I rescued this little guy from a tiny one gallon bowl. Thing is, I have no idea what kind of turtle he is. I took him to the reptile store but was told to bring him back on Friday when the owner would be in so he could take a guess. What do you guys think? Right now he's in a ten gallon and we're calling him Donatello
Gross, you guys. Lol so I found out he is a mud turtle for sure. But the dude said that he wouldn't need a heating or UVB lamp. I have a water heater in their from one of my tanks keeping the water at 78 degrees. He said that should be enough. Thoughts on this? He told me just to supplement with calcium and vitamin D powder and he'd be fine.
I'm a little outdated on my turtle care but I thought for the sake of being cold-blooded and for their shell they needed the sun's natural benefits ie. uva/uvb. Hmm. Maybe that's semi-aquatics. What kind of water does your turtle live in? terrarium? or aquarium. nvm. you said underwater heater... I'm not sure.
Yes, the guy doesn't know much. All diurnal (daytime) reptiles need a source of UV. The UVBs help them with vitamin D3, which helps their bodies process calcium, which is key. Here's a good explanation, very helpful site. The Importance of UV Light for Turtles & Tortoises
From my understanding with sliders, the uva/uvb is absorbed directly onto their shells when they bask out of water. Sliders at least NEED to come completely out of water and bask in their lights as just having them on while they swim is not sufficient. They'll bask naturally. The heat lamp helps them warm up and regulate internal temperatures since they are cold blooded.
You can try selling the water heater for some extra cash?
The waters around here where they're from are pretty chilly constantly so I don't think they need heated water, just a heated landing pad.
Thanks for all the help. I will be planning another trip to an ever better reptile store to talk to their experts. So far, Donatello has been doing well. He eats like a pig and is starting to get used to us. He'll even chop food from our hands. He still does not have a heating/UVB bulb but we are going to be upgrading him soon to a 20Long tank. He's been really active and I honestly think he appreciates the heated water, probably because it's the only source of heat he has.
Yup!!
Just take him to the same place everytime, too many new places will stress him. Posted via Mobile Device
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