Post by geekcoboy103 on Aug 30, 2006 12:28:56 GMT -5
Description:
Common name: Spotted turtle
Scientific Name: Clemmys guttata
Size: Adults max out at 5”. Largest recorded was a female at 5.4”.
Native region: East Coast from Southern Canada down to Florida.
Temperament: Very docile.
Color: Black with small yellow spots covering its shell and appendages.
Housing:
Hatchling: A tubaware container will work at this stage, I use a tubaware that is about 2 feet long and about 1 foot wide for my 1 and 1/2 “ spotted turtles.
The water should be about 1-2”
Juvenile: A 20-gallon long tank will work for a juvenile.
Adult: A 20-gallon long tank is the absolute minimum for one adult spotted turtle, a 30 gallon long tank will work, in fact, a 30 gallon long tank is adequate for a pair of adults.
*NOTE*
These turtles are NOT very good swimmers, and the water should only be a little bit deeper than their carapace length.
Substrate:
LARGE aquarium pebbles, have them be too big for the turtle to eat.
If you are going to be like me and have half land, and half water, I will be using EcoEarth’s compressed coconut fiber on the other half of my tank.
Temperature:
These turtles are native to the eastern United States and southern Canada, so the water temperature should be around 7-77 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer and spring.
In autumn, lower the temperature.
In winter, lower the temperature more.
In spring, steadily bring the temperature back up to normal over a course of 8-10 days.
An under-tank heating pad can easily provide warmer water if you are having trouble keeping the temperature right, be sure to get a thermostat!
Basking temperature should be around 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Air temperature should be around the mid 80’s.
Lighting:
A UVB light is necessary; Reptisun 5.0 is perfect.
I use a Plant and Aquarium UVB light from Home Depot; it is cheap, and effective.
They also should have a basking light over a spot where they can get totally out of the water to bask.
All year, have about 10-13 hours of UVB/UVA light (referred to as ‘daylight’), except in winter, and see hibernation for hours of daylight in winter months.
Filtration:
I was using a HOT Magnum filter for my 30-gallon tank.
In my tubaware I have no filtration, I just take the turtles and stuff out, then dump the water out and re-fill it every few days.
I have used silicon glue to make deeper water retrieval and water expulsion tubes.
Filter on wall
©Collin Rodino
Expulsion and retirieval tubes
©Collin Rodino
Filter
©Collin Rodino
UPDATE: NEW FILTER AND DESIGN (cleaner than it looks)
New filter
Diet:
The diet of spotted turtles should consist of both meat and vegetables.
For hatchling spotted turtles, a low protein diet is vital.
A spotted turtles diet should consist of worms, red wigglers, crickets, and some guppies/feeder fish.
The vegetable part of a spotted turtles diet should consist of carrots, cucumber, squash, aquatic plant particles, and the list goes on of vegetables you can feed spotted turtles.
My spotteds get carrots, cucumber, sqush/zuccinni, green beans, snow peas, and pretty much whatever I can get for them.
Their meat portions consist of crickets so far, I have yet to find a bait shop to get red wigglers from!
Calcium/Vitamins:
A growing turtle needs its calcium, I give my spotteds cuttlebone, I just drop it in the water, and they chase it down and bite it, thus, sharpening their beaks, and giving them calcium.
Hibernation:
FOR EXPERIENCED TURTLE KEEPERS ONLY.
It is extremely vital to your turtle’s life that you do not hibernate your turtles unless an experienced reptile owner tells you that you can do it.
I am not hibernating my spotted turtles this year, and I might not even next year.
The risk of death is much to high if I were to hibernate them this year, my first year with spotted turtles.
But to hibernate, you MUST have a VERY healthy turtle, which means: Before hibernation you must:
1. Have a healthy turtle
2. Take your turtle to the vet.
3. Be sure your turtle has EMPTIED COMPLETELY their bowels.
4. Do not feed them after they have clean bowels.
5. Then, you take a cooler, fill it with about 5” of mud, and about 3-4” of water.
6. Put the turtle/s in the cooler with no lights, no filtration (they won’t need it because remember, they have empty bowels, so there’s no poop to be pooped, and no urine to be urinated.
7. You can check on the turtles during the winter/hibernation months.
After the hibernation months are complete, open the cooler, take the turtles out, and put them in their cage.
And steadily, over 8-10 days, raise the temperatures back to normal, and you’re done with hibernation until the next winter.
For people like me who are not hibernating their turtles, just sort of ‘slow things down’ a bit.
Lower temperatures, have only around 7 hours of daylight a day.
Also, feed them less.
If they seem to be trying to go into hibernation on their own and you don’t want to, raise temperatures to keep them active, it messes up their natural time of year instinct for a while, but it keeps you from have a dead turtle.
Their sense of month will return to them, if this doesn’t seem to happen, see a vet.
Breeding:
I am sorry, I am not yet knowledgeable on breeding practices; search more on breeding practices.
Other Information:
This (also agreed on by experienced reptile owners) is a very good beginner turtle.
It is the smallest turtle species I could find.
They are much cheaper to house and take care of than larger turtles like Red-Eared Sliders.
This species is a threatened species and ILLEGAL to sell or buy in Virginia, as well as all other states it is native to.
It is also illegal to buy from one state and bring to a native spotted state.
I received my spotteds from a very nice man who breeds spotteds for a big reptile center, and his female was laying a lot of eggs, so he was nice enough to give two of his hatchlings to me.
These are beautiful creatures, take good care of them, and they’ll be very pretty and fun.
Here is one of mine
©Collin Rodino
Here is both of them in action
©Collin Rodino
Here is another shot of the terrible two in action again
©Collin Rodino
Both of them sitting in the land side
©Collin Rodino
One of them under water
©Collin Rodino
Written by Collin Rodino
-collin
Common name: Spotted turtle
Scientific Name: Clemmys guttata
Size: Adults max out at 5”. Largest recorded was a female at 5.4”.
Native region: East Coast from Southern Canada down to Florida.
Temperament: Very docile.
Color: Black with small yellow spots covering its shell and appendages.
Housing:
Hatchling: A tubaware container will work at this stage, I use a tubaware that is about 2 feet long and about 1 foot wide for my 1 and 1/2 “ spotted turtles.
The water should be about 1-2”
Juvenile: A 20-gallon long tank will work for a juvenile.
Adult: A 20-gallon long tank is the absolute minimum for one adult spotted turtle, a 30 gallon long tank will work, in fact, a 30 gallon long tank is adequate for a pair of adults.
*NOTE*
These turtles are NOT very good swimmers, and the water should only be a little bit deeper than their carapace length.
Substrate:
LARGE aquarium pebbles, have them be too big for the turtle to eat.
If you are going to be like me and have half land, and half water, I will be using EcoEarth’s compressed coconut fiber on the other half of my tank.
Temperature:
These turtles are native to the eastern United States and southern Canada, so the water temperature should be around 7-77 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer and spring.
In autumn, lower the temperature.
In winter, lower the temperature more.
In spring, steadily bring the temperature back up to normal over a course of 8-10 days.
An under-tank heating pad can easily provide warmer water if you are having trouble keeping the temperature right, be sure to get a thermostat!
Basking temperature should be around 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Air temperature should be around the mid 80’s.
Lighting:
A UVB light is necessary; Reptisun 5.0 is perfect.
I use a Plant and Aquarium UVB light from Home Depot; it is cheap, and effective.
They also should have a basking light over a spot where they can get totally out of the water to bask.
All year, have about 10-13 hours of UVB/UVA light (referred to as ‘daylight’), except in winter, and see hibernation for hours of daylight in winter months.
Filtration:
I was using a HOT Magnum filter for my 30-gallon tank.
In my tubaware I have no filtration, I just take the turtles and stuff out, then dump the water out and re-fill it every few days.
I have used silicon glue to make deeper water retrieval and water expulsion tubes.
Filter on wall
©Collin Rodino
Expulsion and retirieval tubes
©Collin Rodino
Filter
©Collin Rodino
UPDATE: NEW FILTER AND DESIGN (cleaner than it looks)
New filter
Diet:
The diet of spotted turtles should consist of both meat and vegetables.
For hatchling spotted turtles, a low protein diet is vital.
A spotted turtles diet should consist of worms, red wigglers, crickets, and some guppies/feeder fish.
The vegetable part of a spotted turtles diet should consist of carrots, cucumber, squash, aquatic plant particles, and the list goes on of vegetables you can feed spotted turtles.
My spotteds get carrots, cucumber, sqush/zuccinni, green beans, snow peas, and pretty much whatever I can get for them.
Their meat portions consist of crickets so far, I have yet to find a bait shop to get red wigglers from!
Calcium/Vitamins:
A growing turtle needs its calcium, I give my spotteds cuttlebone, I just drop it in the water, and they chase it down and bite it, thus, sharpening their beaks, and giving them calcium.
Hibernation:
FOR EXPERIENCED TURTLE KEEPERS ONLY.
It is extremely vital to your turtle’s life that you do not hibernate your turtles unless an experienced reptile owner tells you that you can do it.
I am not hibernating my spotted turtles this year, and I might not even next year.
The risk of death is much to high if I were to hibernate them this year, my first year with spotted turtles.
But to hibernate, you MUST have a VERY healthy turtle, which means: Before hibernation you must:
1. Have a healthy turtle
2. Take your turtle to the vet.
3. Be sure your turtle has EMPTIED COMPLETELY their bowels.
4. Do not feed them after they have clean bowels.
5. Then, you take a cooler, fill it with about 5” of mud, and about 3-4” of water.
6. Put the turtle/s in the cooler with no lights, no filtration (they won’t need it because remember, they have empty bowels, so there’s no poop to be pooped, and no urine to be urinated.
7. You can check on the turtles during the winter/hibernation months.
After the hibernation months are complete, open the cooler, take the turtles out, and put them in their cage.
And steadily, over 8-10 days, raise the temperatures back to normal, and you’re done with hibernation until the next winter.
For people like me who are not hibernating their turtles, just sort of ‘slow things down’ a bit.
Lower temperatures, have only around 7 hours of daylight a day.
Also, feed them less.
If they seem to be trying to go into hibernation on their own and you don’t want to, raise temperatures to keep them active, it messes up their natural time of year instinct for a while, but it keeps you from have a dead turtle.
Their sense of month will return to them, if this doesn’t seem to happen, see a vet.
Breeding:
I am sorry, I am not yet knowledgeable on breeding practices; search more on breeding practices.
Other Information:
This (also agreed on by experienced reptile owners) is a very good beginner turtle.
It is the smallest turtle species I could find.
They are much cheaper to house and take care of than larger turtles like Red-Eared Sliders.
This species is a threatened species and ILLEGAL to sell or buy in Virginia, as well as all other states it is native to.
It is also illegal to buy from one state and bring to a native spotted state.
I received my spotteds from a very nice man who breeds spotteds for a big reptile center, and his female was laying a lot of eggs, so he was nice enough to give two of his hatchlings to me.
These are beautiful creatures, take good care of them, and they’ll be very pretty and fun.
Here is one of mine
©Collin Rodino
Here is both of them in action
©Collin Rodino
Here is another shot of the terrible two in action again
©Collin Rodino
Both of them sitting in the land side
©Collin Rodino
One of them under water
©Collin Rodino
Written by Collin Rodino
-collin