Re: Adding some Musk into the mix
I would like to thank Jimmy and Scott for their replies. Apparently, the subject of mixing turtles, especially DBTs is pretty debateable. Personally I will be keeping the musk seperate and under observation until sometime in November or December. And I may never add it into my larger DBT tank. I personally don’t think risking the DBTs safety is worth having another “clean up crew” member in the tank. I will use the quarantine period to observe the turtles behavior. As for Guttata.. His suggestion on the removal of algae from the musks shell using peroxide has been very helpful, and today I have found that there’s a nice brown shell under the layer of black/green. I only hope we haven’t lost any potentially valuable sources of information in the future. He seemed fairly civil despite the fact that he and I were on somewhat opposite sides of a debate in this thread. Now, in reply to Julie: environment thats completely opposite from its wild environment? I try very hard to immitate their native environment so that they prosper ( not simply live).<< I think that turtles are a very adaptable species. And, I'm not sure exactly to what you are reffering to, my DBTS being kept in freshwater, or the mention of possibly adding the musk to deeper than normal water, or both. If you mean the DBTs, there are certainly as many keepers that keep them in fresh as there are those that keep them in salty. (If not more) And there really isn't any evidence that this affects them at all. My three (which I got from Rick earlier in the summer, thanks again! Beautiful turtles!)were kept in fresh since hatching I believe, which means that they have no concept of saltwater. I do believe that moving a saltwater DBT to fresh maybe harmful, but I doubt it's much of a problem if the turtles were never in salt. As for the Musk, as Scott and Jimmy all ready pointed out, seeing a musk in deep water isn't as unnaturual an occurence as some people think. While a fair number of musks that journey into deep water no doubt end up drowning, that danger factor is something that would not be present in a tank. (Unless an accident occured of course, I think we all fear that regardless of our set up styles.)I think if an animal is kept healthy, and with more than adequate cage space, and treated well enough that it seems to be "enjoying" it's enclosure, that it's prospering pretty well.