Hi, I am new here. I have just bought 2 common musks, which I bought on Sunday. I have them in a 10 gallon tank at the moment as they are both no more than 1.5" long. We are having a uch larger tank custom made for us within the next few weeks though to give them space to grow.

Just a couple of questions:

1. They guy in the shop said that they are fine with just tap water - is this true or do they need any additives, if so what would people advise.

2. I went to an aquarium supplies shop yesterday and asked if they had any live food they could advise and the guy seemed to get a bit shirty and said that he wouldn't even think about selling me live food for turtles and that I would find nowhere that would - all of the articles I have read say that it is best to give them some live food. does anyone know of any suppliers in dorset?

I have a turtle in the same family as yours. I do not use tapwater unless i only add tiny little amounts, and even then i prefer to treat the water using this;

Livefood UK Ltd.

Regarding live food, it isnt necessary per se. You could try some frozen (defrosted!) bloodworm, lancefish or etc. You can try feeding with prawn, but soak them for a while first to remove excess salt.

Musks are scavangers, its hard to feed them green-matter, same as it is hard to feed it to my Mud.

Any help?

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By the way, if you have started using tap water then dont worry it wont be the end of the world - i'd just advise you change to treating it as soon as you possibly can!

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Although turtles are alot hardier than fish in that respect, you do still need to treat the water to remove the chlorine. You can use normal fish products but I prefer to use Zoo Med's Reptisafe as it's no more expensive and it's designed for turts and other reptiles etc.

thanks guys, very helpful. also one of them is very lively and seems happy to swim around all day and likes to be handled and taken out every now and again, but the other seems to spend most of his time loafing around in a rock cave that I have for them and keeps near the surface of the water. Is this a sign that 'he' is unhappy or could this just be 'his' natural habit? I say 'he' as I have not been able to get him out to have a look yet.

Anyone from the dorset area who knows of any good stockists of general turtle products?

Turtles do seem to vary in personality, some are more outgoing, some like to bask more etc. Why don't you give us some details about the setup and we'll help you tweak it abit if need be? I prefer to get my supplies off various websites, tends to be cheaper and you'll have a wider selection.

I have a clear seal corner unit tank, with erm... not sure of the brand of heater or filter I will have a lok when I replace the water over the weekend. the Light goes across the span of the roof as it is quite a small enclosure. I have a large graduating rock that rises above the water level on one side (my girlfriend says it looks like the rock from the lion king.lol). and at the front is a bridge that they can climb over and under. on the other side is a hollow rock with 'coral' over it that they can hide in, and various real plants scattered over the place. the filter is in the back corner out of the way. I have large gravel in the bottom (too big for them to eat). I will try to get a photo when I get home from work.

By "livefood" the guy in the shop probably though you meant fish etc..., and if they are an aquatics place it's hardly surprising he wouldn't sell you any. I don't feed mine fish, but they do get crickets, Mayflies, pond snails, and other invertebrates.

As for stockists, I buy most of my stuff from Surrey Pet Supplies, they're local so I don't have to pay shipping, but even with shipping their prices are pretty reasonable and they stock most of what you need.

The food doesn't have to be live but musks and muds should have animal matter. Bloodworm, earthworms, goldfish, guppies... anything along those lines... and dare I say... t-rex makes a good terrapin food.


As to the water... Fill a large bucket and let it sit for a day or two or more before you use it. All your worried about is the chlorine which quickly dissipates.

When I worked in a shop many years ago we never used additives. The method described worked just fine for even the most delicate fish.



Yes, it does

But not all the time eh?

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