Starting this off: this is not my classes turtle, I'm taking care of him for the summer for a fellow teacher and on the day to day I usually do not have a say in his care. I know it is bad but I live in Japan and explaining proper care is difficult.
Hi everyone first time turtle carer here. I'm taking care of one of my fellow teachers turtles for the summer and I want to try to improve his well being the best I can while he's with me, and in a way that will be as non-intrusive to the teacher as I can so that it will stick long term.
He is an about two inch red eared slider who lives in a roughly 10 gallon bucket with no basking area, swimming space, UVB or UVA (though he is placed next to the open window 90% of the time). All he has at the moment is some rocks to sit on and like half an inch of water. It's... not good care, and I want to improve it the best I can for as cheaply as I can (so the teacher does not feel burdened by the care and is likely to keep it going long term) so I'd appreciate any advice I can get and any answers to the questions I have!
- I know the rule of thumb is 10 gallons per inch of shell. Does anyone have any recommendations for atypical 'tanks' that would work for cheaper (no access to a pond or similar) but still give good view to the turtle for students? A standard glass tank would be too heavy for the location he needs to be in in the classroom. He's currently in a clear rectangular bucket.
- Any cheap but decent UVB & UVA lights that can be found in Japan? The typical Zoomed and such seem to be prohibitively expensive here.
- What is a decent diet for them? He's currently fed strictly a pellet diet, should I mix in greens or fruits? Anything I should avoid? Any good turtle food brands? They're currently feeding him Daiso brand pellets.
- What kind of quiet filters would work best for the water? I'm most familiar with canister or sponge filters and know sponge filters are the quietest but would they work for the bio-load of a turtle? Any recommendations I can find here in Japan?
Truthfully any help you can give would be appreciated! I'm familiar with fish care but I've never had the opportunity to care for a turtle before and would like to help this little guy as much as I can.