hatchlig care ?’s

[bill sawilchik]

I have had my Diamndback @ 3 weeks and it is doing great. I just wanted to make sure his diet is sufficient. ZooMed hatchling aquatic pellets – Tubifex worms – Wardley’s turtle food – ZooMed turlte treat – Tetra baby freeze dried shrimp. Vitalight 5.0 – 75w Zoomed basking bulb – Tempature maintained(submersible heater) @ 81. I did not plan I raising the dbt in saltwater, but breeder was already rearing him in salt so I should continue….right? Lastly, what is the proper way to chemically monitor the water. Should I be concerned w/ PH, Ammonia levels as long as I am keeping the water fresh swaping out half the water every 5 – 7 days?

[Todd Stockwell]

Bill; The diet and set up sounds good to me if he’s thriving. The only question I have is about the salinity of the water the breeder and you are keeping hatchlings in. So far, the majority on the list tend to believe that hatchlings stay in less salty water and move towards more salty water as they age. I think we’ve seen a reference to a study that found hatchlings to fail to grow much in salt water and to do better in fresher water. I have no experience with trying salt water at all, so I’m asking a question, too. Can you share the name and details of the breeder with the list? Todd in Texas bill sawilchik wrote:

[Julie Tougas]

I agree . In Turtles and tortoises of United states and canada, it is written that baby diamondbacks will spend their frist few years in fresh to slightly salt water. I keep my hatchling in fresh water with a pinch of salt just to prevent fungus while their plastron heals then I move htem to entirely freshwater until they have reached about 2-3″. At that point they get a varied salinity depending on the week. Julie Tougas Montreal,Quebec Todd Stockwell wrote:

[modelgrafx@aol.com]

The food sounds fine but as far as keeping him in brackish water opinions on this list vary considerably. My first juvenile dbt had been kept in brackish water before I got him and I slowly eased him into fresh over a period of about 1 month. He has been in fresh ever since along with my other 16 dbts. I never have any skin problems. I expect to get a bunch of babies this season and they will also be kept in fresh. Vickie

[modelgrafx@aol.com]

Also, dbts need fresh water to drink if kept in brackish or so I have been told. Vickie

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