We have an adorable Common Musk turtle Max (for about 2-3 weeks now).

Initially we never saw him basking. The past few days he has been out more.
Today he has been out nearly since 8am

I would tap him every hour and he would open his eyes.

Finally he did not look right and when I tapped him...nothing. Picked him up...nothing...stayed in the same position and did not open his eyes.
I put him on the ramp with the back half of his body in the water and dropped a few food pellets in front of his nose.
Opened his eyes, and followed the pellets and ate them.

I read basking too much can signal pneumonia, and these are not really basking type to begin with.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa140/Cam5Pictures/MAX-2.jpg


I had no water heater (was told I needed one) the water temp was about 72-76*.
I added a heater so it is now 75-80*.
Basking temps are 84*-91* under the light.
***Also, it says once they hit 1" SCL 8" of water is okay...is that really okay?
It is NOT a turtle heater and is a preset no adjustment or cover...so I have to go get a decent one now.
Java Moss.
No substrate.
No filter as he is so small. I am doing 100% water changes every other day with RO water that has been out for over 24 hours.
No water tretment stuff.

On
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/ca...inkpot.htm
it says to have the water set to 80*F

He seems okay now, walking around and swimming in the water exploring per his usual prior to the past couple days...any input and/or crticism welcome.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa140/Cam5Pictures/Max-3.jpg

I am NOT by any means a baby stinkpot expert, but will say that you do probably want some gravel in the bottom, number one it gives it much more secure footing, and number two it gives a spot for good biological bacteria to start building up to break down waste in the water. Doing full water changes can be very stressful and is unnatural for them.

Cute little bugger, forgot to add! Hope that he (or she) does well for you and that people with more experience with them can chime in!

Thanks.
Good point!
Do you have turtle stuff at the store?

Thanks.
Good point!
Do you have turtle stuff at the store?

Yup! We have turtle stuff... We have more turtle stuff then is realistically ever needed, lol! (Turtle waterfalls hiding the filters, etc, that crap. Pretty, but totally uneccassary, lol!) I'd say whether from us or someone else, get a turtle specified heater, some gravel for the bottom, and a bottle of either turtle clean or quick start or really any kind of biological bacteria, you can often find it in the fish supplies.:cheers:

Watch out here we come!
Thanks again:)

Watch out here we come!
Thanks again:)

LOL! No problem! But.. I don't have to watch out, I'm at home today... I could be nice and give them fair warning, but I won't. Instead I'll say let me know how it goes without me there!:devil::cheers:
(And, I've told you what to pick up, so let's make sure they don't tell you to get anything stupid!!)

Well, I don't know if you warned Sophie but she was great!
I did NOT tell her what you said, just to see:)
I got the heater, clean and gravel and she pointed out the filter to get once he is bigger. She checked in about the lighting and food to make sure we had the right stuff.
She was very helpful!We also picked up a bunch of crickets for the dozen treefrogs and toads we caught today...will release tomorrow.
I had 4 of the 5 kids with me and we got waylayed looking at critters, but all in all stayed almost on task:)

Thanks:)

Nope, I didn't give any warning! Glad to hear that though, I always have those little "what happens if I am not there" thoughts... Like leaving your kids at home alone, lol!
And, lmao at staying almost on task!! Heck, there's time's that I have a hard time doing that there! Okay, doing clean water... wait, look, the bunny is being a window licker, back to water, wait look at the blacks being all silly, back to what was I doing??? LOL!

Hey we saw a window licker bunny there today...way too funny.
Oh and your amorous (sp?) Sulcatas...the kids were interested in the grunts being made...what a conversation that was on the way home...LOL

the only drawback to your place lately is the traffic...sheesh...that last 5 minutes took 30 today...oh well nobody remembered the traffic once we saw the skinks and snakes;)

Hey we saw a window licker bunny there today...way too funny.
Oh and your amorous (sp?) Sulcatas...the kids were interested in the grunts being made...what a conversation that was on the way home...LOL

the only drawback to your place lately is the traffic...sheesh...that last 5 minutes took 30 today...oh well nobody remembered the traffic once we saw the skinks and snakes;)

Well, to explain tortoise sex you can just say that they are "playing leapfrog and he can't get over" or say that he "has the hiccups"!:lmao::lmao:
And LOL at having a window licker bunny! So you know what I am talking about then!! Was it the little gray one? He's a little special. Sweet, but special.

And yeah, with all the construction going on everywhere traffic can be a pain. I am dreading when they start to do the lightrail thing, we've actually discussed moving. (But who knows.. the landlord is FINALLY going to put a new roof on, so no more flooding, water, rot smell, etc... that may get us to stay!!)

I would get either another tank going to get biological filtration going....or better yet if you know someone with an established aquarium get some "dirty" water (actually it's not dirty, but rather contains detritus and the bacteria needed for the nitrogen cycle) and some "dirty" gravel and jump start your aquarium filtration. Even a baby turtle will benifit from filtered water, I prefer undergravel filters, but you can cut the lift tube in half so you only need the aquarium half full of water, plus you can regulate the air flow so you don't have to much current for a baby turtle. Baby turtles without balanced established bacterial/biological filtration are very suseptible to fungal/and or bacterial infections even with daily water changes as bad bacteria and bag fugus can still take hold with the residual "scum film". Hope this helps, just my two cents, I'm sure Sara can probably set you up with all my sugestions:yessir: Your heat and lighting sound just perfect, but a good balanced biological filtration goes a long way to out-competing opportunistic pathogens/infections, which is the number one enemy of a baby water turtle. Best of luck

Yup! Sophie sent her home today with a bottle of "good bacteria" to get that going. I use dirty gravel from an established tank only if it's one that I know for a fact has never had a problem, but am scared of using stuff that may transfer disease, parasites, etc. Have you ever had a problem with that Jeff? Just wondering if I am being paranoid.

Well, to explain tortoise sex you can just say that they are "playing leapfrog and he can't get over" or say that he "has the hiccups"!:lmao::lmao:
And LOL at having a window licker bunny! So you know what I am talking about then!! Was it the little gray one? He's a little special. Sweet, but special.

And yeah, with all the construction going on everywhere traffic can be a pain. I am dreading when they start to do the lightrail thing, we've actually discussed moving. (But who knows.. the landlord is FINALLY going to put a new roof on, so no more flooding, water, rot smell, etc... that may get us to stay!!)

Hehehe...well my oldest is in 8th grade and in public schools they start 'education' in 5th grade...he has seen a live birth on video and as a bonus they covered incest in 7th grade...argh!
So he was well aware, the others knew what was going on but completely confused as to why the female was on the bottom!...LOL

Yay!!! you all have been battling that roof for a LONG time!
Hmmmm, new roof, reduce rent and house cleaning for a year...that MIGHT get you to stay;)

And yes that was the little bunny licker...what a little sweetie.
Do all bunnies do that?

....or better yet if you know someone with an established aquarium get some "dirty" water
I prefer undergravel filters, but you can cut the lift tube in half so you only need the aquarium half full of water, plus you can regulate the air flow so you don't have to much current for a baby turtle. Baby turtles without balanced established bacterial/biological filtration are very suseptible to fungal/and or bacterial infections
Hope this helps
Your heat and lighting sound just perfect, but a good balanced biological filtration goes a long way to out-competing opportunistic pathogens/infections, which is the number one enemy of a baby water turtle. Best of luck

Yes! it helps a lot, thanks so much.:yes:

I happen to have a 5+ year old 30 gallon established fish tank right here:)

How deep can he handle it?
He is a great swimmer, but obviously this is my first turtle so I worry and he is only a couple months old at the most.

I read once he is 1" (which he is SCL) that 8" of water is okay.:dunno:

The filters I saw that was small was just the mesh no carbon or anything.
the 3 stage filter seemed maybe too powerful.
So with the under gravel filters they are adjustable flow rates?
Thanks again I really appreciate it, I was expecting to get yelled at:o

Here are the changes thus far...
Varied levels of gravel along with his basking ramp and the new TCR turtle heater and the turtle clear is in there, a couple drops for that small amount of water.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa140/Cam5Pictures/AAAMaxsNewHouse710007.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa140/Cam5Pictures/AAAMaxsNewHouse710002.jpg
And Max exploring:)
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa140/Cam5Pictures/AAAMaxsNewHouse710004.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa140/Cam5Pictures/AAAMaxsNewHouse710005.jpg

Yeah, It doesn't hurt to be carefull where you get your dirty water and gravel from, but if the inhabitants in the established tank are healthy and there haven't been any new introductions it should be safe.
With the undergravel filter you use an air pump, you can regulate the air flow via a dial on some pumps or just divert some air to an airstone if you feel it's too much. They are great swimmers even as hatchlings and filling that tank up half way wouldn't be a problem at all, plus a little excersise in captivity is good for a water turtle. Just add some floating plants live or real, and the turtle can hang out in the plants on top if it wants and feel very secure.

And yeah, with all the construction going on everywhere traffic can be a pain. I am dreading when they start to do the lightrail thing, we've actually discussed moving. (But who knows.. the landlord is FINALLY going to put a new roof on, so no more flooding, water, rot smell, etc... that may get us to stay!!)

I think you should take over the old TCF building at the HarMar area! Man, would that ever be close to home! :lmao:

I think you should take over the old TCF building at the HarMar area! Man, would that ever be close to home! :lmao:

LOL!!! Bruce actually checked into the Bucks furniture place on Snelling and Larpentuer that closed, but WOW was that out of our range! Coulda walked to work though..

LOL!!! Bruce actually checked into the Bucks furniture place on Snelling and Larpentuer that closed, but WOW was that out of our range! Coulda walked to work though..

I used to live in the apartments right across Fairview, there! Loved walking(read that; crawling) distance to the Ciatti's that used to be there!

Thanks:)
Sounds great.
I have the java moss but they don;t support much of his weight even as little as he is.
do you have any favorite live plants to use?