My new baby turtles, and my adult Stinkpot

[Kristina]

Here are the new baby Mud turtles. The first one is a 2010 Stinkpot and the second is a 2009 Three Lined.

(please ignore my horrid nail polish. LOL.)

Three Lined

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Baby Red Belly cooter

Look how dark he is!!! Isn't he gorgeous?


Eastern Painted

I had also promised better pics of my adult Stinkpot, so cleverly named... Stinky

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[Tom]

Beautiful turtles, but that chunk o' nail polish is impossible to ignore.

 

[Kristina]

LOL!!! I've been so busy lately, you know, building tortoise enclosures... I just haven't had time....

 

[terryo]

Kristina, your little itty, bitty, turts are too cute. Your tanks look great too. I love the Eastern.....I guess because I used to have them for years.

 

[dmmj]

For such an ugly name (stinkpot) it sure is a cute one

 

[Kristina]

Thanks! I am in love with this little cooter. He isn't scared of me one lick. The Eastern dives for the water when I walk in the room (I keep sensitive animals in my bedroom) but the cooter just sits there and tracks me with his eyes. He is awesome.

My daughter's LOVE the bitty mud turtles.

 

[James H]

They are so cute when mud and musk turtles are small. They are a lot of fun to watch chase after fish and small shrimp in aquariums. Please post up some photos of the tanks that they are in if you get a chance.

 

[Kristina]

Right now the babies are in very utilitarian set ups, bare bottom, the muds have 2" of water and a ramp and the painted and cooter have 6" of water and a stack of slate for a basking area. Both have frogbit, duckweed, and water lettuce, along with a big ball of Najas guadalupensis (guppy grass.) The painted and cooter bask most of the time, when they aren't terrorizing the plants (the eat the heck out of them, lol) and gulping up bloodworms, the muds hide most of the time, and usually bask on the ramp, just far enough under the water to cover thier backs.

I have a 60w black light bulb for heat on the muds, a 90w daylight on the painted and cooter, and both tanks are sharing an ESU 10.0 Uv bulb. They also get sun time outside.

I don't feed fish to my turtles, but I do have a HUGE colony of neocaridina that make great feeders. In the pics of Stinky, he actually lives with 5 zebra danios, two rosy reds, a convict cichlid, and a bristlenose pleco.

 

[Isa]

Congratulations They are adorable and so tinny. I love their eyes, so beautiful!

 

[BethyB1022]

Aww, I have never seen such teeny tiny turtles. They really are beautiful.

 

[ChiKat]

They are SO tiny!! Oh my gosh, how ADORABLE!! Love the pics!
My nails started to look like that (black polish too!) last month when I was student teaching- masking tape was totally demolishing my nails, I had to give up on wearing any polish.

 

[Kristina]

Aren't they like ridiculously cute? I am so pleased with them. The Stinkpot and the cooter are my favorites

I had to replace all the plants in the painted/cooter tank a bit ago, they ate them all!!! They also love zucchini. I feed my adult Stinkpot Hikari Carnivore sinking pellets, and the babies have been getting a bit of Hikari Micro Cichlid pellets. They love them.

The Hikari fish foods have all the added vitamins and minerals as turtle pellets too, and added D3. They are a good way to mix up a turtle's diet, and the Carnivore sinking pellets are GREAT for bottom feeders, like the Stinkpots and other muds/musks.

As a rule I let my turtles eat all the greens they want, free choice. They get a protein source once a day, in an amount that would fit inside their head if it were hollow. I don't agree with only feeding every other day, or even farther apart. Just because they can go that long, doesn't mean they should have to. I just feed daily smaller amounts.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Actually, the polish is a perfect match. You just need a new coat.

Your turtles are tiny and exquisitely "painted".

 

[TortoisesRock!]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, people on here need to stop posting such cute animal baby photos! My parents are really tired of me begging for a baby of every cute animal! Tonights naggin will be, "MOM, DAD, can I PLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAASE Get a BABY STINKPOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT PLAEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAASE!" lol

 

[Kristina]

LOL!!

Well, if I was to recommend a specific type of a turtle as a pet, it would be a Stinkpot. They are SOOOOOO much easier to care for than a slider or other pond turtle. Why? A Stinkpot is lucky to reach 5" - sliders are lucky to stay UNDER 12". An adult Stinky can comfortably live in a 29 gallon aquarium.

Unfortunately, I do have bad news. The Three Lined and cooter and painted are thriving, but they tiny Stinkpot declined rapidly and passed away. It is a risk that you take with such tiny babies. He was basking and eating, so I am not sure what caused his demise.

 

[TortoisesRock!]

Awww Im sorry to hear about the lil guy