Im sure you get these all the time but here we go:

1. Should I put anything along the bottom of my new turtle tank, such as one of those green fake carpets or even small rocks, and if not why?

2. I was looking online for a decent filter(I dont have much money so stumbled upon something cheap and nice looking) and am wondering how good this might be. As all filters ive used have not worked right at all, the filter in question can be found at the Dr.Fosters & Smith site under the turtle filters section and is labled as a 501 filter.

3. I have recently(a week ago) been given a 3rd turtle by a friends, friend as he is moving to BC, so now I have 3 red eared sliders(2 females roughly the same size of 7" long x 5" wide x 3 and a half inches tall, with the new male at 5 and a half inches long x 4" wide x 3" tall). Now the biggest Tank/container I could find and afford is a 40 gallon terrarium(18" wide x 36"long x 17" tall), now because I live in Canada my pond out doors is currently much too cold and covered in ice and snow for them to use at the moment, and wish to know if you think this size will be adaquet enough for the time being.

I figured I would add this too does anybody know how I might be able to aquire a snapping turtle? I live in Saskatoon, SK, Canada and they dont usually even sell turtles here, unless they have been rescued from bad homes(ive seen 3 at the local pet store that were listed in the animal rescue area that had major dents in there shells) my 3 turtles are all quite fine however my male has a shell thats curved upwards which leads me to believe he may have been kept in a cramped place before I got him. Also im very curious as to where Robyn lives it sounds like PA and I was not aware that snappers lived up in that region.

For aquatic turtles, I suggest having no substrate. The turtle rugs you see in the stores are for terrestrial turtles and tortoises and would just float around in water. I use the rugs for my sailfin lizard. Some people put aquarium gravel in aquatic turtle tanks. I think it makes it so much harder to clean. All the uneaten food falls into the gravel and rots. Plus, the turtles sometimes eat the gravel.

I have yet to find a decent filter for adult turtles so I made my own! For baby turtles, I suggest Duetto filters as they can lay on their side and filter only a few inches of water for hatchlings. Once the turtle is over about four inches, the Duetto won't be enough filtration even if you clean it daily. I think the filter at DFS to which you're referring is the one which is a hang-on canister filter with rain as an output. If you look at the gph, it's only 79 gph. The Duetto 100 which I used in baby turtle tanks is 100 gph. So, it's even weaker than the Duetto even though it looks larger. That filter will work fine for baby turtles but not adults. Since you have not one but three young adult RES's, you'll need either a stronger filter or more frequent cleaning. To give you an idea, I have a single 6.5 inch turtle in a 40 gallon breeder tank. My pump is 350 gph (more than four times the flow as the filter you found). I do a weekly 100% water change at which point the water is plenty dirty!

The 40 gallon breeder has a good surface area versus price. It's good for turtles up to about half a foot long. It's getting too small for my single turtle. Since you have three turtles, ideally, you would have more than 100 gallons. There is a 120 gallon glass tank but it's expensive. Once you're over 100 gallons, it's most cost efficient to make an indoor (or outdoor in warm weather) pond.

The upturned shell of your one turtle may indicate cramped quarters, an improper diet, and/or improper lighting.

I'm not sure of where you can buy snapping turtles (hatchling or adults) in Canada. A great page on snapper turtles is at:
http://www.chelydra.org/

I live in Maryland, USA, just south of Pennsylvania. Both states have native common snapping turtles.

Wow thanks alot for your help, your a very nice person to go out of your way and help all of us like this

WildDragon Posted on Feb 4 2008, 01:08 PM

Ditto that, W'Dragon!! :) :)