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baby softshell not eating

zorak1

zorak1

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Found a baby softshell in my pool and am
keeping it in a (very clean) circular shallow
goldfish bowl (2.5 gallons I'm guessing).
Turtle is barely the size of a half dollar piece.

Bought it several ghost shrimp, and dropped in
some ReptoMin baby turtle sticks, and I even broke
them up a bit sometimes despite their small size.
Just doesn't seem to est anything, despite being
relatively active. What does anyone recommend?
Feeder guppies? (Hard to find here in Boca; anyone
know where to get those here?)
Thanks in advance.
 

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Or you could let it go.. That set-up will kill that baby turtle in a couple weeks... Soft shells are pretty cheap. If you want one, study up on the tank size and filtration requirements and go buy one..
 
If you get it in a proper tank set up it will be just fine. It is probably stressed out. I would suggest trying to feed it frozen blood worms (thawed of course). Just give it a couple weeks and it will start eating
 
He started eating after about a week and is eagerly consuming as much baby ReptoMin as I give him(or is it a her?)
So doing well now.
Thanks for the advice.

By the way how do I tell its gender at this age?
 
You cant!! They have to be older. Here is a link to help http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Articles/herping-spinysoftshells.htm Also Im going to suggest you look at this care guide, http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/caresheet-spiny_softshell.htm Once you start reading the requirements for enclosure you may not want to keep it. Direct quote from care guide "Recommended size for a single adult Apalone spinifera would be a 75 gallon aquarium as a minimum (90 or larger preferred) for a male. We don’t recommended large females be kept in conventional aquariums. They are too large & active and require extreme amounts of space. Stock tanks are an option, with a minimum requirement of 400 gallons (600 gallon or larger preferred). This will provide adequate swimming space & assist the filtration in maintaining good water quality. For additional males, we recommend adding a minimum 75 gallons of tank space per additional turtle. For females, add no less than 100 gallons of space per turtle.

With these space recommendations you may consider a swimming pool. Be sure you get one with great structural stability."

Just stuff to think about for the future
 
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