Baby Terrapin Rescue
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Hello everyone! I just rescued a baby turtle that I have identified as a Diamondback Terrapin. The little bugger just walked in a family friend’s front door one day. I was wondering what pointers people could give me for taking care of tiny turtles. My parents have two red eared sliders right now so little Gamera (the Terrapin) came to live with me in my apartment. I have a small tank with rocks, spanish moss, and a small pool. After some research in turtle books we had, I made this formula to re-fill his little pool: 1 gal. tap water 2 tsp salt 1/2 capfull “Turtle Clean”- Biological reduction of turtle waste 40 drops of “reptisafe” water conditioner. His pool holds only about 10 oz of liquid, but that is enough for him to cover his shell and float in, but he rarely explores the rest of the cage it seems. Right now he seems to eat krill much more readily than floating sticks. Gamera is tiny. His shell itself is only about an inch long. I would really any nudges in the right direction with this little guy. Thanks alot!
— In diamondbackterrapins@yahoogroups.com, “Frank”
Hi Frank, I, too, have rescued turtles. My boyfriend initially wanted me to turn them loose in the water (but now he’s very attached) but they don’t have a great rate of survival when they are so small. There are so many things that can eat them and kill them, and I know it’s just the “circle of life” but anyway if you at least keep him til he’s bigger he’ll have a better chance of making it on his own. I know there is lots of information on setting up tanks on the group webpage, but here’s how I started out: I got a small tank (10 gallon) and filled it about 1/2way with water. I added “instant ocean” salt to the water (it’s available at petsmart and has instructions on the side. the instructions are for fish and dbt’s usually live in brackish water, with different salinity levels, so I use less than you would for salt water fish and I don’t worry about being very exact – I tend to err on the side of less salt.) I originally fed the babies either raw fish or shrimp from the grocery store, or frozen brine shrimp. If yours likes krill that’s good but I think their natural food is brine shrimp – that’s what my friend who lives on thier nesting ground told me. Eventually when he is bigger (your dbt, not my friend!) he will probably be happy to eat pellets. The recommended pellet (by this group) seems to be Reptomin or Mazuri, both also available at petsmart, as is the frozen brine shrimp. I have also got an submersible heater and a filter. The dbt will be happier to eat and swim around if he is pretty warm. And you need to give him a way to get out of the water and bask, and he should be able to dry completely out, feet and underbelly and all. If he totally won’t get out of the water, you might want to take him out and “dry dock” him once in awhile for an hour or so. I do think that other people on here know lots more than I do about dbts, but I also totally understand your wanting to save the little guy. Frankly, I’d never go out looking for one, but the dbts I “rescued” (they were both actually found by other people and given to me) are really friendly, sweet, and fun to watch and be around. I’m really glad they didn’t end up as crow food. Good luck! Nicole Frank
Hi All, So far this year is looking better than the last couple because I have 18 fertile ornate eggs incubating, 13 for female and 5 for male. These were first season clutches so I am hoping for more. I should know in a couple of weeks if there will be any more on the way. Just a heads up for those that have been waiting for so long. Vickie (group owner) We Made Changes Your Yahoo! Groups email is all new. 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