Home › Forums › Diamondback Terrapins › Impressive !
- This topic has 5 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 21 years, 2 months ago by
Michelle McGuffin.
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December 24, 2003 at 6:59 am #19222
kooldeejay
Hi people, I am a new memeber in this group. I was going through the database and messages. I must say, u guys have done a fab work ! I learnt a lot of things about terrapins and their care. Firstly, what brings me here are two small green terrapins called kabir and kapil. I got a fish tank from a friend, and i decided to have turtles as they have always fascinated me. so i have set up the tank, complete with heater, basking area, lighting and swimming space. The water level is 11cms (4.2 inches). Is this recommended ? I still am not sure about the species of my terrapin. I will be posting snaps in a while. In the meantime, I was wondering if there are any good links to find out about the vaious terrapins kept as pets. How do i identify them on basis of sex and age ? Please reply as soon as possible to this query. Thanks for your time, Regards, aBs, Dubai, UAE.
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December 24, 2003 at 7:47 am #19223
Tony and Judy Simmons
To identify species, visit http://www.chelonia.org and look at their species gallery. If yours have a red stripe on the side of the head, look at the Trachemys scripta elegans to see if that is what you have. Once you’ve determined species, we can tell you how to determine gender. The only real way to determine age is if you know the hatch date. We can probably guess to within a year or two if they are small, but even then there are no guarantees. I wish you joy. tony — kooldeejay
http://www.theturtleranch.com "God," I said. "This is terrible. Do something." "I have," God said softly. "I made you." -
December 24, 2003 at 9:14 am #19224
kooldeejay
hey man Tony, thanks a lot for the quick response. I did try http://www.chelonia.org/species.htm but I am afraid I could’nt exactly pinpoint the species from there. However, during my search on the web, i did stumble upon a pic that looked close to the terrapins that I have. The pic is on http://www.post1.com/home/kian/ Fish/Turtle1.jpg On the site it says that this particular species of turtle is called the pond terrapin or green turtle. Now, I need another big favor. I have posted some snaps of my pets and also of the tank that i have used to house them. Please advise as to if this is sufficient. I hope this is sufficient information to get the species name and then I am sure u can help me with the other details like age, sex, housing, etc,. Again thanks a lot for your enthusiasm and support, Looking forward to your comments, regards, aBs, Dubai, UAE.
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December 24, 2003 at 10:10 am #19225
Tony and Judy Simmons
What you have there are red eared sliders, Trachemys scripta elegans. There is a pretty good care sheet at http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-slider.htm RES are omnivores. The babies will be predominantly carnivorous for the first few years, then they will shift toward being herbivorous. Running a simple internet search on red eared slider will give you enough information to put you on sensory overload, but we’ll be happy to answer any additional questions you may have. What size is your tank? What lights are you using? What are your temps in the water and on your basking spot? What sort of filtration are you using? If you want, you are welcome to email me directly at tony@…. I wish you joy. tony ===== Tony and Judy Simmons turtleranchhoncho@… http://www.theturtleranch.com “God,” I said. “This is terrible. Do something.” “I have,” God said softly. “I made you.”
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December 24, 2003 at 1:02 pm #19226
kooldeejay
hey dude, thanks a lot for the quick response. I cant tell u how much i appreciate this. I checked and indeed what I have is red-ear Slider. i went to downtown dubai today to the pet store and got some dried shrimps in addition to the sticks I was using earlier. I am using the normal electric bulb for lighting. However, I plan on shifting to tube-light. Please advise on this. As for the tank setting. I have a 2.5 feet by 1.5 feet glass tank, and i have set up a flat basking area in the center of the tank as u can see in the snaps that i posted this evening. the water depth is 11 cms (4.2 inches) at the deepest point. However I can fill in more water, as i feel this will prolong the cleaning of the water. I think this is also better as the turtles have ample water to swim in (not that they dont have that now). I also plan on introducing a small sucker fish. (I am not sure what it is called elsewhere. It is a dark brown colored, ugly looking, scaly fish with a sucker like mouth and cleans up the dirt in the water as it feeds on it. I have asked the local pet shop owners, who say that this is ok. Finally, the issue of how long I have to clean the tank is not clear. The RSL clouds the water while it feeds on the sticks. The dry shrimps are better in this aspect. Thats about it, for now. Thanks for all your patience and time, I wanted to ask one personal question. Hope u dont mind, where exactly are u staying and what are the turtles that u have at ur place. regards, aBs, Dubai.
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December 24, 2003 at 3:40 pm #19227
Michelle McGuffin
I would recommend adding at least an Undergravel filter plate with some powerheads on the uptubes covered with some fine gravel (2mm size grains) and some larger gravel (1-2cm size grains) ratio 1:3 (fine:large)… this will encourage bacteria to grow in the gravel that will breakdown your sliders wastes. Many don’t think UG filters are all that great… Sure they can’t handle the big wastes fast enough but they do keep the ammonia levels (and cloudiness) in check. I also recommend you get a gravel vacuum (a big rigid tube with a smaller flexible hose on one end) to suck up the big wastes from the gravel while doing a water change once a week of at least 25% of the water. I have not had any problems with my sliders eating the gravel. If you can afford it, look for a canister filter (eg. fluval) for outside of the tank… they do a great job of handling the big wastes but are poor in biological cleansing of the water. They are however quite a bit more expensive than the UG filter plates and powerheads. You will still need to do regular water changes to remove the accumulating phosphates and nitrates which will cause algae to bloom. (the brown algae eater fish is likely a plecostomus) sliders do like to antagonize fish but some have gotten away with it. Ensure you have some good hiding places for your pleco to run to should it need some quiet time… The bigger the fish the better it’s chances of survival. Plecos can grow to 14 inches or so in length… be prepared to upgrade the tank size along the way. If fed right they could grow faster than the sliders. If not enough algae… both the sliders and plecos like the algae wafers you can pick up from the pet store… and zucchini bits from your veggie drawer. for more info on filtration try http://www.fishgeeks.com (if they get the page up and running again soon)… or you can write me back. Best of luck, Michelle Michelle McGuffin /: michellemcguffin284@… From: “kooldeejay” Reply-To: diamondbackterrapins@yahoogroups.com To: diamondbackterrapins@yahoogroups.com Subject: [diamondbackterrapins] Hi Tony ! Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2003 18:02:10 -0000 hey dude, thanks a lot for the quick response. I cant tell u how much i appreciate this. I checked and indeed what I have is red-ear Slider. i went to downtown dubai today to the pet store and got some dried shrimps in addition to the sticks I was using earlier. I am using the normal electric bulb for lighting. However, I plan on shifting to tube-light. Please advise on this. As for the tank setting. I have a 2.5 feet by 1.5 feet glass tank, and i have set up a flat basking area in the center of the tank as u can see in the snaps that i posted this evening. the water depth is 11 cms (4.2 inches) at the deepest point. However I can fill in more water, as i feel this will prolong the cleaning of the water. I think this is also better as the turtles have ample water to swim in (not that they dont have that now). I also plan on introducing a small sucker fish. (I am not sure what it is called elsewhere. It is a dark brown colored, ugly looking, scaly fish with a sucker like mouth and cleans up the dirt in the water as it feeds on it. I have asked the local pet shop owners, who say that this is ok. Finally, the issue of how long I have to clean the tank is not clear. The RSL clouds the water while it feeds on the sticks. The dry shrimps are better in this aspect. Thats about it, for now. Thanks for all your patience and time, I wanted to ask one personal question. Hope u dont mind, where exactly are u staying and what are the turtles that u have at ur place. regards, aBs, Dubai. MSN 8 helps ELIMINATE E-MAIL VIRUSES. Get 2 months FREE*.
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