Found a baby painted turtle

Question
I found a baby painted turtle I believe it is, and I would like to set up a nice tank for him.. any tips on how to set the tank up for him? I have a 10 gallon tank already but it has a crack about half way up, would this be a problem? What do I need to have in the tank for him? I have never owned a turtle before so this will all be new to me.
Thanks!

Answer
Hi Tiffany,

Turtles can be a bit expensive to set up properly. They require a heat source, a UVB source and filtration. You will need to provide both a water area and a heated area where your baby can crawl out of the water to bask and regulate his body temperature. Painteds are avid swimmers and need to be in water to feed so provide as much depth as you can in your current tank. The basking spot can be made out of rocks or wood, just make sure they are solid and can't shift and trap your turtle. You can also just purchase an artificial basking platform that hangs on the side of the tank. You will need to hang a heat source over this basking area that reaches a temperature of around 90F. Your baby should also be provided with a ultraviolet B (UVB) producing lamp. These are specialized fluorescents that mimic the wavelengths of the sun. This allows your turtle to synthsize vitamim D3 which in turn allows it to effectively absorb calcium from its diet. Turtles that do no have access to UVB or a dietary source of D3 (such as commercial turtle pellets) will develop shell and skeletal deformities.
While your turtle is small you may be able to manage the water cleanliness by doing water changes but turltles eat and defecate alot and you will very soon need to invest in a filtration system for the water. Consult a good aquarium store for that and tell them it is for a turtle.
Painteds take both plant and animal food but as babies are primarily carnivorous. Earthworms, feeder fish, mealworms, waxworms, crickets and blood worms can all be offerred. These would be available at stores that sell reptiles and fish. You should also include a good quality commercial pellet like Reptomin or ZooMed. Avoid Wardley's which is at the low end of the quality scale. A cuttle bone which is sold for pet birds can be placed in the tank as a calcium source. Aquatic plants provide both security and a food source for painteds.

Your baby is a bit older then you might realize. Painteds are hatched in the late summer and spend the winter frozen in the nest before emerging in the spring.  Their bodies produce a chemical that allows them to survive the freezing/thawing process undamaged. Isn't that interesting!

I am linking one of the best turtle sites, Austin's Turtle Page, with a care sheet on Eastern painteds, the care for other other localities would be similar.


http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/caresheet-eastern_painted.htm