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I am not at sure about the breed of turtle. They are currently very small, maybe 2 inches tops from tip to tail. I believe the tank is a 15 gallon tank. There are rocks along the bottom which gently slope upwards to form a small beach area. There is a rock that is in the middle of the tank, gently sloped, with a fake log (the kind you get at fish stores) supporting the higher end. This provides 2 sunning areas, with minimal swimming area loss (the turtles can swim underneath the rock and through the log). It is by a window that gets plenty of natural sunlight all day, as well during the evening the heat lamp is turned on. This lamp is aimed at both the rock and the log, the Turtles apparently enjoy sitting on these in the evening. The water at its deepest is about 2-2.5 inches deep, the turtles can just reach there mouths/noses out when in the deep end and sitting at the bottom.
A filter is owned by my GF, but she is unsure if this filter needs to be totally submerged to work, or if just the bottom can be submerged. Currently it is not in the tank. There is no heater. What is the heater used for? Is it absolutely necessary? The heat lamp and being in the sun all day isn’t good enough?
As to the food, currently they are being fed some food bought at a petstore, can’t remember what it is called. The food is in pellet form, maybe 1 cm long. As these Turtles were just recieved on Sunday, and the tank set up that day, I have only seen one feeding. A single pellet was given to each turtle. One didn’t try to eat, the other ate about half of one before swimming away. The food was removed about 30 minutes after being served.
These turtles were born in August, and are still very young. Is there anything special that needs to be done for Turtles that are only 7 months old?
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Your turtles are too small. A seven month old painted turtle should be at least 3 or 4 inches, IIRC. My hatchlings always grew very quickly.
They need deepwater swimming area. There should not be gravel or sand or anything on the bottom; bare glass. There should be only enough rocks, etc. to form a basking area. There absolutely must be a filter. That is your first priority.
Second priority is you must get a full-spectrum fluorescent light. Window glass filters out ultraviolet light, so your turtles will begin to have calcium absorbtion problems. They may have already; that may be why they’re not growing.
Feed them some extra protein: chopped up fish, sprinkled with reptile vitamins. Non-fatty fish: orange roughy is a good choice. While they’re growing, feed them as much as they’ll eat. As long as your water is filtered.
Third priority is heat. It’s impossible to regulate the temperature from heat lamps. Submerged aquarium heaters have thermostats. The water temp should be around 70F.
Aquatic turtles have some pretty specific, but still pretty simple, requirements. If you don’t meet them they’re not likely to thrive. Two inches at seven months is not thriving.
Carry on.