Great job. Since my daughter got an orphaned yellow bellied slider, I've been online reading everything I can on how to care for one. One thing for certain is that it's a huge commitment. You're mini tutorial hit on almost all my thoughts and concerns for "Raphael Jr's" care. Plus you showed how interactive pet turtles can be and that truly was special. Thanks...
Yellow bellied turtles are awesome animals and they do need some care. I have 2 beautiful yellow bellied and i have a video on how to care for them on my channel. Please check it out ;D
Wow, I've watched so many of these videos, getting nothing from most and gleaming a worthwhile fact or idea here and there. Dude you got more sense, cause-and-effect intelligence than most. It's nice to see your love for T's, Grew up in Texas and caught n kept many as a kid, in mid 50's I'm down to one "room mate" now in SoCal. We've partnered for 7 years, 'bout 4 times size of yours. Through lots of experience and "lets give him the option and see what he does" I found that the more I handled him the closer, more affectionate he became. He loves to sit on my lap while I watch tv, something he couldn't stand 5 yrs ago. Here's the question, once you elimate his fear of you or being out of the tank you'll see he's pissed when you drop him bk in cuz you gotta go. Is he REALLY happy in a water CAGE with a tinny floating pad? He's not a f-ing fish! They need some room to move around! I expanded on the tank-top thing like you've got. Mine is at the end (same size aq) but it's a separate free-standing platform, 4ft by 3 ft deck with 3 removable deck panels that can be swapped out-changing the "theme" (rocks,gravel,stuff to climb-careful not to let him flip over!cubby-hidy hole he sleeps in, plants, etc. He's got a 3ft ficus that comes up through a cut-out. The options are limitless, he has to be comfortable out of water tho. It's not "enclosed", there's no top, sides just to prevent climb out and give security, clear panels in front. Then, by building a low profile stand, actually just a BASE for the tank that has it only 6 inches off the floor, placing his deck at less than 2 ft, I made a ramp (accessable when I'm home and open the gate) for Dude to come on out and kick it if he wants. And he does. He has full-on house access, can come and go at will, a feeding resevore. Explore, its all hand made and cheap. When he was young and firery like yours I don't know if this would've worked. Just keep the idea in mind and as your relationship grows you'll implement incrementally. My Turtle comes to me when I call him!
yes filtration is very important for water quality and health use lots and lots of it. also light is extremely important you need heat lamp for them to dry off and uvb for the health of there skin and shell.
I got them from home depot. They are pavers for your lawn. they come like 4 pieces glued to a mesh net for easy setting up. So i just took a flat head screw driver and a hammer. Used the screw driver to chiesel off the glue ( comes off pretty easy) then scrubbed them down and rinsed them. only place I could find them. I wanted flat rock for basking.
I love the enclosure you built on top of the aquarium. I have a 75 gallon with a male and a female red eared slider. I am getting ready to walk out the door to go buy the materials needed to build something similar to what you built. Love it!
its 2 lamps because the round was is a ceramic bulb heat lamp. i use ceramic so i dont have to turn the light off at night and keeps a nice warm spot all year long. the long one is the uvb light. turtle normally get uvb from the sun but inside they can't and uvb doesn't filter through things well so unless you give them alot of direct sunlight you will need to supplement with uvb. they do have bulbs that do both if you dont want to lamps. i put the uvb on a 12 hour timer.
Love ur topper! I was trying to make one out of acrylic like that only I didn't have any way to precision cut pieces. Also tried to make it too big. Definitely gonna try ur method if I can get them cut.
after watching this, I feel bad for my turtle becoz she never has such good quality of life, so sad we have small home in Hong Kong, the best I can do for her is providing her a big plastic box:(
Ofc this is an old comment, but hey, if anything, it's good you are at least aware of where there could be improvements! I'm in the same situation, and learning things like this isn't as easy as one would think. Especially since most wouldn't know how to care for a turtle... It's a hard process, life happens, but know you're not alone. The fact you would willingly want to provide a better life for your turtle is a good start... Many just think the little they do is enough, and when you try to teach them better, they don't care, or refuse to learn. You care about your turtle and that's a good thing! Even if your hands are tied, you are doing what you can, given your situation
my turtles would move it a bit but i dont think they ever got close to doing any kind of damage. If you had a smaller tank they may be more aggresive on what they hit because they are trying to get a good swim in but as you see they have a lot of room to swim so they avoid the heater nicely. You can always drill holes a piece of pvc and slip it over it, or hide it behind a rock or something.
Awesome set up. its simple but hey i do think it does the job. turtles dont need all this fancy stuff they just need lots of water to swim in and a basking area. Im in the process of moving mine to a 200 gallons aquarium and will be covering the whole top for them to bask in and fill the whole aquarium with water. tks for showing your basking area ive been looking at many to get an idea of what ima do with my tank
1. if you wash your hands after handling or putting hands in water you will be fine. they CAN carry it but my 4 year old has handle them and she is fine. 2. The red earred sliders i have do nip at times but dont have teeth so it doesn't hurt at all. They arn't aggressive about it but it can happen. 3. If you keep the water ratio to turtle high like 40 gallons per turtle and a filter rated for 1.5 times the tank you have. (example 75 gallon rated fliter can do a 50 gallon tank.....
they like to be close to water most the time so if they get scared they can run back in. they really only go up top when they want to totally dry off. otherwise they chill on the bottom one. plus at night they like to wedge between the glass and the floating stand to sleep. they use both pretty often.
I just found a place locally that cut sheets of plastic to specific thicknesses and dimensions. All tank have that indent around the rim of the tank for light hoods to sit in. i just measured across the tank and figured how long i wanted the base. I bought a thicker piece of plastic for the bottom. Then i made the wall i think 12 inches high.bascially they have a glue that is for wielding acrylic together. You get that and wield the 3 sides together just as if you were applying super glue to a
well it depends on your filtration. if you have not enough you need to change it more often. if you have way over you dont need to do it as much, but yes its still good atleast once a month even with great filtration to syphon the bottom of the tank to get the stuff stuck under rocks and what not.
yeah there is no right or wrong way. i just personally feel like the more unobstructed water space the better. they do like to swim more than just chill. They do like hiding spots or place they can sit out of the water and get back to it quickly. i noticed at night they like to prop them selfs in a way where they were half out and half in to sleep i suppose. just remember more items in the tank harder time the filter has getting all the gunk out.
Nice set up and video. How old are your 2 turtles they seem to be about the size of mine and im looking into seriously upgrading my one guy from his 45 gallon tank
they did nibble on him at first but they have hard skin so the turtles lost interest. just either get a really big one or one big enough to with stand a little rough housing til it gets bigger. the algea eater will grow faster than the turtles. also a hiding spot for the eater wouldn't hurt.
as much as i can. sunlight is good for them. just make sure you have them in water to. just offer them the option of swimming or not always. i will either put a big rock in the middle and fill up the pool then i leave the hose on so it creates a kind of lazy river around the rock. or ill do the pull on a hill thing like in the video i change it up or i let them run on the grass for a few minutes. uvb is needed and sun is best form of it.
broken coffee mug. I have the edges sticking out a little further on the open side cause i didn't want them crawling of the edge. the ramp i just stuck a little piece of acrlylic across the front of the opening attaching it to the bottom floor and sides about a 1/2 inch tall then i attached the ramp to the that. Really easy just use common sense when mapping it out and make sure you measure ments are right. then go buy the pieces and glue them with that wielding acrylic stuff theyll know.
if you have baby one like the size or a 50 cent piece then you want only a little bit of water. they can swim but arn't super at it yet. you will always need land for them no matter what size they are. i'd say if they are baby babies then like 4 inches of water is enough until you see that they are getting more compfortable with swimming then slowly start giving them more.
Just got two baby turtles and a 40 gal tank with filter heaters lamps and a basking box on top for 25$. We now have 4 turtles we are renaming them all....they will be the ninja turtles. Even though two are female.
maybe 4 for a juvy sized one or smaller mine are fairly large, but even so i still only give them like 5 pellets a day. ill throw little fish in every so often but i can't count on that as their food cause i dont know if they will catch them or not. its more a treat for their efforts. I also throw lettuce in there for them to graze on. like i said in the video they will always act hungry. also i mentioned i had fed them earlier but wanted to show for the video i dont norm feed them twice.
Well if you want good quality of life i wouldn't. They are super dirty and you would need a omega filter to keep that tank clean with 5 of them. Also they like room to swim. I'd say 3 could have fit nicely but I always thought somewhere down the road i might get a really big algea eater so I left some room.
yeah at first its best to keep it like 6-8 inches of water they can swim but i wouldn't go for a 110 gallon tank right off the bat. i mean you can just only fill it up about 6-8 inches and give them land area. as they grow and prove there swimming strenght you can add more water
thank god i found this. i bought mines yesterday i already have her set up but i have a 20 . the water is colder than usual. please tell me everything . can i take rocks from a local park and put them in. mine is i live in nyc so my room is sometimes cold. i just want to take care of her and keep her :/ please respond
you should only have to changed the filter and water once everyone 4-6 weeks which can take about 1.5 to 2 hours. Less water and filtration is ok but you will have to change the filter more and change the water more to keep it clean.
Nice man, i have a 10 gallon one but i have 3 turtles but they're small lol i have 2 red eared sliders and 1 hybrid yellow bellied slider. I have them with fish and my turtles dont eat them lol they're like family.
+Jesus Garcia yea sometimes the fish live long enough to get fast enough to avoid them. plus if you feed your turtle enough it might make them less interested because the fish make them earn it thats for sure.
once every 4 to 6 weeks i use a syphon to suck up any waste that didn't get sucked up in the filter. aside from that no. HOWEVER you need 40 gallons to 1 turtle. if you have less gallons per turtle you will need to change the water more frequently to compensate.
I got a surprise turtle from someone who randomly decided they don't want theirs anymore. I have her in a storage container with my chicken lamp for heat and a discounted float rock. I keep hearing that her type grows to life 10-12 inches and I'm freaking out because this tub thing won't be able to give her enough space. I don't know where to get a big tank like this. I've searched!
Hi I wish I'd seen this/your video in the twenty hrs of searching I did ..all night a cpl nights ago. I just adopted 3 R.E.sliders. They are in a very small tank, I understand they are going to grow to fit but YIKES! there is no basking place ... I can go on. Anyway, I am on a limited budget. things will progress slowly but like my aquarium it will run smoothly once all set up. Thanks for your pointers! I actually have the same filter system setting here as you pointed out under the cabinet. The one that is a waste of time! ya, It was a darn mess on top of my aquarium it left everything wet... UGH! I've always done under gravel ...40 plus yrs then someone said ohh this os better. NOT! lol Anywho~ I really need a lil more help. I just went yesterday and picked up the eggcrate everyone had made there basking area with.. I haven't touched it (I'm OCD about having things done and done right..) because I really don't want to go this route. I want to see them and enjoy them. I love this topper you've done. On that note can you please, I just cant waste a dime ( yeah I can take back this other stuff! wahooo!! ) I'd also Like to make one for ..a box that sets in the water with a topper as well. this one will be for substrate lil girl can lay eggs in, it will look like it's floating but will hook on sides like the basking box ~ basically it will match. Sounds like a grand idea anyway. Now what I'm praying for .. can you please show me a lil more detailed how you put this topper together ???? PLEASE 8*~ } If I make a mistake (no problem ) its the ability to go back and make it right. Was that glass or plastic..or plexi ...details ?? LOL I understand Im asking a great deal ..maybe you can explain very well . I apologize for the inconvenience but this lil (MED) size babies deserve the best for the rest of there sweet lil lives. I have an old tank out back its really long and id say 100 gl I might be off a bit but math isn't my strong suite LOL & cant have not been able to determine easily the actual gallons. anyway, its been a plant starter ..lol I need a table lrg enough to hold the tank w/water indoors. going to check/reseal it. its water stained from prior owner. Im sure I can deal with that as well. Be great to buy a new nice (even the trim is yugly :{ but a large safe happy place is the goal. By the way , If you don't have the time or desire I understand this is a large request. Have a blessed day ~ Kathleen & Crush, Digger., & Lil Mouse He(?) squeaks lol
Kathleen Champ ok no problem a couple thoughts, 100 gallon tank will be ok for them. Once they get full grown youll have to see...they can get real big but only time will tell. Craigslist is the best place to find aquariums cheap. The one in the video here was actually brown trim but i painted it black. The topper is actually acrylic, and where i live there is a place called Taps Plastic that sells custom pieces. So basically i measured the inside track of the tank lid (where a lid would sit in) and decided how long i wanted it. That was the measure for the floor. The back and front side panels i had made longer so they would stick out past the ramp and the back wall piece is need but that measurent is whats left between the front and back wall. As for heigjt i went with 10 inches i believe. Basically it just takes a little common sense because putting it together is like glueing two objects together you just use weilder glue. That was my first attempt at doing it and im not a carpenter or engineer. Get a piece of paper and think about your measurements and crudly draw it out. Find a custom acrylic place and make it happen. For the time being they do need a uvb and heat lamp. They have to be able to get out of the water and dry off completely. You can get a cylinder block for like 2 dollars at home depot and put it in the middle of a kiddie pool and fill the water to its edge so they can climp up. Clamp the lights to the block. Hope that helped.
So they mess with fishes like can they eat them? I want to puy it in my fish tank .... Another question i still do not have a stand in the fish tank so yhen can climb when they are tired so can i just put mine in the fish tank so it can swin and do a lil exercise? ? If yes for how long ????
hey i have one too i just got mine yesterday. i dont have 120 gallon tank like you i have a 20 gallon and she looks like the size of your turtles/ i need to know everything and i did a lot of research.
Actually, Everything Is Fine Except For A Basking Area With And Basking Light With The Correct Lighting For Basking. Also, I Recommend A Filter So You Don't Have To Clean The Tank Every weak, Along With Your Tank Looking Dirty.
Love your turtle setup. I wish I could do a kiddie pool, but I have a porch and no way to empty it! I am saving to get a larger tank. Right now my turtle resided in a 55 gallon tank, and she has outgrown it. Also, whenever I move suddenly in my bedroom, my turtle when she is basking in her topper will fly back in the water. Do your turtles do that?
Yes that is their natural defense mechanism. That is why in the begging of the video I had that little random clip of it basking cause everytime i tried filming it in the room my turtle would drop back in the water. Its fine they are basking when your not looking and feel safe.
NextLvLSold! my sliders grew to sit on their basking area and just sit there while people walk in. took about 2 years for them to get use to us around while they bask good set up by the way
Im a grandma of 2 red eared slider turtle and Im babysitting for 2 weeks now while my daughter is moving and Im finding out about problems having turtles//like the filter, and the poop+pee making the tank dirty so I watched your video and Im interested in your filter. Please do share, where did you buy your filter system and the lamp and of course your own man made basking area-well done thats very creative.FILTER SYSTEM--XP4 can you buy that in any pet store, please tell!!!!Im going crazy, constant cleaning of tank. Please reply.
+Adam Tye they sell similar types at pet stores. the xp4 is older now since i posted this video a few years ago, but amazon is a good place. if you find a good seller ebay can work. Local pet stores have them but probably at a premium price. I still have my xp4 and its been running strong since i posted this video so no complaints with it.
What kind of kind of live plant do you have for them and a petsmart worker told me that the goldfish will die and wont live with the turtles they will get eaten. Does that sound right? Lol just adooted 2 from a friend and have no idea how to take care of these things.
hey is it cool if i just have some rocks in my tank well with water of course theres a section that has no rocks only the glass in the tank is that good they way is set-up
I just got one and i really dont know how to care for it , my tank is 90 gallons and i only have it filled enough for them to swim , i have a plat form like you do , i like the set you have could you help me with this ?
Go to your nearest pet store and ask them. You'll need the food, a clamp lamp, uvb light, heating light, little cave for shade, 75 degree- 90 degree water,
yes the turtles need light cause 1. everything needs sun light 2. they can't maintain their body heat 3. they are really dirty little creatures until you have a pond or are willing to empty out their home of water every other day...yea
my turtle cant swim. she probably never was in a big enough place.. so i guess shes learning now... my ramp is near the top of a ten gallon and probably too steep, i had a rock in the ten so she can get on it and breathe... any advise? i need a cheap solution
So, I put my baby red eared sliders in my bathroom sink (I'm trying to fix up this tiny plastic tank they came in) and I filled it with water, but whenever there's enough water for them to swim they start freaking out and try going toward a dry part of the sink! Is this normal? should I only put a little water in the tank and a section of land?
Note to everyone: if your turtle is about like 5 inches across then you need a 50 gallon tank. If it is 2 inches across then you need a 20 gallon tank. If it is 10 inches across then you need an 100 gallon tank. If it is 12 inches across then you need an 120 gallon tank. And if your turtle is 2 inches then times that by 2 and you need the full it up with 4 inches of water. If your turtle is 5 inches across, fill your tank up to 10 inches of water, etc. The water needs to be warm. Around 75 degrees to 90 degrees.
i have a question, i just bought 3 baby red eared slider turtles im not sure if there suppose to live in water like fish, will they drown? can i put them in there just like that? or can i make a beach like tank with a pond where they can swim
Sure, they dont "wander the forrest" in their natch hab. Nor do they swim in little plastic pools or glass aquariums with pumps and filters, so why do you have those? I think in the wild its a survival thing that keeps them well hidden, ready to bail in a way they're quick, in water. Like you said, if your doin it for what the Turtle seems to like.... mine loves being out-when Im there! He's never been in the wild.
it did eventually disappear. he lasted awhile but they finally got him :( dont waste your money i thought if i got a bigger one he might be ok but i guess he just moved too slow. mayabe if i had a few better hiding spots for him
I just purchased a 125 and have an above tank basking area the size of a 40 breeder. what top can I use for the portion of the tank not covered by the 40 breeder. she is a female so at times goes a bit gravid and tries getting out. Im also concerned about evaporation...can I use a regular hood for like a 40 breeder? The above tank basking room has a mesh top and again it is 40 breeder.
What kind of plastic did you use to build their basking area? I am interested in building something like that for my turtles but I would just be worried about the lamp melting the plastic. Those things get pretty toasty! I have two small RES in a 30 gallon tank right now. The biggest one is about 3/4 inches. But once I move they are going to be in a 125 gal tank. Do you have your tank on the first floor? Ever nervous about the weight? I'm trying to decide where the best place for ours would be.
+Claire Propst I only have a 1 story house. Not sure a 125 is worth worrying about. Of course i'm not a expert but i think you should be fine. If you were doing salt water with live coral those can get heavy than maybe, but i'd think you'd be okay. As for the plastic it's actually acrylic. There is a local shop that specializes in it here in sacramento, but home depot and lowes sell it aswell you would just have to cut it your self. Just keep the heat up and ambient. Basically not super focused on one spot and you should be fine.
+NextLvLGamer Thanks so much! Is that acrylic underneath the sand as well? Your setup is the best I've seen so far. Can't wait to get my babies into a bigger tank so they can grow like yours!
