A few questions about turtles

[ScottRamsay]

I have a few questions about turtles that I need answering, and care sheets all over the internet have different answers. So your help is appreciated.

I am getting a long neck turtle in a few weeks and I need to know:
-What should I use as flooring?
-If I want to breed them, is it better to get 2 females and 1 male like mice?
-Should I only fill the aquarium half full, if so, why is this?
-What is the best variaty of food to feed them?
-What is the best way to maintain the required PH?
-I read that fish a bad option to put with turtles, what if I get a small school of small fish to put in the tank? I am getting a 6 foot tank so I thought maybe there would be enough room for both the animals to live together.
-How many watts is reccomended to put above the basking spot?

Once again, I really do appreciate your help. Thankyou.

 

[Tatelina]

Your fish would probably get eaten!

And that's all I have to add.

 

[warren63]

Try this site, has heaps of excellent turtle stuff
http://www.australianfreshwaterturtles.com.au/index.php

 

[carkat]

You asked some good questions. Try that website suggested by warren63. You'll get some good advice which should be helpful for you.

 

[Carney]

i had a pond with turtles and fish and they seemed to get on fine

 

[Forensick]

my turtle tanks are full of fish.....
they are there as food.... i just top up the numbers every few months (i actually started breeding platys in another tank as food to be moved in live)
i also have snails breeding in another tank that are used for food

 

[LullabyLizard]

I dont use any substrate in my tank.

My aquarium is filled all the way. I have never had any problems.

I hope this is helpful


LullabyLizard

 

[ScottRamsay]

Bump question

 

[domdom22]

I have a few questions about turtles that I need answering, and care sheets all over the internet have different answers. So your help is appreciated.

I am getting a long neck turtle in a few weeks and I need to know:
-What should I use as flooring?
-If I want to breed them, is it better to get 2 females and 1 male like mice?
-Should I only fill the aquarium half full, if so, why is this?
-What is the best variaty of food to feed them?
-What is the best way to maintain the required PH?
-I read that fish a bad option to put with turtles, what if I get a small school of small fish to put in the tank? I am getting a 6 foot tank so I thought maybe there would be enough room for both the animals to live together.
-How many watts is reccomended to put above the basking spot?

Once again, I really do appreciate your help. Thankyou.

hi

i just use the standard pebbles sold at aquarium shops

Not so sure about the breeding, it would be fine just to have 1 male and 1 female, but i guess

2 females would be better, although that would mean a bigger enclosure (its also much
harder 2 breed turtles in a tank than in a pond btw)

No i dont think it has to be half full. Maybe 3/4 full tho. Depends how big the turtles are. You have to make sure the turtles cant climb out or touch the heating lights. The lights should be around 30cm above the basking spot.

I feed my ELNs- bloodworms, brine shrimp, beef heart, crickets, mealworms, frozen turtle dinners, fish fry, and when i can be bothered i get them mosquito wrigglers and tadpoles from my pond and sometimes turtle pellets. The more variety the better.

Just buy a PH test kit from a shop

You can put small fish in with them. Expect some losses tho. I often watch my turtles hunting the guppies i have in the tank, the fish are much faster and nearly always escape. Having small fish is actually good for looks and for giving the turtles exercise (while chasing them)

The wattage one....i dont actually no...tho i think mine may be 60w
When you go to buy ur globes ask the shopkeeper what would be good for your size turtles.

Hope this helps,
Dom
:lol:

 

[cris]

I have a few questions about turtles that I need answering, and care sheets all over the internet have different answers. So your help is appreciated.

I am getting a long neck turtle in a few weeks and I need to know:
-What should I use as flooring? Something to big to swallow or something that can easily pass through them.-If I want to breed them, is it better to get 2 females and 1 male like mice?
-Should I only fill the aquarium half full, if so, why is this? For small turtles its better to keep them in shallow water.-What is the best variaty of food to feed them? Fish, insects and other aquatic invertebrates. Fish(and shrimp in qld) are not allowed to be fed live, but it is perfectly fine as far as looking after the turtles goes.

-What is the best way to maintain the required PH? Find a water supply that is the correct PH and do regular water changes and it shouldnt be a problem, it think the tap water in most areas is suitable.

-I read that fish a bad option to put with turtles, what if I get a small school of small fish to put in the tank? I am getting a 6 foot tank so I thought maybe there would be enough room for both the animals to live together. Yes there will be room for some fish, they will eat some fish but something of a suitable size should be fine if given enough security.

-How many watts is reccomended to put above the basking spot?
A 50 watt halogen should be fine although it will depend on the distance from the basking platform

Once again, I really do appreciate your help. Thankyou.

...

 

[ScottRamsay]

Thanks Dom and Chris for your answers.

 

[Kitah]

-What should I use as flooring?
Personally, I like using large polished river rocks; theyre far too big for a turtle to eat (which my boy still tries to do) so the turtles can't become impacted. They're also very VERY easy to keep clean, from my experience (I've used black river rocks for at least 1.5 years now for my kreffts boy)

-Should I only fill the aquarium half full, if so, why is this?
In my opinion turtle tanks should always have as much water as possible in them, without allowing the turtle to climb out (contrary to belief they are very good climbers!) I built an above-tank basking area using cheap timber and some perspex for my boy to give him even more swimming space. Turtles in the wild live in dams, rivers etc so have very deep water from day one.

-What is the best variaty of food to feed them?
Try to feed them anything they would eat in the wild; freshwater fish, shrimp etc. They LOVE guppies and the small shrimp. I also feed SOME commercial pellets, though I'll only use "Reptomin" pellets (green and yellow container) As your turtle gets older he may eat fresh aquatic plants, though from my knowledge longnecked species apparently aren't as keen on plants and are more carnivorous.

-I read that fish a bad option to put with turtles, what if I get a small school of small fish to put in the tank? I am getting a 6 foot tank so I thought maybe there would be enough room for both the animals to live together.
The only possible problem with this is if the fish are expensive and you don't want them to get eaten. Turtles love fish and are pretty good at catching them. You could put live guppies in there and they'd be fine for the turtle, but don't be surprised if they don't last for long. Some turtles will leave the fish.

 

[ScottRamsay]

-

Thanks for your help.