New turtle owner

[DKoo2009]

Hello ,

first of all i would like to say what a good forum you have here, full of information on retile keeping.. keep up the good work

today i was given a turtla and tank of my girlfriends brother, the turtle is no longer than 4-5 inches in size.

the tank i was given basically had gravel in the bottom, a heater, exteria filter pump floating basking platform and a basking light.

am i missing any equipment?

its been fed on pellets and bloodworm, but im unsure about the diet i should be giving my turtle.

do i need any other lighting equipment?

also this might be a totally N00b question but are turtles and terrepins the same thing?

im hoping to gain more knowledge into these

[austin]

What sort of turtle do you have?
I used to give my Map turtle a variety of foods such as whole lance fish, bloodworm, earthworms and insects (mealworms, hoppers, and crickets).
She used to eat pretty much anything. For a treat i would give her fresh king tiger prawns, they made a mess in the water but i had 2 external filters that would clear up the mess.
Feeding pellet food and any other manufactured turtle food is also good for variety. I used to feed mine on cat biscuits from time to time.
Vegetables such as frozen mixed vegetables, carrots, and green leafs are good for your turtle if he will take them.

You need to get a UVB in there so he can synthesize Vit D3, this aids growth rate, a healthy shell and a happy turtle.

Hope this helps for a start, you will probably get a more concise answer from a more experienced turtle lover.

[James_T]

Obviously the answer would be species dependant. However this is a good starting point for the commonly available species, and outlines the basic areas for most aquatic species: http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/shell...terrapins.html

[Graham]

Freshwater Turtles and Terrapins are the same thing, Turtle is more of an American term, and they tend not to differentiate between freshwater and marine turtles, just calling them all turtles. They often refer to tortoises as turtles too, just to confuse things!