Hi there,
i have just bought a new tank and have set it up according to what the guy at the aquatics store suggested. i am hoping to get 2 or 3 soft shell turtles (i don't know exactly what breed) and would just like a few things cleared up.
1:Is it necassary to have a basking dock. (the shop guy said just to fill the 60 g tank up with water untill just below the rim)?

2:can soft shells climb very well (i have filled the tank up to about 2-3 inches below the surface and it is an open top tank with no lid)?

3:i know that they like to bury but the substrate in the tank is about 10mm gravel and can they still bury though this?

Thankyou

Sam

Soft Shelled turtles particularyl T Sinensis are very aggressive so I would only keep one. It is better to keep one immaculate specimen imo than a couple of damaged animals.

I agree, more than one softie in a tank is asking for trouble, they'll amost certainly fight and one or both suffer serious injury.

Yes they can climb, but don't be tempted to put a lid on the tank, just put some wire mesh over the top. Plastic coated wire cooling racks are good for this.

Don't use gravel, they can ingest it which causes compaction, just use clean playsand (not builders sand).

They do bask and need a basking spot where thay can haul themselves right out of the water, with a proper UVB lamp and a spotlamp and correct temps. A piece of corkbark wedged across one end of the tank makes an excellent basking spot.