anything I should no/anything I'm doing wrong?? :rolleyes:

[Jerica]

Sounds like you have a pretty good setup and the food sounds good also, of course as they get bigger you'll have to get a bigger set up for them. As far as live food later on that sounds great, when they get big enough you can give them some minnows (instead of goldfish) and you can even now give them small crickets. Just so you know a turtle shouldn't take up more than a 1/4 of the total aquarium/setup, so as they get older they could go into a little kiddie pool. I think you are doing great for them right now, good job. ;)

[loveofpets93]

Thanks! I'll go out later and try and find a pet store that sells live crickets. I already raised a little frog and it was sooo tiny and I thought it would live better in the tank and so I put it in they ate it! lol so they've already had a bit of live food. :D :rolleyes:

[Bettachris]

just be aware that when u need any type of feeder fish, given red rosy minnows or common or comet goldfish u are running a very high risk of illness as over the last 6 months the condition of these fishes have been at an all time low.

better off sticking with a stable pellet food untill they get bigger.

[cstrohmeyer]

Another ingredient for long term health is UVB radiation. All aquatic turtles need UVB for a couple hours per day for proper health (carapice in particular). You can accomplish this by moving the turtle to an area where it can bask and escape the sunlight, a window does NOT work (UVB does not penetrate glass). You also can purchase a UVB lamp at your LPS or online. If you feed live feeder goldfish, I would recommend occasionally using "medicated wonder shells" to prevent fungus and for calcium and magnesium.
Another note about the legality of under 4" aquatic turtles; This is a Federal Law, inacted around 1971. The reason for this law is to protect children from Salmonella, which turtles (young ones in particular) tend to carry. I do not recommend letting young children handle them unless their hands are washed immediately.

Carl
Aquarium Maintenance and Design since 1978
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/

[loveofpets93]

I know about Salmonella, and I even wash my hands before and after handling them. I now know that selling them under that length is wrong, and I regret buying them from that lady. I have a basking rock and light with UVB rays, so all I need now is the crickets. I'm going to get very small ones and feed sparingly since they're so young. I'm thinking of making a feeding chart so I now what to move up to as they grow. When they reach 3 years old, they'll still be relatively small in my perspective, so I'm going to stick to something small but I'm thinking about feedind them whole krill (brine shrimp) every once and awhile then as a high-protein treat. I have dried whole krill TREATS that just include whole krill cut into peices and dried, but is there an advantage to feeding the krill live? :confused: Sorry if I'm asking too many questions, I just want the best care for them that they could possibly get!
PS: Should I feed mealworms, crickets, and krill so they have a variety?

[kyukidojen]

It's late so i'm not gonna offer lots of advice - but i DID want to pop in and say that it is SO REFRESHING to see someone here asking for help who actually WANTS the help, and who is already doing the best they can for their animals, and who is already doing what IS best for them! Good job!