water turtels

Question
QUESTION: hi,,,i have 2 water turtles,,,both having a shell size of 1.5 inch,,,,,i store them in water and have kept a stone in water so if they want to rest, then they can on the same. my question are:
1) one of them site on the stone the entire day, and the other doesn't sit on the stone at all.  is it normal.
2)how can i identify which is male and which is female....one of them is having lots of green design on its back,,,,and the other is having less design.
3)i feed them tortoise food given by the seller itself.
4)what else can i feed them
5) i put them on ground out of water to play,,,,how long can they stay without water???
6)one of them is very shy....the one which stays in water all the time,,,,,,  she never comes out   always hide..........is it normal
7)my seller said that the tortoise are 2 months of age,,,,but how can i find it out
8)how long this tortoise survive,,,, and how big they grow in size
9)can U give a contact number of any VET in proper mumbai

i will be highly thankful if U ans all  the question of mine

ANSWER: Your turtles need help, and you need better advice than the turtle store is giving you. Try http://www.redearslider.com or http://www.austinsturtlepage.com for GOOD advice.

1. Not normal. Rocks are bad basking sites, and if one is hogging it, the other will get ill. Each turtle needs enough space. Turtles need large habitats. With 2 1.5" turtles, they should be in about a 50 gallon tank, filled up most of the way.

2. You cannot tell by color, or in any other way until they get about 4" long- then the websites above can help ID the gender.

3 and 4. Try 1/2 good pellets and 1/2 live or frozen/thawed fish foods like small fish, worms, krill, insects, beef heart, etc.

5. They don't like being out of a good water tank. Please stop this- it scares them and confuses them.

6. Tank is probably too small and the other one is taking the good spots and scaring the other one.

7. There is no way to know the age of a turtle. We can guess, and he is probably about right.

8. Most people kill their turtles within 5 months because of bad care. With a little help, they will go 5 years, and with good care they can live over 20 years. Full size sliders run about 10" long.

9. Sorry, I do not have any lists of vets outside the United States.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: QUESTION: hi,,,i have 2 water turtles,,,both having a shell size of 1.5 inch,,,,,i store them in water boul(which is of a shape of ball) which is of 10 inch of diameter,and have kept a stone of square shape of 4inch in water so if they want to rest, then they can on the same.i fill the water till 3.5 inch so the entire shell gets into the water my question are:
1) one of them site on the stone the entire day, and the other doesn't sit on the stone at all.  is it normal.and the stone have enough space for both of them to sit.
2)how can i identify which is male and which is female....one of them is having lots of green design on its back,,,,and the other is having less design.
3)i feed them tortoise food given by the seller itself.
4)what else can i feed them, as im a vegetarian,so suggest some thing veg
5) i put them on ground out of water to play,,,,how long can they stay without water??? or what are the other ways in which they can play
6)one of them is very shy....the one which stays in water all the time,,,,,,  she never comes out   always hide..........is it normal
7)my seller said that the tortoise are 2 months of age,,,,but how can i find it out
8)how long this tortoise survive,,,, and how big they grow in size
9)can U give a contact number of any VET in proper mumbai
10) one of my friend is having water turtels, she said at night as the water is very cold, she removes the turtels out of water and let them sleep on the piece of cloth so they dont keep cold,,,,is it a good idea

i will be highly thankful if U ans all  the question of mine


Answer
#10- no, this is not a good idea. These are water turtles and they only feel safe in the water. Sleeping on a towel, etc. will cause them to become stressed, dehydrated, and pick up diseases- especially respiratory infections and pneumonia.

Night time water temps can be as low as 60 if the day temps are good, but with a good water heater you do not have to worry about this.