Tortoise

[Grendel]

long story short she was found abandoned in a pond by my neighbour(and the person that did it was obviously a dimwit because she's a land animal

doesn't it bother you at all that this statement was completely incorrect, and that this is a wild animal that at this size really needs , and is accustomed to, the entire pond to live in.
" sent out troops for veggies"- this is a water turtle not a tortoise, Fish, crustaceans, snails, worms are its diet, not grass and vegetables.
If you are going to take an animal from the wild, put it in a shoe box, feed it popcorn and cupcakes, and be glad you protected it from drug dealers and alcoholics, you can do that, but I would not post it and be proud about it.

 

[DavidRosi]

Pretty sure they're not wild animals in Ireland.
Give the guy a break; some of you can be so aggressive and for what?

He's found an animal and is doing his best to accommodate it and give it a decent life to live...

Instead of being to abrupt and nasty, try being helpful.

If you do that he can take steps to make a suitable environment for the little fella.

 

[MadameButterfly]

No it doesn't bother me at all because when I posted it because I had no real idea about the difference between a turtle and a tortoise bor how to care for it, since then I have been working my ass off trying to keep her alive. As for taking it "From the wild" I live in Ireland and trust me turtles (or any reptiles really) do not breed here naturally. Ireland has no natural reptile population, no turtles breed here, no snakes, no reptiles at all. SHE WAS ABANDONED IN A FIELD...

 

[DavidRosi]

I thought I'd read right about you being in Ireland; hence that the turtle is without a doubt a "wild and happy" one, and from what I know of Irish winters its be dead within a month, 2 at the most.

If you google Caresheets on turtles you'll find a lot of good advice on food, enclosure etc.

But, ignore the negative people on here... Think some are just naturally highly strung. Good luck with him/her and keep us updated

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

That response and language is so uncalled for, we do have younger people that visit this site and read these posts. Whether you liked what they said or not even though some of it is true you could and should have handled it differently.

People make mistakes just like you did in the first post. Nothing wrong with that as long as you correct and learn from them.

You should take your own advise take a step back, time out or what ever and think,.. before you type.

 

[TegusRawsome80]

Think with your brain before you talk with your foul mouth.

 

[DavidRosi]

Here we go boss:

http://www.reptilecentre.com/files_care-sheet-yellow-bellied-slider

 

[MadameButterfly]

That response and language is so uncalled for, we do have younger people that visit this site and read these posts. Whether you liked what they said or not even though some of it is true you could and should have handled it differently.

People make mistakes just like you did in the first post. Nothing wrong with that as long as you correct and learn from them.

You should take your own advise take a step back, time out or what ever and think,.. before you type.

All I did was ask for help with an animal I had no knowledge of and so far took all the advice I was given and am trying my best, is it not better that I ask here for advice? why the hell should I put up with abuse from Grendel just for trying to keep her alive? from what I have learned, mostly from the advice I have been given on here, she is from Florida, now this is Ireland and it's getting close to winter so ponds are freezing over now so if I take Grendel's advice and throw her back outside into the pond I doubt she'd last overnight because, unlike Florida, we don't have warm winters.

I can handle constructive critizim if I am doing something wrong for her but I'm not going to let some tool throw abuse just because he knows more than me and would rather be an ass than give some useful advice

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Here we go boss:

http://www.reptilecentre.com/files_care-sheet-yellow-bellied-slider

Thanks for that hon, at least someone is trying to help

 

[JohnMatthew]

Most water turtles eat a fair share of fruits and veggies as they get older. While almost all water loving turtles start out in life carnivorous, most will eventually become omnivorous with quite a few species being mainly herbivorous by the time they're adults. If you can provide clearer pictures of the plastron, carapace, head and forelegs we can get you an accurate ID so you can know what exactly you have and how to care for it properly.

 

[Johnnydr]

That's definitely not a slider. if it were, i'd argue that it could potentially live in a frozen pond outside. Red-ears and yellow bellies overwinter just fine in some parts of Canada, though they are native to the midwest/south US and South America.

That is a cooter. It really doesn't matter which species, as all of their care is the same....I don't think that a cooter would be very happy in a frozen pond, though.

Any care sheet on sliders or cooters will be fine, though keep in mind...cooters are a bit larger on average and they are a bit more shy than sliders. Expect to have something custom rigged or at least a 75 gal tank.

 

[TeguBuzz]

I believe you received a whole lot of overly unnecessary negative comments. I agree that your setup is not at its best, but at least you are seeking help/advice and looking to upgrade to a proper setup in the near future. After all, this is a turtle you hadn't planned on getting. If you can't get a hold of a tank soon, I'd look into purchasing one of those cheap, larger scale Rubbermaid tubs they sell in department stores. I used those for quite some time when I had red eared sliders due to the fact that they were large, adequate and cheap. As long as you provide UVB, proper temps, a place to bask, and the right food, you should be fine. Keep us posted.

 

[mattlagrone19]

Good luck with that... Simple setup sound koo

 

[MadameButterfly]

Most water turtles eat a fair share of fruits and veggies as they get older. While almost all water loving turtles start out in life carnivorous, most will eventually become omnivorous with quite a few species being mainly herbivorous by the time they're adults. If you can provide clearer pictures of the plastron, carapace, head and forelegs we can get you an accurate ID so you can know what exactly you have and how to care for it properly.

I'll get better pics in the next few days, the bluetooth on my phone isn't working at the moment so I can't send pics from it to my PC so I need to fix that first, I'll take some pics of the food she is on too, she seems to really like it. It comes in frozen cubes and is more shellfish based than the dry turtle food I was feeding her but so far she seems to love it. I'm feeding her 2 cubes a day but to be honest I think she would eat more if I offered it but I'm trying to work out exactly how much to feed her everyday because I don't want there to be food rotting in her water

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I believe you received a whole lot of overly unnecessary negative comments. I agree that your setup is not at its best, but at least you are seeking help/advice and looking to upgrade to a proper setup in the near future. After all, this is a turtle you hadn't planned on getting. If you can't get a hold of a tank soon, I'd look into purchasing one of those cheap, larger scale Rubbermaid tubs they sell in department stores. I used those for quite some time when I had red eared sliders due to the fact that they were large, adequate and cheap. As long as you provide UVB, proper temps, a place to bask, and the right food, you should be fine. Keep us posted.

I'm getting a tank/avairum for her on Thursday, it's 3.5 foot long and about 18 inchs deep and it will come with the UV and I already have the heater and filter so the tank is only going to cost me 50 euros (about $40 because it's second hand) so for now it will be a step up from the baby bath for her and has a basking area too. I know she'll need something bigger eventually but it will give me a few months to find something better because she is growing, at the moment her shell is 6.5 inches long and 5.5 inches wide. Out of curiosity should I get gravel for the tank for under the water? I'm not sure if they need it but I'd rather be safe than sorry and ask

 

[TeguBuzz]

I personally did not like gravel. Made the water dirty and harbored a lot of waste and excess food even with proper filtration. I've left it bare bottom before and also used sand in the past after washing it repeatedly, I liked the way sand looked and my turtles didn't seem to mind it. It looked and works great especially with my alligator snapper.

 

[MadameButterfly]

I personally did not like gravel. Made the water dirty and harbored a lot of waste and excess food even with proper filtration. I've left it bare bottom before and also used sand in the past after washing it repeatedly, I liked the way sand looked and my turtles didn't seem to mind it. It looked and works great especially with my alligator snapper.

Not sure if I'd be able to find sand in a shop and to be honest I'd be afraid I'd buy cement by mistake instead and wake up the next day to find her buried in a cement block that I'd have to chisel her out of

By gravel I mean the type you can buy for fish tanks, you know the type that is synthetic? I was thinking I get enough where I can layer the bottom of the tank and still have enough to make a little slope that would lead to her basking spot out of the water if that makes sense?

 

[MadameButterfly]

So I got the tank

There is an underwater heater in it and a heat lamp just out of that shot and I got all the bits for a UV light but totally forgot to get the UV bulb so I'll get that tomorrow and stupiditly forgot the filter too but in my defence I spent over €160 (about $200) today on stuff for her so I was bound to slip up a bit. I'll also bought another snake

It's a bad habit now that I just want loads of reptiles lol

 

[Grendel]

I have to admit I missed the Ireland part, but I just read the response and wow...I'm speechless and surprised the post has all this cursing still in it. Yup your turtle is not native. I did some research (unfortunately its just from professor Google) and there are now established small populations of these water turtles in some parts of Ireland that came from released pets. Here's just one example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiO63bPQlvU

 

[MadameButterfly]

I have to admit I missed the Ireland part, but I just read the response and wow...I'm speechless and surprised the post has all this cursing still in it. Yup your turtle is not native. I did some research (unfortunately its just from professor Google) and there are now established small populations of these water turtles in some parts of Ireland that came from released pets. Here's just one example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiO63bPQlvU

Your example is moot, thats Dublin zoo, they have about 3 square miles (if not more) of land in phoenix park which is why, incase you didn't notice, that pond is man made. Do you think the stones at the side just conveniently stacked themselves in that manner? they also have tigers , hippos and elephants that use that "Pond" as a source of water because it is heated and costs them about 5 mil a year to filter so hate to say this love but thats not an example of turtles living wild in Ireland, the whole lot of it is an enclosure lol

As for my language you made assumptions (since you admitted you breezed by the part about me living in Ireland) so I stand by what I said, all I am doing is trying to keep her alive and when I asked for help all you did was add destructive comments instead of constructive critisim. To be totally honest there is nothing you could say now that I would take seriously because while others were trying to help me you just threw abuse

 

[Grendel]

You are not impressing me with you name calling. I too can curse with best of them, and am not "speechless" because "you put me in your place" by spewing out middle-school level drivel.

 

[laurarfl]

Keep the language clean, please. I have gone back and edited the posts.

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Wow, I had no idea that this thread was so out of control. I missed it in the first post with the first f bomb, and I apologize for not calling it out sooner. MadameButterfly, I appreciate that you are seeking assistance here on the forum. Please leave ALL colorful language to the side please. Rather than go back and edit, it is easier to just close the thread in the future.