tortoise biting and getting on ones back

[happy&joy]

why is one of my tortoise trying to get out of his house ?

 

[happy&joy]

what do turtles eat ? feeding them fish foods all their lives ... is it correct ?

 

[happy&joy]

Agreed, Berkeley - a melanistic red ear male. The other does look like male based on tail size but hard to be 100% from that photo. Can't see the front claws - long front claws are a real giveaway with sliders. The melanistic one is quite deformed - look likes a long term lack of UV and poor diet. It's great you are taking steps now to give it the proper care.

Red ears will do fine in cold weather if they are healthy as they will hibernate. With the current condition of these, I would not recommend you try to hibernate them at this time of year.

Unlike most tortoises, most aquatic basking turtles do live in groups and do better together if ample room. However, red-ears are one of the most aggressive N American turtles, and part of their courting behavior is biting onto the back of the neck of the female and holding on until she slows down for him. So nipping and biting at other turtles becomes more common with male red-ears.

A setup like Team Gomberg shows is great and inexpensive for you. Keep their water temps as close to the 70's F, or above 21C and you must provide them a basking light where they can raise their body temps to close to 30C to properly digest their food. Sliders do great on pellets like Mazuri Aquatic Turtle pellets if you can get that there. I'm sure you can get it online. You may have to get them used to it over time if you have not offered them pellet food before.

Good luck and again, congratulations on your efforts to get them properly set up now.

i'm sorry but whats melanistic ?

 

[hingeback]

why is one of my tortoise trying to get out of his house ?

Is the enclosure see-through? Should be opaque, they are trying to get out because they can look out.

 

[happy&joy]

Is the enclosure see-through? Should be opaque, they are trying to get out because they can look out.

yah its like translucent plastic

 

[hingeback]

what do turtles eat ? feeding them fish foods all their lives ... is it correct ?

Red eared sliders are actually omnivorous, they also eat small fishes, but I am not sure what type of fish and whether they can just rely on packet turtle food.

 

[hingeback]

Is the enclosure see-through? Should be opaque, they are trying to get out because they can look out.

Have you upgraded their enclosure size yet?

 

[happy&joy]

Have you upgraded their enclosure size yet?

no i planned to do it this weekend

 

[Berkeley]

Both of the turtles are red eared sliders. And it appears that both of them also have long front claws, which is a male characteristic.

Fish food is not a good diet for the turtles. You should be able to find a pellet made just for turtles that you can feed them. They will eat fish also, but this is not a big part of their diet. They eat a lot of vegetation too. This can be various greens that you would eat, or some aquatic plants from pet stores or ponds.

Melanistic is a term that refers to the darkening of an animal's pigment or coloration. Sometimes the animal is born that way (think of a black leopard- called a panther) or it may be like the red eared sliders where they eventually turn completely dark after they age. It comes from melanin which is a skin pigment.

They are probably trying to get out of the tub you have them in for a variety of reasons: the water is not deep enough, it is too small, they can see through it and think they can go through the sides. If you get them a bigger tub to swim in with opaque (can't see through) sides, with deeper water (about 1.5 times as deep as their shell is long) they should settle down a bit.

Looking forward to seeing those pictures of their plastrons.

--Berkeley

 

[Markw84]

Yes, both are red eared sliders. As Berkeley said, melanistic refers to dark coloration. Many male red eared sliders turn almost completely black as they get older, although they look completely like the "normal" red ear when young. In fact for many years, scientists mistakenly thought they were a different species- so you confusion is not uncommon!

I feed red ears mostly aquatic turtle pellets, and actually Koi food! Since mine live in my pond with lots of Koi and other turtles, they actually love the same pellets I Get for my Koi - and thrive on it - for over 30 years now! I buy the Mazuri brand. I get a 25 lb bag for about $50 byt that would probably be more than you need.

http://www.mazuri.com/mazuriaquaticturtlediet25.aspx

It seems an excellent choice and they make all types of animal foods, I use their Koi, Aquatic Turtle, and Grassland Tortoise foods, for my fish, turtles and tortoises. Please keep in mind on this forum, and in the US, we refer to Aquatic turtles like your red ears as "turtles", and terrestrial species with the elephant-type back legs as "tortoises". So your red eared sliders would need Aquatic TURTLE food.

Actually one of our forum members made a great video on turtle food choices - you should watch that.

http://youtu.be/h2iByuBUGJI

I do give my turtles treats of pieces of boiled chicken, fish, shrimp, worms, but their main diet is the turtle pellets, and the koi food.

They are trying to escape because they really want a much larger space.