Posted by stunt on April 28, 2003 at 19:07:02:
In Reply to: Eastern Hatchling as Pet posted by TommyT on April 28, 2003 at 18:54:58:
Generally its not a good idea to catch wild painteds or any other turtles for that matter since there wild numbers are in such decline and because they dont tend to live as healthy as a captive breed.
Hatchlings do require a little bit different environment. As for a tank size you can get something small around 20 gallons for now, but you will need to bump it up to a 60 gallon or so with in about a year.
Hatchlings do best in water that has a temp around 78 to 80 degrees, unlike adults which only need a water temp of around 72 to 74 degrees.
Make sure you have basking area that is easy to climb on and is around 85 degrees or so.
As for diet...Hatchlings eat more insects and protien then the adults do in there first few years of life. As they grow older adults tend to eat mostly/more plant matter then hatchlings and sub-adults. Make you still vary there diet and offer plant matter to such as romain lettuce or other green veggies.
