Soft shelled turtle

[theslipknotadrian]

i have two and they have really really really long necks

[cooklikeja]

By the way, soft shelled is 4 inches while hard shelled is 5 inches :)

[cooklikeja]

Hello there! I just adopted a soft shelled turtle like yours! My dad gave it to me and told me that one of our waiters found it. I currently have a hard shelled turtle in a big aquarium so I placed the new soft shelled turtle with him. I have no idea how to take care of the newbie. Will they fight? They are of the same size although my hard shelled is quite "lumpy" if you know what I mean :) Please help me :( I want them both to be good friends :D

[RubenRedd]

great video and great music. I'm getting a softy tomorrow. can't wait.

[vanzgo25]

Is it ok when u put that turtle w/ other kinds of turtles and it's all sand not pebbles? i know its ok for this turtle, but is it dangerous 4 other turts?

[dpezzar]

hes so cyyyyyuuuuteeeeee! :3

[123souseiseki]

what does dogania subplana eating,....

[Greedo1150]

this animals are farmed and eaten in South east Asia

[illmatic826]

just look at him not a care in the world

[drychalice]

Question; What kind of water plant is that big one in the video.

[duduhkura]

Nice Setting!! I have two of these.

Mine are quite tame. I love to watch when

they're eating. I feed them with frozen blood worm

and small goldfish......

[nskpsycho]

they are edible....

[fallentoturtle]

you say they are ok with other breeds. what about snapping turtles?

[LewkOlphert]

@drunkdivamariahcarey I think its a californian

[drunkenp0t]

how big do they get?

[rottitera]

@drunkenp0t

Males can grow to 9 inches shell length and females up to 18 inches shell length !!!

[drunkenp0t]

@rottitera thanks i thought get around 5-6 inches like a razorback musk nice tank tho

[rottitera]

@HolyBombOfDeath

Your softshell is a lucky guy.....you took him on and gave him the life he deserves...well done, i still feed mine by hand and he sometimes has a go at me but only when taken out of the water (that's when they feel most vulnerable).....out of all my turtles he is the favourite.

[austinhh132]

at 1:30 2hen he sticks his neck all the way, i was like, holy turtle!!!

[rottitera]

@Montyextreme ......If you hand feed them like i do they become quite tame and a lot less agressive than you would expect them to be, of course like any turtle when feeding they can sometimes 'miss' the food and give you a nip instead......i don't have any problems feeding any of my turtles but you have to be pretty dedicated to own and care for turtles like these.

[jonasdude11]

its so beautiful its soooo cute

[EeuMemo]

she needs a place out of the water

[rottitera]

A basking area is in the tank, you just can't see it in the video, all my turtles have basking areas, you can visit my site at, stevesturtlepage for info on my setups.

[DemonDrug95]

i buy one hatchling for 3 dollars lol

[LVivienne]

Bravo! I love the set-up, your turtle looks happy & healthy. Thank you for doing your research before buying a Softshell!

[xavierlance1000]

but i try to buy some guppy for breeding but we have classes and we have saturday classes and sundays we go to church. can i have ur yahoo account

[xavierlance1000]

how about live mouse will he eat that. cuz i can't have my reces because of him and the food costs 2 dollars and i buy twice a week.

[rottitera]

Not live mice.....Try freshwater fish (catch them yourself) or prawns, i buy a half pound bag for £2 once every 7 days, that feeds 3 adults 3 times weekly, you can feed them water lettuce at other times of the day besides their 'main' meal as lettuce doesn't really fill them up but they enjoy it!!!

[xavierlance1000]

can i feed my chinese soft shell turtle a fresh water crab

[rottitera]

Yes as they are naturally carniverous, but i would feed it a dead crab.

[emostars71]

so they just dropped off my soft shell turtle he is so cute and tiny he swam up to pumpkin and they stared at eachother...lol..after that he started to eat the bloodworms...

[emostars71]

I am excitied I am getting my soft shell turtle tomorrow!!! Funny I have the same log decoration as you do I picked it up the other day at petsmart my razorback pumpkin loves it climbs on top I thought they were not so much of a basking turtle but he seems to like climbing in an out of the water so tomorrow he will get his new friend the soft shell turtle...

[xavierlance1000]

I know cuz I had 3 spiny soft shell and 2 died :( and the other one escaped. but they died cuz of getting stressed out by trying to escape

[rottitera]

That all depends how old it is, if its a juvenile hand feeding is the trick, if its 2-3years or more you may find it difficult if not impossible.

[xavierlance1000]

thanks. but the soft shell is in my pond not inside a tank

[rottitera]

If the others are in heated tanks you will have to acclimatise them to the colder temperature of the pond. to do this you need to turn down the temperature of the tanks by a few degrees each week for 2-3 weeks until they are at room temperature and then put them in the pond. you need at least a foot of mulch at the bottom of the pond for them to hibernate in.

[emostars71]

thank you I will try that and I will let you know how it went

[xavierlance1000]

can i put my 3" red eared slider and my 3" asian box turtle with my 8" soft shell turtle????

[rottitera]

Yes you can, but watch them at feeding times the first week or so to make sure they are getting there fair share of food each, if one isn't getting much you can either feed him by hand or put him in a large enough container with some water in from tank(they need the water so they can digest the food). i personally hand feed all mine, that way they become tamer. You will need a large tank if you put them all together.

[emostars71]

WOw you have alot of turtles I am an animal lover myself this weekend that just passed there was a reptile show up here in sf so I got a cooter and a razorback musk turtle I feed them the typical stick foods I have guppies swimming around in the tank and they eat blood worms as well any suggestions you might have for other type of foods?

[rottitera]

From around 6mths old you can try them on small bits of fruit(apple, banana).......veg(green lettuce,tomatoe).......dog and cat food!!!!!!Oh yes! ...... and peeled prawns(but try and feed them by hand that way there is less mess in tank,you will be surprised what they will eat, NO MEAT and vary the diet from day to day. Don't forget to clean your hands before and after with a non scented hand gel like they use in hospitals (turtles can carry salmonella) but if you use the hand gel you'll be ok.

[emostars71]

once again thank you for your help I am looking forward to getting my turlte now right now I do have sand on the bottom of my turtle tank ...so how is your soft shell doing?

[rottitera]

I actually have 2 soft shells, the bigger is on his own, the smaller one is with the musk turtle and i also have two yellow bellied sliders and a texas river cooter in another tank, they are around 5-6" in length.i've also had in the past a missisippi map turtle, a reeves turtle and red eared sliders.

[emostars71]

thank you!!!! so the soft shell can live with other turtles and I would only need to isolate and use salt if it has cuts or things?

[rottitera]

Yes,that's right.

If it's a juvenile soft shell use sand from your local aquarium shop for bottom of tank(deep enough so it can bury itself). But don't use CORAL sand.

Soft shells like hiding places. when they get bigger, 4-5" length, you can take away the sand as they will be used to the surroundings and be less timid.

[emostars71]

I have been thinking of getting soft shell turtle right now I have a cooter and a razorback musk turtle so do soft shell turtles need aquarium salf in the tank?

[rottitera]

Soft shells only need aquarium salt in tank if they have any infections from bites or cuts. don't forget that you would have to isolate the soft shell to another tank on its own and put salt in with it.

[xavierlance1000]

shud i separate my smaller ones from the mature one??because i own 3 of them and one is 8" long already, i got the other two from the local river.hehe.

[rottitera]

You need to distinguish which one is the aggressive one, if the other two are a similar size they may be alright together but you will need to keep an eye on them. Don't forget they can give a really nasty bite so imagine what damage they can do to each other, if they do get bitten, isolate them into another tank and use one teaspoon of AQUARIUM SALT, (not ordinary salt) diluted in a small amount of water from the tank,and then put it in. this will clear any infections from any bites.

[crazykyle401]

nice enclosure