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smell

22 16:15:27

Question
I bought a pair of hatchling yellow bellied turtles a few months ago, there great pets but recently i have noticed the tank has started to smell. i used to clean them out once a week as advised but its seems to be getting worse, i have had to now start cleaning them out every three or so days as it is quite strong and distinctive and is making the house smell. at the moment i am feeding my turtles 2-3 times a day on standard turtle mix from the pet shop and all that is in the tank is pebbles rocks and a floating attached platform in which they sit. do you know what may be causing this stench? please help Rachael x

Answer
The distinctive turtle smell comes from rotting uneaten food or food wastes, and turtle waste products (solid and liquid). About 70% of the scent comes from materials in and under the gravel- which takes a while to really start to smell.

You are over-feeding the turtles- they generally get one serving a day that is about the size of their head- and that is certainly a part of the problem. Gravel on the bottom also makes things worse. It is tough to clean out well.

The BEST solution is a multi-part thing...
- Use a BIG tank. With 2 Yellow-belly turtles, I would be running them in at least a 75 gallon tank, using the guideline of 10 gallons of water per inch of turtle.

(I know this is not what they told you at the store- but consider that the store sold you turtles that were against the federal regulation prohibiting the commercial sale of turtles under 4" and that they are more in the business of selling stuff than being accurate.)

Larger tanks prevent stress, prevent aggression (sliders are not very friendly towards each other), and actually make cleaning easier.

- Remove the gravel. I recommend large flat pieces of slate, or a very thin layer of pea-size or bigger natural-looking rock- or nothing at all.

- Get a BIG external power canister filter, rated as large as you can find. This is not going to be cheap, but it will last forever and save you thousands of hours of work- as well as providing a better habitat for the turtles. A pre-filter will help keep the turtles from getting sucked in or hurt by the intake. (Don't buy a 'turtle filter'!)

- Plant some potted water plants. They will help treat the water, provide food, shade, and hiding places, and make the place look nicer.

- Put in a couple snails, an armored catfish or two, and some algae eater fish. The turtles may eat some of this, but that is a nice dietary addition.

- Get a good siphon cleaner to use once a week to suck off the stuff on the bottom and change about 1/4th of the water.



I apologize that this may seem like more than you bargained for. A lot of people think turtles are cute and easy pets, when in reality they are more like a slightly finicky tropical fish. Pet shops make things worse by selling absolute garbage for the poor animals.

You can learn everything you need to know about this pet at http://www.redearslider.com (The Red-ear is the near cousin of the Yellow-belly, with identical cares and needs.)