Terri the red eared terrapin + new tattoo

Went to get my eye of Horus tattoo done today. And its turned out rather nice.

What else was nice, was the little fish supplies store next to the tattoo place. They had hundreds of fish tanks and very well looked after fish, however sitting in a loney dark corner was a HUGE red eared terrapin! His shell was covered in green mould (pictured) which looked terrible! He was also in a tiny tank with the smelliest water I have ever seen! So out of pity and love of these little turtles I picked him up Plus they are like goldust in the pet trade these days. I kept about 6 when I was younger but never had any grow to this size!

Got him home and gave his shell a good clean up! And hes rather hansome underneath! Currently a happy chappy in our bathtub until we treat the water for his tank. I will get better pictures when hes not so shy

Nice red-eared slider (name in U.S.). There shells can be gently scrubbed clean. I have one that, if I'm gaging the size of your arm to him right, is at least 3 times bigger, and lives in a 150+ gallon tank. Watch out, they get HUGE. I wish the pet trade wouldn't sell them without a warning because owners don't realize that there little cuties grow up to need ponds to live in one day.

BTW, nice tattoo!

kimbyra said:

Nice red-eared slider (name in U.S.). There shells can be gently scrubbed clean. I have one that, if I'm gaging the size of your arm to him right, is at least 3 times bigger, and lives in a 150+ gallon tank. Watch out, they get HUGE. I wish the pet trade wouldn't sell them without a warning because owners don't realize that there little cuties grow up to need ponds to live in one day.

Click to expand...

I wonder why trade names are different depending on countries... Anyhoo hes in a 3ft aquarium right now, with plans to update within the next few months. He has a full spectrum uv light and aquarium heater keeping the temperatures between 78 - 82 degrees. I need to get him a platform of some sort. What have I missed! LOL

Any pictures of setups would be nice, and any tips that would help me with this cute fella.

This is going to sound so stupid, but how long can turtles go underwater for!? Wee terri has been submerged for about 10 mins now, And I just want to put him on his platform, like breath bitch breath!!!

They will swim up and breathe when they want to, don't worry. My turtle, Edna, is too heavy for a platform, so we had to improvise. I wish I had a camera, I would post some pics. They like most of their tank to be water, with just an area for basking, which they like to do. I use a heat lamp over the basking platform, so the water is much cooler. After all, they're not tropical. Sounds like you're doing a great job. Has he/she hissed at you? They do that every now and then (but rarely) when you pick them up.

LOL no he hasnt yet but he has tried to kick away when I picked him up
Hes ok now... Sittin on his wee platform

Im excited about this. I havent kept turtles since I was young... And its all quite new to me again!

Oh btw another example of petstore arrogance, The guy told us to keep him in a 2ft tank with only an inch of water... That was how he was in the petstore.... I said nothing of course and just took the little fella home for a good old swimmy! LOL

He also only sold us dry food that was a "staple diet", of course this will only make up about 25% of his diet. We will slowly introduce him to some red meat and leafy greens!

My turtles main diet is Meow Mix cat food. (He gets normal turtle food also.) I don't know if they sell it there, but its great and meets their basic nutritional requirements. Lots of protein. It also floats, but can leave a little oily sheen on the water. Since they pee a lot and need their tank changed often, its not a big deal though.
Congrats on your new pet!

25% water change every 2 weeks was what I used to do, including my aquariums... We shall see how it goes