In Reply to: Help needed plz posted by Lesley King on January 20, 2008 at 09:10:54:
Dear Lesly,
That is good that you are taking care of the turtle, and getting it out of that water was good. What you want to do is purchase, depening on the turtle's size, I would suggest a 20 gallon to 30 gallon tank. Spineys tend to get large, and up to the point where they are love the space to swim around in.
As far as setting up your tank goes, you will need a light with a UV bulb to give him the natural sunlight that he gets in the wild.
give him about 3 inches of rocks( or sand if you prefer) on the bottom of his cage as turtles love to dig, and cover themselves.
You can decorate it however you want to make it look the way you want it to. I do reccomend putting a basking rock or log in the tank so that the turtle can get out of the water to sit in the light's heat.
When it comes to feeding, you should try repto min pellets. I have raised millions of turtles, and fing that to be the most enjoyable to their taste. You also might want to catch or buy some minnows. Two or three at a time will do. It helps the turtle to also learn that he cant rely only on you for food, and teaches him to hunt for it, which he will need when you let him go, if you do.
I guess that's about it, aside from a tank filter. you dont want the scum to build up, so be sure to clean the tank when you start to see signs of algea.
I hope you enjoy that turtle. I actually just realeased one that I had owned for a few years. They are very rare, so you are fortunate to have found one. Hope all goes well for you with your new pet!
~Ian Bukre