Murray Short Neck Turtles

[Ristof]

Hi all, as you can tell new to this site

I have two Murray Short Necks - 1M and 1F - they are about 18months old

I have got them in a tank inside at the moment and was wondering about types of substrate that would be suitable for them seeing that a lot can do more harm then good

I have added a photo of the tank and as you can see it is very bare.
The tank size is 900x600x450 which is about 160lts

This is a temp home until I cut down a tree because of falling leaves and make there pond bigger. I would like it to be more of a permanent but a tank that would hold them both would fit in the house

Any help on the substrate would be good - I would also like to add some plants as well. Not too much seeing room in there is a little problem

Thanks in advance and it is good to be here - finally an Australian forum

 

[Strange1]

Sand is a great substrate, it can be ingested and pass through without a problem. Plants dont go to well with shortnecks as they will eat them. U can try the silk fake plants though.

Your basing platform seems be to below the water level, you need to provide them with a place they can dry off. Also is there glass between the UV light (I assume its a UV light) and the platform?

Anyways good to have you here and feel free to ask more questions.

 

[Ristof]

Sand is a great substrate, it can be ingested and pass through without a problem. Plants dont go to well with shortnecks as they will eat them. U can try the silk fake plants though.

Your basing platform seems be to below the water level, you need to provide them with a place they can dry off. Also is there glass between the UV light (I assume its a UV light) and the platform?

Anyways good to have you here and feel free to ask more questions.

Yes the water level is higher then the ledge - I cleaned the tank out last night and put a bit more water in there for them. They don't come out of the water and if they do use the ledge then they should be able to sit under the light without their shell getting wet.

The light is a UV light and there isn't any. The light cover I have has grooves at the front and back of it and it sits on the edge of the glass. Should there be glass between the light and the turts.

will sand just form a garden centre do or should it be river sand.
I do realise they will eat the plants - one reason why I want to add them - get them some greens. Without putting plants in there I may as well leave it as is unless you have some other ideas. Fake ones would only get pulled out as well. No eaten though - you would hope

 

[Strange1]

Do you take them outside weekly? You really need to either supply UV light or take them outside a few times a week to get natural UV light. If you get a UV light you shouldnt have glass between it and the turtles as glass filters out UV.

I use Val or Elodia in my shortneck tank. Mainly because they are inexpensive. Mine eat it as im still planting it so there is no point me spending alot on plants lol.

Sand from a garden centre will be fine, u can normally get bags of washed sand for around $5, works fine in my tanks

 

[Ristof]

Do you take them outside weekly? You really need to either supply UV light or take them outside a few times a week to get natural UV light. If you get a UV light you shouldnt have glass between it and the turtles as glass filters out UV.

I use Val or Elodia in my shortneck tank. Mainly because they are inexpensive. Mine eat it as im still planting it so there is no point me spending alot on plants lol.

Sand from a garden centre will be fine, u can normally get bags of washed sand for around $5, works fine in my tanks

There's no glass under the light - just glass to keep it out of the tank

Yeah the Elodia is what I have had in the past - These two turts used to sleep in it when they were smaller untill they learn that it tasted good.

I will get some sand for them as well as plants and a decent filter when I get the money
Is the sand messy or does it help keep the tank cleaner. This should work the same in a pond as well shouldn't it

Thanks again you have been a great help

 

[Ristof]

Are there any plants they dont eat.

Maybe that reed type one - can't think of the name
Any pet store sells it

 

[Jason]

how old where they when you got them? i ask cause imo there is no way they are only 18months old! if that is a three ft tank they would have to be atleast 3-4. jmo i may be wrong but they are huge for 18months

 

[Reptizzle]

i agree with jason, i have had my turtles for 18 months and they are no where near as big... and they weren't even hatchies to start with

 

[Ristof]

We got them in April last year and the female was the size of a 50c peice. The male was slightly smaller. It was from a petshop that a couple of months before didn't have any turtles

The female is are about 15cm now and the male slightly smaller

I started them out in a 2ft before getting this one custom made for them

What can I say - we feed them - they are still swimming around- if they are alive they will grow - I have read that under feeding them will keep them smaller but will also cause health problems

 

[Strange1]

They are massively overfed though I have 2 year old ELN's that are barely half that size. In the wild it would take 5 or so years to reach that kind of size. Feeding them less isnt under feeding them to keep them small. its feeding them the right amount so they dont end up like the 80kg cats u see on Today Tonight...

 

[cris]

Back off on the feeding, overfeeding them like that is asking for trouble IMO.

 

[Ristof]

Back off on the feeding, overfeeding them like that is asking for trouble IMO.

How much and how often should I feed it?
Baby turtles are best given two small feeds a day, although one larger feed will suffice. Adult and semi-adult turtles can be fed either once or twice a day. If normally well fed, turtles can go a few days without food.
The quantity of food a turtle should be given depends on its size. A rough guide is to give the turtle per day a volume of food equivalent in size to the turtle's head. The best guide to whether a turtle is being fed enough is its growth rate. If a turtle grows noticably from week to week it is no doubt receiving more food than is required. On the other hand, a turtle that shows no growth at all over a month is probably not receiving enough food.
It is not possible to overfeed turtles in the same way as fish. A turtle will eat as much as you give it and still come looking for more. It does not harm the turlte if too much food is given, but the turtle's growth rate will increase accordingly.

 

[Strange1]

Hahahahahahahhahahahaha

Thats so funny

 

[hornet]

twice a day for adults? give me a bread, try every 2-3days and only once a day for hatchlings

 

[Ristof]

twice a day for adults? give me a bread, try every 2-3days and only once a day for hatchlings

How old do you class an adult turtle or do you go on size

From what I have found everyone seems to have their own opinons. I would clas mine as adults so I have been feeding them once a day and the food given is gone in less then a minute. How is that classed as over feeding

 

[hornet]

1st thing, its unnatural, turtles dont naturaly get to eat every single day, if they do get fed everyday they grow to fast and can get different problems and the lifespan is shortened, normally an adult turtle would be 2-3, mayb even 4-5 years old with normal feeding, you should cut down feeding to every 2-3days, you turtles will be better off

 

[Tristis]

imo there doing great. ive seen over weight turts and yours arnt over weight. my python and goannas get fed more than wild ones and they grow bigger quicker so whats wrong with doing it with the turts. my murray river is 4 months old and 8 cm shell lenth. can any of you guys prove hes doing damage to his turtles?

 

[Reptizzle]

can't really tell from the pic..
but isn't overfeeding meant to cause pyrimidal growth of the carapace scutes?

 

[cris]

imo there doing great. ive seen over weight turts and yours arnt over weight. my python and goannas get fed more than wild ones and they grow bigger quicker so whats wrong with doing it with the turts. my murray river is 4 months old and 8 cm shell lenth. can any of you guys prove hes doing damage to his turtles?

No i cant prove it at all, Its just that i have been told by ppl who know what there are on about that its a bad idea to overfeed turtles. It is possible it wont do anything bad at all its just not a risk i would be taking. If they were my turtles i would only feed them 2-3 times a week at that size and let them eat plants at will.
If someone has had a turtle and fed it that much and its over 20 years old i guess it would be safe to say its not a major problem, until then i would say you are taking a completely unnecessary risk JMO.

Dont see why you compare them to lizards, by that logic i could say if you feed a snake everyday it will have trouble so you would with turtles too, but that is completely irrelevant.

 

[Ristof]

Thanks guys

I must admitt that I probably have overfed them when they were smaller but I guess they ate all the food I put in there.

In the past few months I have been feeding them everyday but hardly any.

I knew that under feeding them can be dangerous for their health and I didn't want to do that.

I am going to build these two guys a nice biggish pond out side for them to live in seeing the tank is too small for them.
I will be getting a couple more yound ones and not feed the new ones as much to keep their size down

Now before I do anything are there any like the short necks that don't grow as big but would live with murray's. Just incase I put them all in the one pond and only if we go on holidays.

Thanks