Hi all.

Well this is my first post, most likely with many more to come....

My wife and I are about to rescue some yellow bellied ( we think ) terrapins from her sister. At the moment they are in a fish tank that is far to small and they are struggling to say the least. We are hoping that we can spend a bit of money and move them to our house so they can be a bit more comfortable........

So there are many questions. We have worked out how to transport them ( thanks to Swallow Aquatics ) and we are guessing that we need to get a bigger tank for them. Also a UVB light and a heat lamp for them to bask under... The thing is we may be going completely wrong as we are just working off the information we can find on the internet.

Can anyone offer us some advice on how to look after these animals? Just general stuff that you may think is logical but we may have completely missed would be good.

At the moment she has a bottom feeder fish in with them but everyone that we have spoken to says that if they were well they would have probably eaten it!!!! Should we get rid of the fish?

Any help at all would be great as these will be our shelled family members...

Hi,firstly how many and what size?They need a lot of space and a very good strong water filter.They need plenty of water and a place to get out of the water with a heat bulb to bask and they need good uv too.

The first thing is to find out what size, age, and sex they are. Tank size will depend on the size of the turts, filter size will be dictated by tank size, and to an extent so will the type of UVB.

Well we have now returned home with the two terrapins and have started the cleaning process ( of tank and filter ).

We may have a male and a female as they are the same age but one is slightly lighter in colour and larger than the other. I say they are the same age but that is "bought" age so they might be different ages. I know, not much help. In my defence I personally would not have bought them as i admit I don't know enough to look after them well, but hence I am here trying to learn....lol

They are both just over two inches in shell length so i am thinking that the tank they came in is far to small already. It is 15 by 10 by 12 inches and is really a fish tank. It is one of the ones you would buy as a kit for your child to have a few fishes in it with a built in lamp, filter and heater. ( both the filter and heater ( glass ) stretch into the tank ).

I would go and buy another tank right now but everything is closed and I dont think I will be able to get one tomorrow either.

My thoughts are this, I need a UVB lamp ( as i think the strip light in the tank is a normal white light ), I need a bigger tank ( at least 24 by 12 by 12 inches ), I need a basking lamp of sorts ( like a terrarium one ie ceramic? ) and i need a filter that is desinged for a tank about twice the size of what ever I buy. Does that sound like a start?

As for tonight we are trying to make the little tank more acceptable, ie giving them a platform to rest on, cleaning it and some proper food.

So given that, please tell me where I am going wrong already............ Thanks.......................................


OK. A bit of an update...lol... This is going from bad to worse. The filter in the tank is a no goer. So that needs replacing. We have them in the tank they came in now in water at 24 degrees. ( Read that elsewhere ). We can give them food and light for tonight and then attempt to make things better tomorrow. I am guessing that when we go to bed tonight we turn the light out to simulate night time for them and then turn it back on when we get up so they get about 12-14 hours "day" light.

Cheers for any help that comes....

You're right about the tank being too small, it would have been too small even when they were tiny hatchlings, and it's not even big enough for one of them at their current size.

Regarding a replacement you need to think a lot bigger than 24" x 12" x 12" as that would still be far too small. The rule is a minimum 40 litres of water per inch SCL for the biggest turt, and 20 litres per inch for each additional turt. Let's say they are both 2.5" so that's (2.5 x 40) + (2.5 x 20) = 150 litres of water.

At their current size I'd estimate they may be around 1 year old, it's impossible to sex them at that age, but whatever sex they are they'll probably double in size in the next year, then add an inch or so a year for the next few years, the growth rate will gradually slow as they reach full adult size.

When looking for a new tank you may as well get something that'll last a while, there's no point getting one and setting it all up then having to upgrade in a few months time. So I'd be looking for a tank that can hold at least 300 litres to last them a year or so, bearing in mind you probably won't be able to fill the tank to the brim you need a tank with a total volume of around 400 litres. That would be something like a 48" x 24" x 24" or equivalent, 8 times the volume of a 24 x 12 x 12!

For a filter, you're right it needs to be rated for at least twice the water volume, so for this example that would be 600 litres. A filter that size will cope well while they are quite small, but you may find it struggles when they are bigger, the options are to either get a bigger filter now, or upgrade to a bigger filter when it becomes neccessary, or add a second filter later on. Or if you're at all practical it's actually very easy and cheap to make your own large filter.

My recommendation for a UVB would be either a 10% compact flourescent with an ordinary 40-60W reflector spotlamp for heat, or with the size of tank you'll be needing an MVB would be a better choice. I wouldn't recommend a ceramic for turts, they benefit from the higher light levels provided by a spotlamp and they're a fraction of the price.

You can stop using the water heater now, at their age they don't need it as long as your house is reasonably warm, background heat from the room and heat from the lamps should be enough to keep the water around 20°C which is quite warm enough now they are past the hatchling stage. The water temp will only drop a few degrees while the lights are off overnight and they can cope with that OK.

Just a little tip..
Bare bottom tanks keep the water clean so no gravel is better.

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or you could just buy a gravel cleaner from you local pet shop to clean your gravel and you could build up natural bacteria in your gravel to help break down nitrate and amonia

have you thought about an indoor pond? You can use a ready moulded fibreglass or plastic one, you can make one out of wood and pond lining or even something brick built. You need to ensure they have plenty of space and fresh air so this would be the ideal solution

Turts often ingest gravel accidentally which can cause impaction, so for that reason it's best not to have it.
The place for beneficial bacteria is in the filter, which is why a big external one is needed.
If you really can't stand the sight of a bare bottom (!), then a single layer of smooth river rock or slate chippings looks great, and doesn't trap debris as long as you have a powerful filter.

That's exactly what I've done, a large wooden box built from 3/4" ply and 2 x 2, lined with heavy duty PVC pond liner. Holds over 500 litres and cost about £20 (free liner from Freecycle!), and it can be dismantled when they go outdoors in spring. It doesn't look quite as nice as a big tank but it's only for the winter.