When turtles are at this stage in life they experience the fastest growth rate. And to be able to grow so fast they will need a lot of energy that they will get from eating. Turtles grow from babies into juveniles. Painted turtles are considered juveniles when they are 1 year old. So it still needs to be fed quite often. Here you have two good options. You can either feed your painted turtle once every two days, the amount of food that it will take to fill their head.
Or you can feed them half of that amount every day. There is no difference for them if you feed them every day, or if you feed them every two days, as long as the amount of food is right. I would recommend you to feed your juvenile turtle every two days, this way the chances of you forgetting to feed your turtle are smaller. In the wild painted turtles can go weeks without eating. Adult painted turtles grow very slowly, and after some time they will not grow at all.
The best way to feed your adult painted turtle is once every 3 days, using the size of the head method. This might seem enough food when you compare it to the rest of the age groups, but remember that due to the way the size of the head method works, the size of the food portion also increases so there is no problem, your turtle is getting way more food than it got as a baby when it was eating daily.
The most important thing that you have to do when choosing a tank for your painted turtle is to make sure that you follow the 10 gallons per inch of shell rule. As you can probably guess the rule implies that for each inch of the shell that your turtle has the tank should have an extra 10 gallons. So if your painted turtle has a shell length of 3 inches, the tank should be able to hold at least 30 gallons. Depending on the age of your turtle, my suggestion is to get a tank that is at least 20 gallons bigger than what you need right now.
As for which tank to get, from my experience I can tell you that there is no difference between the ones that I owned. Usually, the water filters, heaters, and other accessories are low quality, or simply not good for a turtle so you should avoid them.
So my advice is to go for the cheapest one. All you need is a sturdy tank that is big enough for your turtle. Painted turtles need a water temperature between 75 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
So the first thing that you want your water heater to be able to do is to reach this temperature. The next thing that you want from your water heater is to have an adjustable temperature. This is important because during the winter the water in the tank tends to get colder, while in the summer it tends to get warmer. So your heater needs to be able to adjust to the temperature changes. Another thing that you want in a heater is a guard.
This heater is the Zoo Med Turtle Therm Aquatic Turtle Heater , this heater is able to heat up a gallons tank up to 78 degrees, and it had no problem maintaining 80 degrees constantly in my 70 gallon tank. The guard is extremely resistant, and the suction cup that keeps it on the tank has never failed. Water filters play a vital role in any tank, as they are responsible for keeping the water clean.
All filters are rated based on how much water they can filter, so all filters will say that they are good for a 20 gallon tank, for a 50 gallon tank, 70 gallon, etc. So you would think that for a 30 gallon painted turtle tank you will need a 30 gallon filter. But you would be wrong. Most water filters are tested in tanks that contain fish, but painted turtles are considerably messier.
So for a 30 gallon painted turtle tank you will need a 60 gallon water filter. Two other important things that you want from a water filter are for it to be silent and clog proof. As for the silence part, I believe that nobody wants a loud device in their home that runs non-stop. I am personally a long-time fan of the Fluval Filters Series. Unlike most filters on the market, the Fluval Series allows you to easily change the filtration medium, which is great because based on the water that you use in your tank you will need a different medium.
Another thing that made me become a fan, is that none of my filters ever clogged. And not having to spend every weekend unclogging my water filter really made a difference for me. If you keep it in the living room where the TV is you will most likely not even notice it. So I will recommend you to give them a try. If you want to get one here is a link to Amazon.
Painted turtles need to bask in order to regulate their body temperature, and to properly assimilate the calcium in their bodies, among other things.
And in order to bask, they need a proper place to do so. This place is called a basking area. A basking area can be any simple platform above the water which is lighted by a heat bulb and a UVB bulb.
The only thing about the platform is to be stable, how it will look is up to you. Here are a few examples of basking areas:. As you can see you basically have two options when it comes to basking areas, you can either make one, or buy one. But in both cases what you want is to make sure that the basking area is stable. Painted turtles need to bask at a temperature between 85 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
So you will need to get a bulb that is able to produce enough heat. So to explain the table, we will use the 50 watt bulb as an example. A 50 watt bulb that is 4 inches above the basking area will create a temperature of degrees fahrenheit. If you place the same bulb 8 inches away from the basking area it will create 81 a temperature of 81 degrees, and if you place it 12 inches away from the basking area the temperature will be 73 degrees fahrenheit.
To measure the temperatures I used an Infrared Thermometer , If you have a few dollars to spare, my suggestion is to get one, this way you will know exactly the temperature in your basking area. When I created the table I measure the temperatures during the spring, but if I were to measure them during the winter, they might be a little lower. Depending on your needs you can choose between the 50,75 and watt options.
Those bulbs will last a long time and they will produce enough heat for your turtles. In this article, I will show you the ideal painted turtle tank setup. Painted turtles are my favorite species of turtle, not just in the United States, but the entire world. Their vibrant colors, as well as subspecies diversity, make them amazingly beautiful creatures.
All you need are a few simple things. A painted turtle habitat typically includes warm water and access to a lot of light. Painted turtles also love to get on top of rocks and logs in order to warm themselves up and dry their shell. If you want a healthy painted turtle, you must have a good basking platform.
Below are 3 of my favorite products for a pet turtle basking platform:. The ideal painted turtle tank setup would include a big enough tank that is full of water, a basking dock or area for the turtle to completely dry off and soak up some healthy UV-rays, as well as a good filter and an underwater. Painted turtles are an aquatic species.
This means that they will spend the majority of their lives swimming, eating and sleeping in the water. Pragmatically, this means that your biggest concern when owning one of these turtles is how much water space you can provide in or outside of your home.
This is always a bit of a judgment call, and moreover, will really depend on a bunch of factors, such as:. In other words, 1 inch should equal about 10 gallons of water. Basically, what this means is that at minimum, you should be aiming for a larger tank, something around 90 to gallons.
Now, I know I know, that is a biiiiiiiig tank! And big tanks can be pretty expensive, as well as a hassle to figure out where to put or mount and all of that. I have been taking care of aquatic turtles for some time and while yes, bigger is better, I can tell you that a gallon tank will work just fine for all of the painted turtle species, Western and Midlands included.
The cheapest gallon tank is available from Petco. If you plan on having two painted turtles, I would suggest you check out a gallon turtle tank. Do not cover the top of the tank with a sheet of plastic or glass.
This prevents the UV light from permeating and means the rays will not reach your turtle. The tanks should always be covered, to prevent your turtle from escaping and to stop outside objects from falling in. The cover should have some kind of security mechanism to prevent it being knocked off by adventurous turtles! The best cover option tends to be a steel mesh.
This is a heatproof material and provides the tank with plenty of ventilation. This helps to regulate the temperature and humidity of the tank. Some people prefer to have a separately designated tank for feeding their turtles in. This can help to keep their main tank cleaner. It is vital to feed your turtles in water as they do not have the capacity to produce saliva.
They need the moisture of the water to lubricate the food so that they can swallow. This is not a necessity, merely a matter of personal preference. Leftover food can easily be scooped out of the tank using a net. This is because the turtle needs a lot of space to swim and play. So now that you know what turtles need as far as tank specifications go, what do they need inside the tank? Painted turtles only need a few relatively simple items in the tank, aside from the obvious water.
The real expense comes with creating the perfect environment for them to thrive in. To do this you will need to purchase a heat lamp, water heater, UV lamp, and a filtration system at minimum. In the wild, painted turtles live in or near to water, such as ponds and rivers. They are aquatic turtles and so require water to live. They need at least twice this number in depth, 3 times in width, and 5 times in length. Most turtle owners opt for an aquatic canister filter for their tanks.
They are designed with larger aquariums in mind and sit underneath the tank. This maximizes the area available inside the tank for your turtle. Turtles are very messy animals and produce a lot of excrement that can rapidly dirty the water in their tanks. Their excrement is high in ammonia, which can quickly build to dangerous levels in the water.
Canister filters have multi-level filtration systems capable of filtering large bodies of water well. When looking for a canister filter, first work out the volume of your tank in gallons. You should look for a canister filter that pumps out double this quantity every hour. Painted turtles do not require a substrate in their tank, but you can place some sand and large rocks at the base if you like.
Sand works well as substrate, but is hard to keep clean. Fluorite is a good element to include for aquatic plant health. Again, ensure the rocks are too large for your turtle to ingest. These can be real or plastic. If you buy plastic ones they will last and be a good hiding space for your turtle. Real plants will be eaten quickly, but will be a nice supplementation to their diet.
They will need replacing regularly. Turtles need to bask regularly to allow their skin and shells to dry out. This basking area needs to be large enough for them to lie comfortably and it must be raised clear of the water.
This can be a store bought basking platform or you can stack rocks to create a more natural platform. You will also need a basking lamp, positioned above the platform. This will help the turtle to regulate their temperature when out of the water. Your turtle is likely to spend several hours basking. They should not spend more than hours at a time out of the water. You may need to purchase a small ramp to help your turtle reach the basking platform if they appear to be struggling.
This should be positioned directly above the basking platform you have created. Turtles need lighting in a rhythm similar to day and night time, much like humans do. This light should be switched off in the evening.
The higher the watt rating of the UV bulb, the further away from the basking area you can place the lamp. The UVB light is used to assist in the generation of Vitamin D3, which is required for calcium absorption.
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