Southern Painted Turtles

[Nafun]

After dealing with my sister's turtles, and the turtles of my wife's coworker, I got the bug. I had turtles as a kid, and decided I just had to have some.

I found them in the kingsnake classifieds, they're captive bred and a lot smaller than I was expecting. I didn't expect them to be legal length, but I expected at least plausible deniability. They're smaller than quarters, so I'm keeping them for educational purposes. I'll begin training them in ninjitsu on monday.

There are five of them in total (one is very easily spooked and always leaps into the water when he sees me coming.) but the picture only shows four. One of them has only a stub of a tail. I don't know if it's a birth defect, or if it was bitten off before he arrived.

Their names are Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello, and Yertle. Not original, but I can't tell them apart anyway and it's better than calling them "turtle".

I've got them in a sterilite tub for now, I have a waterland tub coming tomorrow. Will post more pictures when they're in their final habitat.

[Freebody]

they look pretty cool, i like your names :) its been so long,wasnt their 5 ninja turtles?

[Nafun]

Nope, only 4.

I wanted 4 turtles, but they were $15/ea or 5 for $60 so I ended up with 5. Ironically, I named the 5th Yertle, and ever since I got them, they've been stacking themselves on the basking rock. Usually it's only 2 high, but yesterday morning they were stacked 3 high. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yertle_the_Turtle_and_Other_Stories)

[Freebody]

sweet yurtle now i get it lol .. wow its been over 25 years since i seen that book, as soon as i looked at it i remembered it, im going to have to download a copy to check it out, i dont remeber it being vulgar like it said in the writeup their.

[marvelfreak]

Their cute! Can't wait to see more pictures. How big do they get?

[dragunov.762]

awesome ninja turtle you have there

[Nafun]

Depends on their gender, but painted generally hit 6-9 inches shell length with females being larger.

[emseeKAY]

beauty! are you just going to run a filter like a tetra whisper or something with them? i hear they dirty the water quite easily lol

[Kmef07]

Those are awesome!!!! we have some at my work. they are fun to watch eat fish and swim around.

[Nafun]

I've got a fluval u1 underwater filter in the little tub they're in now.

Using a fluval u3 for their full time tub. Full time tub holds 18 gallons, and the u3 is good up to 40. A filter twice as powerful as you need is the rule of thumb.

[citysnakes]

what size tank are you planning on housing these five turtles in permanently?

[shaunyboy]

not too off topic i hope but what was the wee rat guy called who was the ninja turtles teacher (master) ?????

cool looking wee guys but not my thing mate.
cheers shaun

[Nafun]

Not a tank, a waterland tub.

[dragunov.762]

splinter was the rat on TMNT

[Nafun]

Got them set up and moved in. Sort of. Attached is a picture of what I've got them in. It's 55" x 24" x 12" 2/3 is water 1/3 is land. I used river rock as a substrate for the water area, with fake water plants. I think I've matched their natural habitat too well, cause now I can never find them. I just have to feel around on the bottom for a rock that wiggles.

Their light and heat is a 100w mercury vapor bulb over the land section, water is a room temperature 79f and I'm filtering with a Fluval U3 underwater filter. It's rated for 20-40 gallon tanks, and the tub only has 18 gallons in it. Hopefully it can keep up, but turtles are so dirty, only time will tell.

I'll post some pics of them later when I've got the reptile room cleaned up a little.

[shaunyboy]

splinter was the rat on TMNT


thats the one,cheers for that mate

[emseeKAY]

Now you've gone and made me want to watch the movies lol ;) and lets see some pics of your setup soon!

[Nafun]

Pictures incoming of turtles, and their habitat.

They're in a small waterland tub, 55" x 25" x 12"

I feed them in a small rubbermaid tub that I change the water in every day, they're on zoomed hatchling formula and a few crickets each day. I'm going sparingly on the crickets because of their phosphorous content, but they're helping entice the more reluctant feeders.

There's five of them total, but I couldn't get a picture of all five together.

The land side is river rock and sand, with astroturf on top.

[Nafun]

One more pic!

I"m currently dealing with a "slime" problem. It floats on top of the water, and coats everything. I'm changing the water every week now, and wiping it off the turtles every day after feeding. I don't know what's causing it, I've never had it before in turtle tanks, and never seen it before in anyone else's turtle tanks. Going to put in some algae eaters (I know they'll get eaten eventually), and going to double up the filtration this week.

[shaunyboy]

looking good mate,they do however sound like a lot of work.i take my hat off to you re that.
cheers shaun

[Nafun]

Turtles are indeed a lot of work, but they're also very satisfying. They have a very strong feeding response and tame down quite a lot. They're cautious, but also very curious.

They are a ton of work, but well worth it. They're just so dang adorable. They are exact miniatures of their adult form.

[shaunyboy]

Turtles are indeed a lot of work, but they're also very satisfying. They have a very strong feeding response and tame down quite a lot. They're cautious, but also very curious.

They are a ton of work, but well worth it. They're just so dang adorable. They are exact miniatures of their adult form.


sounds like your having great fun mate.thats what its all about appreciating what you've got and the wonder of life in general.:yes:
cheers shaun

[marvelfreak]

Nice looking set up. Will that be big enough when they get older or will you have to move them into something bigger?

[Nafun]

I imagine I'll split them into two tubs by gender when they get bigger, if nothing else so I don't end up with an unexpected clutch of eggs.