Wild Caught (Rescued) Adults
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Hi … I recently acquired 2 adult wildcaught females rescued by Lori @ Turtle Homes … they’re really cool! And doing well. I currently have them in a 70 (probably about 50 gallons of water) gallon tank w a 20 gallon tank created as a wet/dry filter (filled with bio-balls). I’ll PROBABLY move them to a 120 gallon plywood tank once I fix the leak, giving them more room to cruise. I have a florescent light fixture with 2 40 watt bulbs above the tank (one Reptile UV/B bulb, one full spectrum) plus a Reptile 60 watt incandesent basking bulb above the tank. I keep them in brackish water … about 1.17 SG. They are currently eating Silversides which I thaw for them … the smaller female really chows, the larger has eaten but not vigorously. They also eat shrimp. I take them out of their tank to feed them to keep the water fresher. QUESTIONS … 1) How Often (about) should I change the water in the 70? Is 50% once a week a good rule of thumb or should I do it more often? 2) How often should I feed? Is every other day enough? How much fish? 3) Has anyone tried Frozen clam (tropical fish food)? How about frozen Crabs (caught and frozen for future use)? 4) Has anyone used Cuttlefish Bone to sipplement calcium needs? Thanks
Hi Jeffrey and all other Turtle Homes wc owners: First of all, skin lesions and shell rot is to be expected with wcs. Up the specific gravity to 1.019-1.021 for fast containment. Do not feed in the tank – adults of that size are best fed in a separate feeding tub since the mess will rapidly deteriorate water conditions and exacerbate the skin and shell problems. Crayfish will not suffice and may in fact contribute parasites to the tank if they are not from a sterile source. Regarding your questions: 1) 50% a week sounds about right but you need to monitor the tank and come up with your own conclusion. Don’t do more than a 50% change at one time, but more frequent changes might be necessary if you feed inside the tank, which I don’t recommend in one that size. 2) Feed 4-5 times a week as much as they can finish within ~20minutes. 3) Tried both clams and crabs- good sources of food but expensive. 4) I use cuttlebones since calcium blocks dissolve in the water readily. Chun — In diamondbackterrapins@yahoogroups.com, “jeffreyrichardssc”
Stephen, thanks for the response. Some follow-up questions … How long do you keep the SG at 1.19-1.21? What should I watch out for regarding shell rot? I’ve been taking the terps out of their tank on weekends (it’s been sunny and warm) and let them rome around an outdoor pen for several hours to dry them out … Do I just drop the cuttlebone into the tank for the terps to knaw on? Regarding food … the larger of the 2 terps doesn’t seem to like the silversides, though she chowed down two raw food shrimp last night. Ideas to get her to eat the (cheaper) fish? And a housing question … I need to build a basking area for them … was planning on building a wood platform above the tank with a ramp up from the water. How deep does the ramp need to extend into the water so they can climb out? And do I have to worry about plywood rotting if it is emersed in the salt water? Thanks Jeffrey A Richard “Stephen Chew”
diamondbackterrapins@yahoogroups.com @... Subject: [diamondbackterrapins] Re: Wild Caught (Rescued) Adults 09/29/2004 04:31 PM Please respond to diamondbackterrapins Hi Jeffrey and all other Turtle Homes wc owners: First of all, skin lesions and shell rot is to be expected with wcs. Up the specific gravity to 1.019-1.021 for fast containment. Do not feed in the tank - adults of that size are best fed in a separate feeding tub since the mess will rapidly deteriorate water conditions and exacerbate the skin and shell problems. Crayfish will not suffice and may in fact contribute parasites to the tank if they are not from a sterile source. Regarding your questions: 1) 50% a week sounds about right but you need to monitor the tank and come up with your own conclusion. Don't do more than a 50% change at one time, but more frequent changes might be necessary if you feed inside the tank, which I don't recommend in one that size. 2) Feed 4-5 times a week as much as they can finish within ~20minutes. 3) Tried both clams and crabs- good sources of food but expensive. 4) I use cuttlebones since calcium blocks dissolve in the water readily. Chun --- In diamondbackterrapins@yahoogroups.com, "jeffreyrichardssc" — In diamondbackterrapins@yahoogroups.com, JARichard@s… wrote: Keep the sg at these levels only if your terps are showing signs of skin and shell rot – lesions. The higher sg can dehydrate terrapins if access to freshwater is not provided on a regular basis. If shell rot is present, then keep the higher levels until the rot is gone and new growth can be seen. Watch for round, cream-colored lesions on the plastron or chin. This is what I do though you could tie or anchor it to something. Have you tried smelt? Another thing you can do is keep the shrimp and silversides together in the hopes of the shrimp smell transferring to the silversides. The wood needs to be just below the water surface so that they can get their front feet on it. It should ideally also have steps so that the terps can hold on to and pull themselves up by.
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