Spotted turtle

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bmt123

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So I am interested in buying a spotted turtle but I want to make sure I know the care before I purchase one. I have looked at some care pages but I would really like to speak to someone who has worked with this species. I also have a couple of questions

1. What would be a good filter
2. Will I have to drain the tank and clean it very often
3. How do you have yours setup( pictures please)
Any info would be greatly appreciated
 

Anthony P

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I have a group of them. Clean water is a must! Black water setups, like you would use with South American turtle and fish species can be really effective. You can achieve these acidic environments by adding peat moss, driftwood, oak leaves and oak branches in the water. I use all four of those in my guttata setups.

I'll try to get some photos, but please hold on for those. You can check out my spotted page here, but admittedly, that won't have all of the info your looking for: http://theturtleroom.com/projects/anthony-projects/clemmys-guttata4/
 

Bianca

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Anthony P said:
I have a group of them. Clean water is a must! Black water setups, like you would use with South American turtle and fish species can be really effective. You can achieve these acidic environments by adding peat moss, driftwood, oak leaves and oak branches in the water. I use all four of those in my guttata setups.

I'll try to get some photos, but please hold on for those. You can check out my spotted page here, but admittedly, that won't have all of the info your looking for: http://theturtleroom.com/projects/anthony-projects/clemmys-guttata4/

What pretty spotteds you have and natural looking set up.
 

bmt123

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Thank you for the link it was very helpful. Do you know if it is legal to possess these turtles in nc.
 

volcom6981

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Anthony P said:
I have a group of them. Clean water is a must! Black water setups, like you would use with South American turtle and fish species can be really effective. You can achieve these acidic environments by adding peat moss, driftwood, oak leaves and oak branches in the water. I use all four of those in my guttata setups.

I'll try to get some photos, but please hold on for those. You can check out my spotted page here, but admittedly, that won't have all of the info your looking for: http://theturtleroom.com/projects/anthony-projects/clemmys-guttata4/

That is a great set up. So what are you using for a filter, and what kind of enclosure do you keep them in?
 

Millerlite

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Water must be clear? I have a tank with all live plants and wood and its tinted cuz of that, but my waters clean and I guess clear... Is that what your meaning? Also the wood and leaves do make the water mor acidic bring the PH levels down or helping too, what ph do you keep your spotted turtles at. I do t plan to get any soon just like learning about other species lol
 

bmt123

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How often do you guys have to totally clean the entire tank.
 

volcom6981

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bmt123 said:
How often do you guys have to totally clean the entire tank.

Depends how big your filter is and how many turtles you have in there. My hachling tank I clean more often because I don't have a huge filter, but my other tanks all have big fluval canister filters on, and I clean them every 2 weeks.
 

bmt123

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When you say clean every two weeks do you drain it completely.
 

Millerlite

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I do partial changes in my tank every other day, add carbon to you filter it helps with the tint, but think your ph neutralizes to 7 with some of my gig I have to be under that which is why I use mech/bio filter I built. Seems to be good for my razor backs I do want a pond tho lol
 

Anthony P

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Ok, let me answer as much as I can, hehe. And thank you all for checking out my link.

1. Spotteds are listed as Threatened in NC, and it is unlawful to posses any Threatened species in that state. So I'm afraid the answer is no, you can't keep them bmt....

2 and 3. Volcom, I keep my Spotteds in 3ft by 2ft by 8in concrete mixing tubs. For a filter, I use a 12 dollar mini pump that pumps water into a small bucket with mechanical and biological filtration in it. I have 9 total turtles in a group made up of small juvenile Spotteds, Blandings and European Pond Turtles in one setup like this, and I haven't needed a water change yet, and they've been in there since last August! Not a nipped tail in the whole group either!

4. The water definitely doesn't need to be clear. My water looks like the darkest tea you've ever seen. It is very clean and filters well, but it is not clear at all. Because of my shallow setups, each one of these tubs probably only has 8 or so gallons of water at any point, but the wide expansive shape gives the turtles plenty of space to get away from each other.


Here is a photo of an Emys orbicularis in the tea!
 

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bmt123

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Do you think there is any possible way for me to legally own one. I know that a museum near me has one.
 

volcom6981

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bmt123 said:
When you say clean every two weeks do you drain it completely.

No it's partial water change. In fact it's bad to do complete water changes, because you lose all the good bacteria, and your tank will have to cycle again. Your best bet is to just do partial water changes weekly or however often you want.


Anthony P said:
Ok, let me answer as much as I can, hehe. And thank you all for checking out my link.

1. Spotteds are listed as Threatened in NC, and it is unlawful to posses any Threatened species in that state. So I'm afraid the answer is no, you can't keep them bmt....

2 and 3. Volcom, I keep my Spotteds in 3ft by 2ft by 8in concrete mixing tubs. For a filter, I use a 12 dollar mini pump that pumps water into a small bucket with mechanical and biological filtration in it. I have 9 total turtles in a group made up of small juvenile Spotteds, Blandings and European Pond Turtles in one setup like this, and I haven't needed a water change yet, and they've been in there since last August! Not a nipped tail in the whole group either!

4. The water definitely doesn't need to be clear. My water looks like the darkest tea you've ever seen. It is very clean and filters well, but it is not clear at all. Because of my shallow setups, each one of these tubs probably only has 8 or so gallons of water at any point, but the wide expansive shape gives the turtles plenty of space to get away from each other.


Here is a photo of an Emys orbicularis in the tea!



Awesome, I keep my hachlings, and my musk turtles in mixing tubs as well I love them. I use Fluval in tank filters which keeps the water clean. Do you have a picture of your bucket I'm very interested in seeing it or what it looks like inside?
 

Anthony P

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This is the best photo I have of one of my setups. Oak leaves and branches, and live and fake plants have been added to the enclosure since then.

The bucket is small. Probably only a gallon, or maybe a little bit bigger. Inside, there are shower loofahs and a nylon full of carbon, in addition to a perforated plastic box that keeps it all off the bottom of the bucket so water can flow freely.
 

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volcom6981

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Anthony P said:
This is the best photo I have of one of my setups. Oak leaves and branches, and live and fake plants have been added to the enclosure since then.

The bucket is small. Probably only a gallon, or maybe a little bit bigger. Inside, there are shower loofahs and a nylon full of carbon, in addition to a perforated plastic box that keeps it all off the bottom of the bucket so water can flow freely.

Nice! I saw you had YouTube videos, just wanted to say nice job. I saw you use the waterland tubs, how do you like using them.
 

Anthony P

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The waterlands are really cool. Perfect for a group of Spotteds. I would keep a 2.4 group of Spotteds in a medium Waterland. Right now I have just the one pair of Pacific Pond Turles in that medium Waterland. They would have another roommate if they both weren't recovering from illness right now.
 

bmt123

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So I have been doing some research and I can get a spotted I just have to get a permit. I still have a couple of questions.
1. Can a hatchling live in a 30 gal until I can get it a bigger enclosure in a month or so.
2. Is 125 a fair price
3. What plants do you use
4. What do you guys do to help with the fungus.

Thank you for helping me with the other questions.
 

Yellow Turtle

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I love this whole discussion for spotted turtles. This is a species I'd like to have one day.

I'm curious of water temperature as well as ambient temperature for the enclosure, please someone enlightens me more.

And same as bmt123, what about fungus thing.
 

Anthony P

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I find that keeping a highly acidic "peat bog" type of setup does the trick wonderfully. Driftwood, peat moss, live moss, oak leaves, oak branches make the water look like tea, and the turtles do great in it, as long as its clean.

I use anacharis and 125 is an ok price. I wouldn't pay that much personally, but if you know it's from a good source, then it's worth the extra money. Are you paying 125 plus shipping? If so, I'd wait to find a better price from a good breeder. 125 could be a good price if its from someone local, to avoid the high price of shipping, but check into he law around that because the sale of this species in NC may be illegal, even if you as the buyer have a permit.
 
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