Christmas present...

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Tempest

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My boyfriend bought him for me as an early Christmas present at the Columbus show last weekend. I haven't posted yet because I'm an idiot and lost my gecko and I've been freaking out. But he's soo cute, and I'm soo excited! He's really active and eating well already. He's about an inch and a half long. He's really active and eating well already. :) I think his name's going to be Yin-Yang or something, because the design on one of his scutes looks like one. He's my first water turtle. I wanted a snapper, but didn't feel comfortable having one shipped because it's so darn cold!

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It seems like there are a lot of DBT keepers around here. Do you guys use a substrate for yours? I have him in a bare Rubbermaid now, except for a basking platform and a couple of fake plants, and I'm looking for suggestions. Should I leave it bare, or put something down?

I'm looking at Southern Painteds next. (Always thinking of the next one :p)
 

Kristina

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Awww, what a cutie!

For babies I tend to not use substrate, as they seem more likely to put things in their mouths, plus it takes less amounts for them to become impacted.

With my adult DBT I use just regular washed Quickrete construction sand. You can also use washed playsand, but it is harder to wash because it has clay added to help it stick together when kids are making castles and such. The Quickrete washes much faster and easier.

A lot of people used crushed coral sand (like for saltwater aquariums, however, you do NOT want the "live sand" kind) because the extra calcium that leaches into the water seems to be good for them, and is a natural type substrate. My water is ridiculously high in calcium, right off the charts, so I have never worried about that. (I don't dose my saltwater tank either and my corals do just fine. I also used to raise a lot of pomacea bridgesii snails, and other people were jealous of how great their shells were.)
 

Tempest

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Thanks for the good advice, Kristina. On another note, *that's* why it's so hard to wash playsand. :rolleyes:

I didn't know you can only edit posts for 30 minutes, or I would have proofread more thoroughly earlier. I told you twice that he was active and eating well. :p

Merry Christmas!
 

coreyc

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Very cute what a nice Christmas present :) keep the pic's coming I love looking at them there awesome Christmas
 

Macheteslaststep

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As babies I keep bare bottom tanks. When they graduated to the 150 gallon stock tank, I used crushed coral and large river rocks. They seem to like the mix and I actually found Dino hald buried in the coral last night sleeping. Lots of hiding places, plants, driftwood and what not to explore. Just make sure he can't get any part of him stuck in anything. I found Shellder with his head stuck in an ornament one day last year. After a half hour of CPR it was still touch and go. Fortunately he is alive and well to this day. I also keep a colony of breeding guppies in the tank. It's big enough that they never catch them all :p

Good luck with your baby. DBTs have such a personality! They actually make my MM turtle a little more outgoing.
 

Cherbear

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If you don't mind me asking? How much do they usually cost there? I go a few times a year. How big do they get? He's really neat looking!
 

dmmj

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I so desperately want a DBT also, perhaps an experienced keeper can answer this, I know wild DBT's like brackish water, can the hatchlings be raised in non brackish water?
 

abra

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Wow! So cute and unique looking :)
 

Tom

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I love the snappers. Both species. But the DBTs have so much more personality. What a great gift... Your little guy is gorgeous.

A friend recently had a problem with his "freshwater DBT". I told him to go get some sea salt and put a few cups in there. Problem solved. I'm just saying... the fresh water thing is great, but be on the look out for fungal or bacterial problems and keep the salt handy, just in case. A little bit of salt won't hurt anything, even other freshwater turtles.
 

Tempest

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Thanks for the compliments. :)

He is a great little guy, I really like him. He's in fresh water, with just a bit of salt added.

Cherbear- There were two vendors there selling turtles (SO many babies! I wanted like 10. :p ) and the DBTs were $45 at both places. There was a lot of cool stuff, but the Moose Lodge is too small for the number of people who show up. Definitely better than the Noblesville, IN show, though, and $2 cheaper.

They had baby Western and Southern Painteds, Yellow-bellies and Peninsula Cooters for $10, or 3/$25. They had Mississippi Maps, Mississippi Muds, Razorback Musks, Alligator Snappers, Florida Snappers, Pink-belly Snappers, and a couple more. I was almost drooling. haha

There were also a couple of people with herds of gorgeous smooth Redfoots and a pair of big, beautiful amazing Yellowfoots I was almost in love with. Also cute Pancake tortoises, and some baby Greeks. I also wanted this 8 foot Coastal Carpet, and a big 4 foot Argentine B&W Tegu, but that's another story. My list is ridiculously long. :p

I wish the guy who was selling rats in Noblesville had been there, but it was RodentPro. They weren't very friendly. They don't break up bags, either, so I got my rat order, but had to buy my mice (which I only needed 10 of, not 50) somewhere else. There's a show in Cincinnati on the 9th of January, though, which I'm excited for.
 

dmmj

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being a guy I don't like using the word cute, but in this case I will make an exception
 

terryo

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What a great Christmas present. I love the markings on the DBT. Just beautiful. We have a pond here that narrow's into the bay, where the DB's stay, but the kids always find babies in the shallow water on the pond side, which is fresh water.
 

Tempest

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Correction: I WAS excited about the Cincinnati show. Until I got there, and was told by a very *rude* Holiday Inn staff member that they were above capacity, and about ten other people and I had to wait to enter so they didn't violate fire codes. When we finally got in there, the place was literally packed, so bad you couldn't move from in front of the door. Some of the vendors were also very rude (which I realize is not the show's fault, of course.) There was only one rodent vendor, and one of the guys working the table (who I believe was one of the event coordinator's sons) decided I'd been looking at the price list for long enough and took it from in front of me (while I was obviously reading it,) and gave it to someone else! I asked a vendor why it was so ridiculously crowded, and he replied "Well, we had the option to rent the other side of the hall, but decided not to, because we'd rather look busy and crowded than spread out and dead." I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather be at a show where I could walk around and look at the tables at my own pace, rather than being pressured to buy or move so others could get in, and being constantly elbowed for a position at a table. SOrry for the rant, guys, I'm just pretty disappointed, and probably won't be going back unless they rent the other half of the hall next time.
 
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