HATCHLING

[prtyeyesjm]

prtyeyesjm

September 2, 2003 at 2:40 pm #18865

i found a hatchling tangled in seaweed, how should i go about caring for it? Will i eventually be able to join it with my RES? Or do i need a seperate set-up for him?

[Todd Stockwell]

Todd Stockwell

September 2, 2003 at 5:35 pm #18868

Since no else has jumped in yet, I’ll try to give you a few things to get started: Check out two websites for lots of dbt care info.: 1) http://www.diamondbackterrapin.com 2) http://www.geocities.com/dterrapin/ It sounds like your RES is much too large to have a tiny hatchling added to its set up, but it sounds like you are asking about later? If so, there are those amongst this group that do keep mixed groups of dbts and other species together in freshwater tanks and ponds. You would need to weigh the risks of possible transmission of disease amongst the tankmates. It’s a matter of great debate, especially amongst breeders. But, yes, it’s possible (but always debatable) to keep a dbt and a RES together in freshwater. Keeping dbts in a brackish set up is also a matter of long debate, but a number of keepers here have found that hatchlings raised from the beginning in fresh water tend to do well in freshwater throughout their lives. Wild caught dbts tend to remain more sensitive to skin and shell problems in non-brackish set ups. This has been discussed a lot and you can refer to our archives to see the arguments for and against. Also, please be aware of any state species protection laws concerning dbts for your particular locale. There are size limits (and even seasons) for the taking of dbts from the wild in some of the east coast states. The size limits tend to permit the collection only of larger dbts, which are mostly bredding females (unfortunately). I don’t know where you are located and so cannot guess as to whether or not there might be wild collection concerns for you regarding hunting/fishing licenses requirements and/or possession regulations, but you should check it out with your state’s natural resources web site to be sure. Our group is dedicated to captive propagation so we also have to at least express some concern for the taking of hatchlings from the wild if they were not in foreseeable danger. Again, this is a topic that brings great debate and I am just trying to just give you some immediate feedback. There undoubtably will be some who, with good reason, will encourage you to consider releasing the hatchling where you found it and then consider acquiring a captive bred dbt or adopting a rescue. If you keep the dbt hatchling, it seems like your immediate focus will have to be on setting up a separate environment for it. With a RES already several inches in size, you are probably looking at more than a year to get the dbt up to three inches or so, at least, before it would be advisable to try combining it with a much larger turtle. And the RES will continue to grow relatively quickly, as well, depending on how much you feed them. Keeping them together will also largely depend on their individual personalities. I’ve had both diamondbacks and RES that were ferocious biters of other turtles, highly territorial over the basking site, bullies for feed, etc. Others are fine with any and all tankmates. You won’t know if they can live together until you try it under closely observed circumstances. It’s always possible that turltes of very different sizes and species might make it o.k. together, but usually juveniles require housing with only other non-aggressive juveniles of approximately the same size to thrive. The web sites above will help you set up a dbt hatchling if you decide to keep it. Let us know what other questions you still need help with. Todd prtyeyesjm

[prtyeyesjm]

prtyeyesjm

September 2, 2003 at 6:23 pm #18869

Thank you so much for your response! The reason why I was hesitant to release the dbt was because he was all tangled up and we have had an extreme temperature drop recently in the area and i thought he would be too cold in the water because i know the babies need to be kept in the mid 80’s. I am going to try my best to take adequate care of him he’s the cutest thing i’ve ever seen. today i bought a smaller tank to fit inside the RES tank (big tank)so that he can be under the lights and they can look at each other! thank you so much. Jos.

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