Services - Brisbane Turtles

Starter Care Guide for Turtles

Tank Set Up

Tank size a wide 3 foot tank will easy house a turtle for a couple of years, a 4 x 2 x 2 foot will house a couple of turtles many years. Avoid narrow tanks, as this makes it hard for them to turn around, when larger. Filter internal is not preferred but as a short-term measure will work. An External filter is great, a sump filter is best but harder to set up. Bigger the better, if the pet shop says a size, go up 2 sizes.

Heater, maintain the water temperature about 25 C, ideal for the turtle to digests food well, 22 to 28 C is good, over 30 C they can get sick. A plastic heater guard over the heater is a must have, as a scuttling turtle can break the heater glass or burn itself in rare occasions if it decides to sit or lay against the heater. A broken heater is a safety risk to yourself.

Tank Substrate, use Calgrit (available from good Produce stores) which contains Calcium which helps with good health. Avoid gravel or small stones as the turtle may eat it and won’t pass easily, Calgrit does dissolve in their system. Some people also use sand which is ok, but not my choice.

Lighting, need to use a reptile UV fluro light which emits UVB spectrum of light, helps with good health, and change the Fluro yearly. Have no glass or plastic should be between the light and the water, otherwise this will reduce the UV. Remove any diffusers from under the light.

Water quality, needs to be clean, if using town water use a water conditioner to Dechlorinate the water, just as for fish. Rain water is better. Use some Aquarium salt on set up and water changes, small amount is only needed. The salt will help with any wounds or bites to heal and also helps with skin health. The water Ph need to be a Neutral of 7+, also keep in mind the water quality needed is not as strict as a tropical fish tank.

A Dock, the turtle requires to climb out of the water to dry out, have an area of a floating dock or removable platform with a heat lamp for some dry heat and with an overhead heat lamp.

Turtle health blocks from pet stores are not necessary if you are using Calgrit.

Plants are used to hide in and also helps them to perch just below the water level, and also is an important food source.

Turtles do like to hide but avoid items which may cause any entrapment of them.

Food and Feeding

As a baby, we feed them

frozen Blood Worms (thawed),
live Black Worms (can be hard to source Aquarama at Stafford and Smiths Aquarium at Boondall normally have them),
live guppy fry of Gudgeons (native fish) and
pellets. The pellets we use and recommend is Hikari Cichlid Gold, and comes in 4 different sizes so you can increase the size of the pellet as the turtle grows.

Other foods as they grow can include

crickets,
feeder prawns
woodies which are available from pet shops or online.

Do not serve the Turtle Veg, Baby Turtle Food, Turtle Dinners blocks or Beef hearts, these contain a lot of fats and ingredients not found in waterways, and basically is McDonalds for Turtles. Most of these are also they are designed to feed turtles in other countries, not Australian Native Turtles.

When buying feeder fish, Goldfish are not good for turtles and should be avoided.

As a baby your turtle should be fed once a day a small amount of what it can eat in about 5 minutes. As it grows and reaches 8 months of age we normally add in one day when they get no food, to when they are 2 years old they get fed every 2 to 3 days.

Plants, particularly the short neck turtles love to eat plants and will also hide and climb through the plants, lots of plants is good for the baby turtles. Common plants used are Val and Elodea, which is easy to get.

Best way to feed your baby turtle, is to draw some water from the tank into a 3 litre container or a suitable size container, put in your turtles, give a serve of pellets and wait for 10 min approx., give a serve of blood worms thawed, about 0.5 to 1 cube per turtle, allow time for them to eat the worms and also defecate and then return the turtles back to the tank and discard the water.

Using a white table or a piece of paper under the container will make it easier for them to see the food.

Dry time

It is always good for your turtle to get on time in the sun. It’s a good idea to have a shady section while in the sunny position. This should be a fully supervised and not at the hottest time of the day. Turtles heat up very quickly and need to be monitored. 10 to 30 minutes. Make sure they are contained as they do and will wander about or climb out, they can climb very well for their size.

Handling

There is nothing wrong with handling your turtle, in fact it’s recommended. Careful how you pick up the turtle, they have sharp claws and are very strong. Best to have fingers on top and underneath of the shell. Turtles are extremely good climbers. A container with high walls, should be used to keep them in.

Travelling with turtles

When you need to transport a turtle (to a vet or holidays etc) never transport them in water, place in a small box which has lid with holes for air to get in a damp towel and transport them like this. Use a lid to stop your turtles from climbing out and will stop them getting lost inside your car. If travelling long distance, when you stop for a break, put the turtles into some water while having the rest.

Never leave your turtle in a parked car, even if it is in the shade, cars and turtles heat up extremely quickly and this can be fatal.

Sexing your turtle

Very hard to tell, but when of 2 to 4 years old is easier, the male has a long tail and the female has a short tail. Refer to turtle web pages for more information.

FYI. On the day of pickup.

We only feed the baby turtles at night only, as this suits our routine. So, your new baby has not eaten today. Also, it may take up to a few days before they decide to eat, don’t be alarmed as they can survive over a week without food. Your new family member may take time to adopt to its new home and activity around them. Enjoy your new turtles.