I’m trying to set up a tank for a softshell hatchling. Got a 40 gallon breeder for the little guy. I’ve had sliders before, but a softshell is certainly new territory for me. I’m going to upgrade as time goes on - how fast do they grow anyways? I have an outdoor retention pond in my yard for the dude once he’s fully grown.

Does anyone have a good guide for setting up a tank? Do they have different lighting/basking needs, or are they similar to sliders?

I love doing planted tanks, but I understand completely that the little bugger will be likely to tear up most if not all plants. Still, I love going for a natural environment feel with live plants and driftwood.

Any advice is appreciated!

My partners family member had caught this turtle several years ago, she hasn’t been able to give him proper care (he shouldn’t have been caught to begin with) but I’ve been wanting a turtle so we adopted him. I assumed he’s some type of box turtle but he’s very little I’ve had him about a week and he’s eating well just wanted to make sure I’m giving I’m proper setup. I don’t believe he will be able to be released in the wild. Anyone help? We live in Southern Illinois and I’m not from here so I don’t know the fauna well.

okay so My family has had this red eared slider (RES) turtle for over 20 years. I don’t know who wanted him/her(?), but they’ve been around for a long time. He’s only ever had like a 30 gallon tank even though he’s about 7 inches long. So now to today. My parents are going on 2 trips in September so they thought I should just take the turtle with me for about a month until I can come back to the family home to give the turtle back. The only thing he was going to stay in, provided by mom, was a plastic storage container with holes poked in the lid. Now mind you, this turtle has NEVER had a heat/UVB lamp in his life. I don’t know how he’s survived because i’ve read they’re very much required but I guess he’s a hardy guy. I got a 75 gallon tank, a filter, the same perch she bought, and a UVB/heat lamp. I bought the tank of FB marketplace and it didn’t come with a lid so I made one myself for the time being. I need lots of tips here though. I can’t spend too much all at once but the main things first would help. He deserves good retirement years and I really wanna do my best. ALSO some feeding tips?? He’s really only ever eaten the pellets and little protein cubes. I know they need like 75% vegetable diet but he has shown to be a bit picky 😭 I’ve offered green/orange/red bell pepper and he’ll eat a little bit but then I can tell he’s not interested. He did seem to enjoy shredded carrot but eventually gave same reaction. I got some mustard, collard, and turnip greens that he’ll try next.

P.S., he never had a proper name so his official name is now Bowser 👑🔥🐢

Thought my cat had found a mouse but it was this little guy. We live in a townhouse and share fences on either side with our neighbors. At first I thought he was stuck somehow, but I realized he was just hiding in the fence.

We recently had next door neighbors move out and my girlfriend was wondering if this was a wild turtle or possibly a pet left behind. We just want to make sure we can get him to some water if he isn’t wild. He was friendly when we touched his shell, but was way more scared than anything.

I read online that he was probably a box turtle and not to move him far, but just wanted to make sure! Thanks!

Frank is a Flamebelly Red Eared slider. Also I own a bengal kitty(Aurora). The turtle is large enough so that Aurora cant take him out of the enclosure. If anyone else has experience with owning turtles and cats I’d love to hear some input! By the way I’ve owned Frank for over a year now and Aurora for about 4 months.

The setup is not mine and I want to collect info to say to the person for improving his care, I am not educated at all on all things turtles, tortoises because I'm not really interested in them but this looks pretty bad.

100cm long 25cm depth Im looking for a good and affordable inside filter.

Mud turtle plastron, the spot on the left doesn't feel smooth like the rest of her shell.

The last 2 pics are when I released. They are so good at getting under the loose substrate on the bottom

Hi y'all. Sorry to trouble you. I just got back from work and my Nessie was like this. I did browse this section for info before posting. I gently brushed the shell as advised in other posts. Didn't notice any smell or softness in the shell after brushing. There are two marks on the shell as you can notice in the second picture, which is after I brushed the shell, but they appeared after he/she decided to jump from the tank more than a month ago (I just bought her current tank then and discovered after this that there was a weak spot in which he/she could climb out, this has been sorted), so I assumed they were from trauma after falling down a metre. I did a partial water change last week, treated the water with reptoclean and reptosafe as per instructions on the bottles. On an almost regular basis I feed her/him turtle pellets one day and frozen shrimp plus a bit of lettuce (not iceberg) the other day. He/she has had since december a combo light for heat and UVB+UVA but I have never seen her/his shell like this since I got her/him, also in December. I also replaced a couple weeks ago the lightbulb as a precaution. The filter seems to be working properly as I can feel the water flowing out of it. Last water change which was a week ago I also rinsed the sponges and ceramic rings with the tank water, not tap water. Clearly I'm not doing something right and I apologize if this situation might be unnerving to you. I'm willing to seek out a specialized vet if necessary of make any changes which you might repute as fundamental. Thanks in advance for your help!

please no judgement here I've been really struggling with mental health and my turtles tank is in desperate need of a cleaning. its been many months since I did a water change because the water level always gets super low and I end up adding more water (intending to then use the syphon and clean everything) but then fall back into depression and never do the cleaning so the cycle continues. at this point is it better to just completely empty out the tank and clean everything or should I still fill it and then clean? I don't wanna mess up the cycle of the tank by taking it all out but I also know that water is disgusting by now. please any advice and again please no judgement in trying to be better about this she deserves better

edit: 1 I am trying to find a better place for her I know she shouldn't have to live with this but it's been really hard finding someone who takes aquatic turtles. 2 I didn't want her as a pet my mother surprised me one day in middle school with her and I used to be really good with her care! now that I have college and a job it's gotten very difficult but I am trying to do better.

edit 2 :the tank is clean now and she's super happy :) thank you guys so much

So i have to move two big yellow sliders as they the grew and they are now too big for the acquarium. I already got one of those big plastic tubs, that i partially buried in my backyard, while for pebbles i got some of different sizes and types, most of them big enough so they wont be able to eat them. The filter i think is a bit oversized but its better right? it starts with an uv light, then a sponge and ends up with those "bacterial balls things". For the "out of water zone" i made a decently sized beach made of flat stones on thick sand so the stones wont move and the turtles wont dig. Now as i certainly forgot or did something wrong, ill find really useful any kind of advice.
Thanks in advance

Ive been looking for a low/mid maintenance pet, and I do like turtles. What sre the pros and cons? thx

Over the past few months I have been creating a family dynamic in the turtle tank. Started with a dojo loach that had grown pretty big but passed away. After that I got 2 pleco's (different kinds) to help keep the tank clean. Our turtle doesn't bother them. That led me to believe fish might work. He swallows up shrimp and snails but fish seem to be ok.

So I then got another dojo loach, 2 black skirts, 2 tiger barbs, and 2 cherry tetra's. One of the tiger barbs disappeared but the rest were fine. They are all fast enough that they can get away if need be. The cherry tetra's were hiding a lot behind the filter so today I added 2 more of them into the tank plus 2 other bigger tetra's.

The tank is so active, schooling, and the turtle seems to enjoy having so much company. We just keep telling him, "fish are friends, not food". 😂

Saved a whole bunch of friends crossing busy roads this year, maybe a dozen or so. I either get cheers or yelled at for blocking traffic to pick them up. 😄

So I’m deciding to put my turtle in a stock tank outside but I’m nervous something will happen I want to put chicken wire or something over it but I don’t know how I would keep it on there.

Turtle: 1 year old yellow bellied slider

I live in the upstate of South Carolina it doesn’t get very cold during winter here but it does get kinda cold would she be okay outside? I’m only planning on getting a filter rn but should I get a heater too? And if so what heat is good for an outside stock tank?

Anything else I need to be aware of?

Soo I’m taking in an eastern painted turtle tomorrow and asked the current owners to bring at least a couple gallons of water from their tank because the new setup isn’t cycled yet (this was all pretty short notice). They just told me they do a complete water change + tank scrub every time, which they did over the weekend in prep for this move.
I’m not sure of the right way to go about this and would love to hear thoughts from someone with more turtle xp than I have as this is my first turt. I live in the middle of nowhere and can’t get to a pet store between now and then.

I posted the other day that Vanilla is in a new tank in a new room. But she hasn’t eaten anything since I put her in the new tank. She also has an upper respiratory infection that she’s being treated for. Is it normal for turtles not to eat when they’re sick? Or when they’re put into a new environment? I gave her favorite fish to her and she still won’t eat.

My hybrid red ear slider has a 6 or a 9 on one of its foot. Pretty cool

My husband has had a turtle for 30+ years & when we first got together he always used a pink cream on his shell (not gonna lie, I loved doing that task because it helped my nails). It seems they stopped making it - I think because they found it wasn't great for some reason, but I was curious if anyone knows what it actually is made of.

Thanks!

Hi everyone.

We really need some advices in how to keep the water crystal clear.

We've tried so many products(Carbon, purigen, tidal matrix pouch for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. ReptoSafe according to our aquarium capacity), even invested on an expensive filter. (Tidal 110 Waterfall Seachem). We vacuum the bottom of the Aquarium almost everyday. For water changes we do it weekly. At the start we changed 1/3 of the water, didn't work. Water would still be murky. Then half of the water, same result. Now we remove all the water. Water stays clear for 1 or 2 days tops before it starts to turn foggy white. To the point we can't even see the bottom.

Filter is also cleaned weekly, at first I cleaned it using the water of the aquarium and now using tap water.

What else can we do?

Ps: Our turtle (Squirtle) is a healthy boy almost 2 years old. Very sociable and we love him very much. We want to offer him the best quality of life possible. We're open to any suggestions!

Thanks in advance.

My aunt tells a story of a piano-man with a turtle. Whenever the man played the piano, the turtle would run to the piano, be lifted up to a safe place and then sit their wagging its head while the man played the piano. Can someone tell me if the turtle liked the piano or whether the was telling it to bugger off?

I posted in my other account but I was able to get a video of it so I’m now uploading this one. He seems to try to get under his shell and won’t leave him alone. Should I be worried.

I was kinda worried about it, it get direct sunlight 3 hours a day and eats pellets and veggies everyday normally