I need some advice please

[Jadeyxx]

Hey everyone,

Today I bought a yellow bellied turtle. (I think that's what he is)
And I just want to check I have every thing I need. All together I have,

A tank, a zoo med UVB light, a heat spot light, a heater, a pump, gravel and large stones,
And bog wood, turtle and terrapin complete food.

I don't have a pond in my garden but would it be ok if a made him a pool for the patio.

Thanks
Jade

[Jadeyxx]

Am I posting this in the right place?

[Vicki123]

Hi,
You are in the right place, a lot of people here have tortoises though. I'm sure someone will be along at some point to help you.

[annsimpson1]

do you have a good filter, the external ones are best turtles are very messy also you may end up taking the gravel out as again its hard to keep clean, go for larger stones or peices of slate or nothing at all just big rocks, things that can be moved for cleaning, but you'll soon find out. A pond of some sort will be vital when it gets to big to comfortably go in a tank, my indoor quarter one came from freecycle and is a preformed 9ft by 4ft they go outside in the summer in their other pond so the bigger the better but any means of them going outside in the summer is a massive benefit as they do so much better, they don't need heat outside from say may onwards (depending on the weather) and don't really need heat in the house if the house is warm as the water will be the same as the room temp and around 70f is fine as long as they have their basking lamp.Again for the outside pond you will need a good pump and external filter they don't need anything extra and again most of my equipement came of freecycle, its worth joing your local groups freecycle.org if your not already a member. Complete food is good but they do like extra's such as raw trout,shrimp,earth worms, bloodworms and veg such as rocket lettuce ect but they only needing feeding once a day so one or the other of the different foods theres not much they don't like mine love a bit of raw steak when we have some.

[Graham]

Have a read of this caresheet which should answer basic questions The Terrapin Tank • View topic - USA Sliders

It's probably worth posting some photos to get a positive ID, just in case it's not what you think it is, as care does vary between species.

[Jadeyxx]

thanks for your reply. at the momment we only have a large internal filter, will this be ok hutill i can afford an external in a few weeks. also my uvb tube is 5.0 is this ok for him.

at what age to they go out side. i dont know the age of mine but hes tiny, about 2inchs.

thanks, jade

[cooljules]

Originally Posted by Jadeyxx

thanks for your reply. at the momment we only have a large internal filter, will this be ok hutill i can afford an external in a few weeks. also my uvb tube is 5.0 is this ok for him.

at what age to they go out side. i dont know the age of mine but hes tiny, about 2inchs.

thanks, jade

any fotos?
you cant sex it at that size, and if its a female, it will get very big, hence i have 8 that have come to me.

i belive at that size, in a pond its easy prey for certain birds etc.

mine love being in the pond...now making a much bigger pond, cos of the ones that get too big and people dont want tem

if your not sure what it is, what did the shop say? and yes you will need a big ext filter, they crap like mad.....

[Graham]

A 5% UVB is really the absolute minimum, and a tube is not very efficient as it spreads the light too widely, they only benefit from UVB when they are basking, so the light should be concentrated on the basking area. When it needs replacing I suggest you get a 10% compact instead, with a reflecting shade, or better still get a MVB. In the meantime the 5% will do, but fit it with a reflector and make sure it's no more than about 6" above the basking area.

You can put them outdoors in summer at any age, just make sure the pond is secure from predators and is escape-proof, I wouldn't try overwintering them outdoors unless you have to, ie when they become too big to house indoors.

[Jadeyxx]

Thanks, I do have a picture of him but I'm not able to upload it becaue I use the internet on my mobile but I am able to email it. Is it possible I could email the picture to someone please.

Thanks again jade x

[Graham]

You can email it to me and I'll see if I can ID it.