# Baby Musk turtles



## bevster (Jan 10, 2011)

Hi all, wondering if you can help me!

After a trip to our petshop we came home with 2 baby musk turtles, the petshop owner telling us that a 2ft by 18" tank was suitable for them (have to admit I didnt research them at all before we got them). So off we went home with 2 baby musks, a tank with gravel & a water pump 
We set it up & home and I googled the musk, horrified that the petshop owner hadnt told us about the lighting or the water temp etc...:gasp: 

So we now had 2 baby musks in a tank with cold water , no lights or heat. We improvised that night by adding warm water & using a bedside light over the tank for them for heat. 

A trip to adifferent petshop the next day saw us walk away with a 200l tank & stand, uv light, heat lamp, water heater & filter along with rocks, floating platform & food etc..

They've been in this setup for around 2 weeks now.One turtle is very very active, the other is very inactive, very rarely eats, if at all.
They are currently being fed on turtle pellets, which the active 1 loves.

I've tried to put the inactive 1 in the water to encourage him, he just finds the quickest route out & returns to the floating platform.

The active turtle keeps going to see the inactive one, nudging it with his head, put it still has no interest in moving.

Advice would be very much appreciated. 

Thanks Bev


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## BOiiL3D_FROG (Feb 21, 2010)

dont actually have the tank full up with 200l if theyre only the little 10p sized turts you always see for sale. if it is full, the little one may not be as an accoplished swimmer as the outgoing one, or may be shyer of water... try lowering the level =]


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## bevster (Jan 10, 2011)

BOiiL3D_FROG said:


> dont actually have the tank full up with 200l if theyre only the little 10p sized turts you always see for sale. if it is full, the little one may not be as an accoplished swimmer as the outgoing one, or may be shyer of water... try lowering the level =]


Hiya, thanks for the reply 

I've got about one third of the tank filled with water, with plenty of places for them to rest. I'll try upload a pic of the tank.

Bev


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## RORCOV (Jul 19, 2005)

Excessive basking, unwillingness to swim and not feeding are not good signs I am afraid.

Personally I would separate the non-swimmer as he could be carrying an infection which could pass to the other one.

Raise the temps for the non-swimmer, both basking and water by 5 degrees, and try tempting to eat with live food (eg bloodworm, daphnia, micro meal worms) or tiny pieces of salmon, trout, beef heart, mussel or prawn.


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## bevster (Jan 10, 2011)




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## bevster (Jan 10, 2011)

Turtle Jo said:


> Excessive basking, unwillingness to swim and not feeding are not good signs I am afraid.
> 
> Personally I would separate the non-swimmer as he could be carrying an infection which could pass to the other one.
> 
> Raise the temps for the non-swimmer, both basking and water by 5 degrees, and try tempting to eat with live food (eg bloodworm, daphnia, micro meal worms) or tiny pieces of salmon, trout, beef heart, mussel or prawn.


Thankyou for the reply. Sounds like a silly question but if I seperate the non-swimmer do you mean put him in another tank or is there a way I can separate them in this tank?
I'll go raise the water temp now & get some live food tomorrow.

B


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## RORCOV (Jul 19, 2005)

You need to put the non-swimmer in a separate tank. If the turtle is ill, it can pass it on to the other one.

You should also remove the lid of the tank, as this can cause the humidity to become too high which can contribute to respiratory infection.


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

As Jo says it needs to be in a completely seperate setup until it recovers, Respiratory Infections (RI) are highly contageous, so it not only needs to be seperated, you must practice effective hygiene when handling the two turts to prevent infection, I would also strip down and sterilise the tank and all equipment once they have been seperated to kill any lurking bacteria.


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## MrLizardBoi97 (Aug 29, 2010)

You really need to get the basking and UV light in there


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## bevster (Jan 10, 2011)

Turtle Jo said:


> You need to put the non-swimmer in a separate tank. If the turtle is ill, it can pass it on to the other one.
> 
> You should also remove the lid of the tank, as this can cause the humidity to become too high which can contribute to respiratory infection.


Thanks Jo,I'll see what I can find to set up the little tank again as I only have the lamps etc that are currently in the big tank  I am such a sucker for any living breathing thing its unreal lol

Graham, I'll clean the tank out tomorrow after work, I'll get them seperated just now, as am sure you all know it takes a while to clean & sterilise everything..Any tips on making this quicker would be appreciated too, thanks 

MrLizardBoi the tank has the UV light in the lid & the basking lamp is just above the floating platform.

I just hope this lil fella survives, what are his chances? or do you think hes going to turtle heaven? 

This is greatly appreciated guys, thankyou.


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

> as am sure you all know it takes a while to clean & sterilise everything..Any tips on making this quicker would be appreciated too, thanks


Chuck the whole lot in a bucket of dilute Milton Fluid and leave to soak.


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## bevster (Jan 10, 2011)

Hey all, thanks for the replies...

Well, the poorly turtle is still hanging on for dear life, still not eating, still not exercising much.We did seperate them cleaned the tanks etc 

Last night the healthy turtle or fatpants as we called him suddenly become poorly, blowing bubbles out of his nose, stretching his head out, having manic swimming fits then lying still in the water...we came down this morning and found him dead in the tank :'( 

Gutted!

We dont have much clue as to what went wrong with him, he was his normal self until around 9pm then seemed to be uncomfortable.

Any ideas please so we can try avoid this again. I still dont know what to do with our other little guy, like i say hes hanging in there but is still very poorly by all accounts.He hasnt grown at all since we got him, where as fatpants was growing nicely..

Bev


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## Shellsfeathers&fur (Jan 18, 2009)

Very sorry to read your last post. If he was blowing bubbles out of his nose then it could well have been a respiratory infection.

I think the best course of action would be to contact the pet shop and tell them the problems you have had. The first turtle was obviously ill when you got him and passed something to second, or he already had it. Hopefully, the ill one can get better. Perhaps if you can, you can again completely strip down/clean the tank and he can go back. Have you managed to sort out some lights for him?

Just as an added thought - turtles are very happy living on their own so he will not be lonely.


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

Sorry to hear this, as above it sounds very much as though they've both had RI, as it appeared so soon after you got them it's almost certain they, or at least one of them, had it when you bought them.


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## bevster (Jan 10, 2011)

This is a pic of the turt that is still with us...I took this pic earlier today, hes tiny (i put the 20p there so u could judge his size) 










The petshop we got the turts from has since closed down, so I wont get any joy with them! The tanks both have filters & lights, obviously we are using only 1 tank now.

We would like another turtle in the future, but we're waiting to see what happens with lil turt before we go down that route.

Thanks or the advice, its really appreciated

Bev


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## bevster (Jan 10, 2011)

Hi, just a quick update on our lil turtle. We went to an aquatic centre who recommended a calcium block in the water and also vitamin drops.
We bought alot of different blocks of frozen food too....Blood worms got him shifting no end am pleased to say!:2thumb::2thumb:
He is coming on in leaps & bounds now, we cannot believe he is the same poorly turtle we thought would never make it.

Hes now spending 90% of his time in the water, jumping off his ramp etc...he is an absolute joy to watch and a pleasure to own.
Thanks for all the help youve given me!

Bev


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