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27-10-2007, 05:12 PM
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Map Turtles.....
Well i was kind of planning to get 2 or 3 of these for cristmas and was wondering about a few things...
1) how big do they get?? 2)how big is the mininum tank for 3 of these?? 3) whats all the equipment i will i need to house three of them?? 4)how are they for a first time keeper of turtles?? Thanks james 
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27-10-2007, 05:19 PM
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minimum tank is 5 times the adult length and 3 times the width for the width if the tank. i think.
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Tom... 0.0.2 Bearded Dragon / 1.0.0 Gray Rat Snake / 1.0.1 Candy Cane Corns / 0.1.0 Hognose / 0.0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa / 0.0.1 African House Snake ... Many more to come.. Trust me :P
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27-10-2007, 06:16 PM
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i was thinking about keeping these a while ago! apparently its best to use a canister filter? and the water depth should be at least twice the height of the turtle on its side when young but they can have quite a bit more when adult length as said is around 5 times the length of the turtle they eat meat and vege i believe! they also need a little bundle of rock at one end so they can get out and "bask" /eat
 pretty obvious stuff but i didnt read that much about them!
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27-10-2007, 06:42 PM
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Quote:
So to answer the original questions... 1) A typical female Mississippi Map, the species most often seen in the UK, can grow to 10", males around half this size. They don't all get that big but yours might, so it's best to take the worst case scenario and assume they will grow to maximum size! The big problem is that unless you get juveniles or older you'll have no idea whether they are male or female. 2) If it turned out you had 3 females, and they all grew to 10", then the minimum tank size you'd need is one capable of holding 800 litres of water, plus a bit more because you probably can't fill it to the brim, you could need a 1000 litre tank. Realistically for adults you'd be looking at an indoor pond and an outdoor one during the warmer months, it's much more practical, and you'd need to use an appropriate size pond style filter and pump. Of course your starter setup would be a lot smaller than this, but to avoid having to upgrade almost immediately (because they grow fast), for 3 you should be looking at a 4' x 2' x 2' tank or equivalent, again with a suitable size external filter. 3) The main equipment is the tank/pond and filter. In addition to this you need to provide a basking area where they can easily climb right out of the water, a spotlamp to heat the basking area to around 32°C, and a UV lamp of at least 5% UVB output, preferably more, and this needs replacing every 6 months. The alternative for larger tanks is to use a Mercury Vapour combined heat and UVB lamp, but these aren't very practical for small tanks as they tend to overheat them. The only other bit of equipment you might need is a water heater if you got turts less than a year old, for older turts the heat from the bulbs and background heat from the room is sufficient to heat the water. 4) Maps are a pretty good starter species, but they tend to be a bit skittish and will dive straight in the water and stay there if they see you, some grow out of this and become bolder, but some never do. Food, a diet based on good quality turtle pellets, plus fresh fish and lean meat, pond snails and other aquatic inverts, shrimp, and veg such as Duckweed and other pond plants, Kale, Watercress etc... You can often get big tanks cheap on eBay if you have the means to collect them, or try Freecycle where I've got several big tanks for nothing, the fish section of Pets Classifieds is good too. Filters come up on there too, but you might be taking a risk buying used ones as they could be faulty. UVB Lamps just shop around for the best deal, and spotlamps come from any DIY store. Phew! Is that everything?
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27-10-2007, 06:58 PM
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No, sorry but any site i have been on says 5 times the length, but if you have 3 then i would add an extra foot or so on to both the length and width of the tank.
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Tom... 0.0.2 Bearded Dragon / 1.0.0 Gray Rat Snake / 1.0.1 Candy Cane Corns / 0.1.0 Hognose / 0.0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa / 0.0.1 African House Snake ... Many more to come.. Trust me :P
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27-10-2007, 06:59 PM
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Lol thanks for all that info! i actually think the 1s in the shop are fully grown for 20 quid...
so i might get 2 and they are about 5-7 inches all around! so how big a tank wouold i need for two of these
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