I Brought My Daughter 2 Cumberland Turtles One Died So We Got Another One. We Were Then Told By Another Member Of Staff That They Were In Fact Commom Musk Turtles,our Set Up Included A 48litre Tank,normal Light,heater And Filter And Dry Rock. We Were Told We Did Not Need A Uv Light And To Fill The Tank Only Half Way. Is This Correct,if Not Please Help Before The Other One Dies,as For Fedding We Were Told To Feed Them Blood Worm,what Else Can I Give Them?
If You Have Replied,thank You So Much Xxxxxxx

turtles require UVa and UVb rays..... a Uv lamp/ bulb would be a good idea... most of the time the LFS / Pet shop owners dont know what they r talking about... it is always better to read books or reserach on the internet before buying any pet....

to make sure that ur turtle recovers/ does not fall ill, keep the water clean.. u can change about 35% of the water every week, but u will need to clean the entire tank atleast once a month... DO NOT USE SOAP as it may harm the turtles....

you need to feed them a varied diet to make sure that they get all the neutrients required.... u can feed them vegetables like lettuce, tomatoes, spinach leaves, and fruits like bananas, grapes , apple etc..... they will also need some animal matter like raw fish, prawns etc.. avoid feeding chicken to ur turtles.. if u do feed chicken as an occasional treat, make sure that it is cooked chicken ( boiled ) uncooked chicken can be contaminated with salomenella bacteria.....

u can use regular tap water, use a water conditioner.. .....

to keep the tank clean u will need to use a good water filter.. clean the filter with ur weekly water changes.....

here is a usefull link:
Mud and Musk Turtles - Reptiles and Amphibians

hope this helps... if i can be of more help pls email me.....

Make a photobucket account.

Upload detailed pictures of the two.

Copy the IMG code they give you

Paste it into a post.

When we know species we can discuss care.

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I think I've heard it all now, I know most shop staff know zilch about turts, but mistaking Musks for Cumberlands is about as bad as it can get!

Did the first turt die shortly after you'd got it or had you had them a while? If it died shortly afterwards then it's highly unlikely to be due to anything you did wrong, much more likely the shop sold you a sick turt, or possibly one that was really too young to be sold. Although adult Musks are very hardy turts very young hatchlings can be rather fragile, a Musk of less than 1" SCL isn't really a suitable beginners turt for this reason.

TBH buying another turt to replace the dead one wasn't too smart, you don't know why it died and you don't know that the surviving one isn't sick too and just not showing it yet, and now you have another one living with it...

Despite what the shop told you Musks do need a UVB lamp as much as any other species of turt, whatever anyone tells you they do bask and they do have exactly the same lighting requirements.

Bloodworm is OK as an occasional treat, but it's nutritionally rather poor and no good on its own. Musks are almost totally carnivorous so there's probably not much point feeding them fruit and veg. You need to get them eating a good quality pellet turtle food as the basis of their diet, this will ensure that they get all the neccessary vits and minerals they need. In addition to this you can feed small strips of raw meat, freshwater fish such as trout, dried or fresh river shrimp, mussels, pond snails (but breed your own, wild caught snails can be heavily parasitised), all sorts of inverts.

Your tank is really too small, and I would guess that the filter you're using is a small internal one (?) in which case it's not doing a lot of good, a bigger tank with a decent size external filter is what you need.

If you were told 2 different things I wouldn't trust either one. Do google image searches of each species or post a picture here =]

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Good point, if they can't identify a Cumberland correctly then what's the likelihood of them knowing a Musk when they see it!

I'd be interested to know what shop this is?

Thanks For All Your Help,the Shop Is Called Two By Two In Plymouth. Just Checked Google And They Are Common Musk Turtles.

How thats sorted...

Have a read of this...

The Terrapin Tank - www.TerrapinTank.co.uk -

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