rescued my DBT from an Asian grocery and need input

[Rowena Tan]

Rowena Tan

October 14, 2000 at 3:17 am #13570

Finally! I found some place that has information on DBT! In May, I was visitng family in Ohio and went to an Asian grocery. My husband spotted a box of live turtles meant for soup. We both felt incredibly sorry for the animals and purchased the one on top of the heap: a female, shell is about 8 inches long. She was sold by the pound, like meat usually is, and we got her for $12. The downside is that neither of us has ever owned a reptile of any sort (so please excuse my turtle ignorant terms). For the first month or two, every turtle “expert” that we took her to (including the vets) had no clue what type of turtle she was. I finally got on the web and figured it out for myself. She looks exactly like the photos of the Texas DBT. For the summer months (we live in Iowa), she lived outside in a 4×8 enclosure with her pool. We have since taken her inside for the winter where she resides in a 60 gallon tank (it has a filter and a heater). If anyone has the time to answer some questions, please help us! 1-Should we expect her to hibernate when she is kept inside? Do DBT hibernate? 2-in the summer, she spent most of her time out of the water. Now, despite the enclsoures, basking area, and warm light, she prefers to stay in the water 24/7. She can get out of the water, it is only 4 inches deep, she just doesn’t. Is this okay? She has a little “carport” that she likes to hide under in the water. 3-how much salt do I put in the water? 4-we have only witnessed her eating feeder goldfish. She can consume 8 in half an hour. How often do we supply her with these? Every time we put a fish in there, it disappears quickly. Does she need veggies or am I being too much like mom? She refuses turtle sticks. Are there other available live foods that anyone can recommend? 5-how warm should her water and environment be? I apologize for being so clueless. I have been digging up all the information I can from books but they don’t seem very specific to DBT. Thanks!!!!

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