RES eyes closed

[wellington]

As long as your weather is warm, then get them outside for the uvb. That will save you money on not having to buy that light, they are not cheap. Now just get a regular light bulb, about a 60 watt and hang this over the turtle dock you make so they can get out of the water and bask. They have to be able to get warm enough to digest their food. RES also need to eat in the water, which makes their water dirty fast, so water changes are a must, unless you have a very good filter on the tank, which I am going to assume you don't. If you do get them outside, be sure they also have shade, so they don't over heat in the sun.

 

[wellington]

Btw, don't be sorry if you don't understand certain terms. We will be patient and help the best we can.

 

[ETTB1314]

As long as your weather is warm, then get them outside for the uvb. That will save you money on not having to buy that light, they are not cheap. Now just get a regular light bulb, about a 60 watt and hang this over the turtle dock you make so they can get out of the water and bask. They have to be able to get warm enough to digest their food. RES also need to eat in the water, which makes their water dirty fast, so water changes are a must, unless you have a very good filter on the tank, which I am going to assume you don't. If you do get them outside, be sure they also have shade, so they don't over heat in the sun.

Btw, don't be sorry if you don't understand certain terms. We will be patient and help the best we can.

Thanks so much for being patient and explaining. If I let them out in the sun to bask, how many hours of do they need a week? And also if I let them out to bask, how should I do that so they don't get too hot?

 

[ETTB1314]

An update:

I managed to get them a bigger tank as one of the families in my neighbourhood were migrating to Australia and they had a sale. I was very thankful for that now they have a huge space to swim about.

I went to buy a basking area due to my fear of contamination of the plastics and rocks I was going to use. I really wanted to be safe.

I got the self-ballasted marcury vapor bulb. It is 25W, suitable for both desert and tropical species. So this would cover both heat and uvb.

The only thing I didn't get was a thermometer. I know, stupid me. I don't know the water air or land temperature. However I think the basking area was a little too hot when I felt it. I will now attach an image below of my new and I would say highly improved set up. Please give me advice on how to further improve it, especially how long do I need to set the timer for the light and the distance away from the basking area. Thank you all so much!

 

[wellington]

Well done, I like the tank and the basking dock. However, if the light bulb you got is a coil type, it could damage their eyes. Just keep a close eye on that and stop using it if you notice anything with their eyes. Some people have troubles with them, some don't. I would normally tell you to just replace it, if it is a coil bulb, but I know that would be harder for you. So at this point just keep a close eye on them. Also, those clamps that come with the light has been known to fail, so try to hang the light in a different way and also pointing straight down.

 

[ETTB1314]

Well done, I like the tank and the basking dock. However, if the light bulb you got is a coil type, it could damage their eyes. Just keep a close eye on that and stop using it if you notice anything with their eyes. Some people have troubles with them, some don't. I would normally tell you to just replace it, if it is a coil bulb, but I know that would be harder for you. So at this point just keep a close eye on them. Also, those clamps that come with the light has been known to fail, so try to hang the light in a different way and also pointing straight down.

Thanks. And by coil type you mean the bulb is a spiral kind? Then no, its a normal looking light bulb, not the coil type.

I will try to get those stick on hooks to hang the light another day. And just now I picked both of them up and I just realised that their shell and palstron are soft. Like if you gently put pressure on it, it actually dents in. I guess its because they lack sunlight, because I know the place they were gotten that shop keeps a lot of these 2-3" RESes in a tub with maybe 1cm water, a few pieces drift wood and no sun. The condition was already quite bad. And I guess their shell was already soft when I got them I just didn't know.

So do you think this is serious or should I wait and see if this new set up helps them? I dropped another 2 pellets and they got close to eating it, but nope it didn't happen. So until now they haven't eaten at all. Won't they get hungry?

 

[Zeko]

Thanks. And by coil type you mean the bulb is a spiral kind? Then no, its a normal looking light bulb, not the coil type.

I will try to get those stick on hooks to hang the light another day. And just now I picked both of them up and I just realised that their shell and palstron are soft. Like if you gently put pressure on it, it actually dents in. I guess its because they lack sunlight, because I know the place they were gotten that shop keeps a lot of these 2-3" RESes in a tub with maybe 1cm water, a few pieces drift wood and no sun. The condition was already quite bad. And I guess their shell was already soft when I got them I just didn't know.

So do you think this is serious or should I wait and see if this new set up helps them? I dropped another 2 pellets and they got close to eating it, but nope it didn't happen. So until now they haven't eaten at all. Won't they get hungry?

Good job so far! Much better than before!.

For your Mercury Vapour Bulb, make sure you hang it straight down. If it's on a diagonal at all, it will quickly wreck the bulb.

When turtles are young, their shell is soft and pliable. As long as there is not any visible issues, I think you are good to put them in their new setup.

Buy a thermometer!!!

 

[ETTB1314]

Good job so far! Much better than before!.

For your Mercury Vapour Bulb, make sure you hang it straight down. If it's on a diagonal at all, it will quickly wreck the bulb.

When turtles are young, their shell is soft and pliable. As long as there is not any visible issues, I think you are good to put them in their new setup.

Buy a thermometer!!!

Oh I didn't know that about the bulb. I will go get the stick-on hooks this weekend and also a thermometer.

And okay, I only thought hatchlings' shells were soft. So I'm not too worried now.

And how many days a week do they eat? Because they are not eating for 5 days now, and are just ignoring the pellets. I don't wish to feed them live feed either.

I saw one of my RES bite the head of another. Do you think they are settling in with each other okay? Thanks for your help too

 

[ETTB1314]

Hi another update:

I bought them reptomin baby food and they love it. They eat when I'm around too. One eats more from the surface of the water and the other would be at the bottom, and he's quite picky with his food, where he would walk to the pellet and then take a sniff, and either eats it or walks away to find another.

They have been quite playful with one another. I hope them trying to bite each other is okay, or just a sign they're hungry, because now I've changed to feeding them twice a day, 2 pellets each time. When I hold the food bottle with the yellow cap, they recognize it as their food and would swim and follow the yello cap. And that was really cool.

So today will be another water change, and I would like to just ask how much water can I remove from the tank in replacement for the changed water? Is it a 2/3 & 1/3 ratio?

Also going to get a small pump to suck out the water today. And getting a thermometer together with it. What type of thermometer do I need to measure which are the more important temperatures? Maybe measure land and water? Which thermometer measures which?

Thanks!