robbert Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 Ok so how much water is good for reeves? 1 foot to much? enough? not enough?. Will this design and sizes work to house two of them for life? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hothouse Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 If water is maintained at a temp of around 26 - 28oC then the water can be quite deep, 300mm - 320mm. If the water is cooler then they must be able to easily reach the surface by standing on the bottom. Their feet aren't as webbed as other Aquatic Turtles ie Sliders, Cooters and Snake-necks, therefore the Reeve's find it more difficult to push themselves through the water. This size tank will house two for life easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnaM Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 Keep the water level up to the basking area. If you leave a 'gap' the turtle can dive off and is more likely to cause an injury hitting the exposed ramp. Or could even hit bottom of tank if turt dives off in a hurry and is reasonable size and water is too shallow. Its better that they can just slide off basking area straight into the water. Most of the injured turtles I get have shell injuries from above causes or rough surfaces....like rocks or even concrete blocks in their tank :roll:, burns on the head from turtle able to touch their light or nasty injury on back of head/neck from diving into shallow water and back of head/neck catching the edge of upper shell while chin ends up with bone exposed from hitting bottom of tank etc. Reeves are so cool! My two are real characters...and both now like to spend time sleeping in the garden on these really hot nights. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted January 12, 2009 Report Share Posted January 12, 2009 Reeves are very poor swimmers, so easy access to land area is a MUST! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted January 12, 2009 Report Share Posted January 12, 2009 I agree with DonnaM about the water leval. I have a tank of the same design for breeding red ears and it works well. You need to make sure there is enough height above the ramp so they can't climb out and the more water volume you have the easier it is to keep clean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbert Posted January 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 Thanks for all the replys, Is a bare bottom tank the best? also would normal play sand be alright in as the substrate on the ledge? And just a few more questions, What would be the best best food for them, And what lighting do they require a basking lamp and UV-A and UV-B tube lighting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted January 15, 2009 Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 When I built mine I left a small gap between the basking area and the end of the tank (one matchstick) and sloped it slightly to the end so it would drain. I used gravel on the basking area and and a big peice of driftwood for a ramp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnaM Posted January 15, 2009 Report Share Posted January 15, 2009 I just have a piece of that fake grass/astro-turf stuff sitting on the basking area as easy to remove and clean. Having it glued onto the ramp in the water is a bit of a pain, as it tends to get a build up of algae and is difficult to clean, even tho rest of tank and water is clear of algae. I prefer to have the glass 'ladder' type ramp for that reason. Sand will make a big mess of the tank and filter I guess ,tho I've never used it... :lol: Last winter I had several tanks set up with 28 turtles over the winter...and the ones with shingle stayed much cleaner as shingle 'caught' any rubbish that wasn't going up the filter. The ones without shingle were easy to net larger solids out of, but water got dirty much quicker even with same regime of water changes etc. Stones are smooth and reasonable size so as not to be swallowed, but I've never had turtles eat stones ...tho I believe some do... :-? 'Yes' to the reptile light and a basking or ordinary lightbulb (40watt) to encourage them out of the water to bask. My reeves eat pretty much everything I feed them...commercial turtle foods, (wet and dry), snails, worms, 'fancy' lettuce, those dry fish sold as cat treats at the supermarket (Purranas), Ox, chicken or lamb heart cut into strips (NO fat), purina 1 cat food biscuits, cuttle bone floating in the water (from supermarket, sold as bird food) boiled eggs and /or boiled egg shells , plants hanging in the water, courgette, pumpkin, peas ....and probably other stuff I cant think of at the moment :roll: I think they eat the raw anchovies as well....NEVER fed in their tank tho, as turns into an oil slick...so they all have turns in the bath munching on the whole fish and then I just net out any uneaten heads or spines etc and pull the plug (and of course rinse and dry the turtles well before putting them back in tank/pond ) But others may have other ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaNs Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 I have some spare discus tucker here phill, also there is some turtle food in your freezer and on your desk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbert Posted January 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 AWSOME Hans dropped them of today (THANKS) big one 10cm shell is swimming around alot, the smaller one is not quite as active, Do they sleep in the water or where ever? I have breakfast shift at work tomorow morning at 5am, i think ill be up every 5 minutes to check on them tho haha. They are sooooo cool tho will post pics when i have the big tank set up. Thanks everyone for you help and suggestions really appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnaM Posted January 17, 2009 Report Share Posted January 17, 2009 Yep they sleep in the water or where-ever Sometimes out on the basking ramp...or under the violets if out in the garden pond Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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