Will my Red Eared Slider turtles die if I dont keep the water heated for a few days?
by Aquaboy on Sunday, April 4th, 2010 | 6 Comments
Hello my fellow peers from yahoo answers! I have 2 Red Eared Sliders that are approximantly…… 3 or 4 months. They are only like 3 inches long. They were in a 10 gallon aquarium just till i got enough money to buy a bigger tank. I went to a yard sale and bough this aquarium…… 46g for only 30 dollars
http://aquariums.petco.com/tc/index.php?action=accessory
I have a heater for a 10 gallon aquarium in my tank. Its fairly cold, but not freezing. Will they die by Tuesday night?
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Mine lived a couple days without a heater, but get a heat lamp on them as soon as possible.
that’s a really great buy!!
i would keep your turtles in the ten gallon tank until you have the money to get the proper heater, just to be safe. turtles are cold blooded, and them being cold slows down their meabolisim and heart rate and stuff, so it’s really not great for em.
you could also try, and i’m saying TRY, to put the aquarium on to of a human version heating pad, to heat the water that way?? who knows, it may work, but be sure to use a thermometer.
wow 3 inches and only 3 or 4 months?!They should only be about 1 inch at that age! they are growing too fast so i suggest feeding less protein! As for the heater you absolutely need a heater, red eared sliders can not stand water that is less than 75-82F, so please just buy a heater for $30!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 maintenence, no joke. But if you are responsible enough, this is a RES setup.they are very high maintenence 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.
************ 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 poop-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 screw 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!
No they will be ok, I have mine in a pond right now and no heater,but when it starts to get cold I have 2 heaters to keep the temp at 75 to 78 degrees.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29035692@N03/sets/72157606499624641/
The bigger the environment the bigger the healthier the turtle.
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 poop 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.
They may get a bit sluggish and hang out near the heater but they should be OK.
what does ti mean when my RES blows bubble from her nose when i put her in the water