Decoration: basking platform with a ramp. Mississippi map turtles require a turtle tank as their enclosure. This is because they will need fully submerged sections without risk of warping or leaking. The mississippi map turtle can grow to mm 12'' long and needs a proportional amount of space to live happily.
For this reason we suggest a tank with at least mm in width. The tank should also be tall enough to provide areas for the turtle to swim so we suggest a minimum height of around mm. A ramp and dock should be used to ensure the turtle has a space to get out of the water and bask. As juveniles the Mississippi map turtle can be kept in a mm enclosure but this will have to be upgraded as they grow.
There are no detremental effects for having them in the enclosure for life straight away so we usually suggest you start with the full set up. During the day the peninsular turtle will periodically move on to the basking area. This Allows the turtle to dry off, warm up, absorb UVB and rest. A good basking spot should be around 80 o F and provide sufficient UV.
All Turtles require additional UVB lighting. Mississippi map turtles require UVB light in order to synthesise vitamin D. Without vitamin D in particular D3 mississippi map turtles are not able to metabolise calcium properly causing problems with bone growth.
A spot light and UV tube can be used over the basking area of the turtle. Either a 60w or w basking bulb should be sufficient depending on temperatures achieved. Alternatively a sigle mercury vapour bulb can be used to provide both heat and UV. This bulb should be placed 30cm or closer and will need a porcelain or ceramic lamp holder. Mississippi map turtles spend most of their time in the water so keeping it warm and clean is a priority.
These turtles can be quite messy due to their high protein diet so require quite a strong filter to keep them clean. If you have a powerful filter you should only need to check it once a fortnight and clean the entire enclosure once every 3 months or so. Water should always be treated before being introduced to the turtles enclosure to remove the chlorine. If you do not do this trace elements in the tap water can disturb the biological pads in your filter and even effect your pet.
A contant temperature of 25 o C o F should be maintained day and night. A water heater can be used to keep the water warm. A general guide to go by is 1W will warm 1L of water. In large enclosure over 3ft wide it is worth considering getting 2 half strength water heaters and placing one at each end to ensure an even temperature. The most important decoration in a turtle enclosure is the basking area. It should be large enough to fit the turtle with some room to turn.
The basking area should always be in line with the water level to ensure that your turtle can get out easily, there are floating docks available that will reposition to match the water level. A good basking area will also include a ramp for the turtle to make it easier to climb. Artificial plants are a great way to provide cover under water and add colour to the enclosure. Those with weighted bottoms can be fully submerged whilst light plastic decorations can be left to float on top.
Giving the turtles partial cover and a mixture of weighted and floating decorations provide great enrichment and help the turtle feel secure. Large pebbles , coated gravel or riverbed sand can be used to line the bottom of the enclosure. It is adviseable to clean any substrate before placing it into the enclosure. The substrate should be left to settle before the euipment is turned back on and the turtles are put in. The mississippi map turtle will eat a range of aquatic foods, meat products and livefood.
They can also be fed dried foods when the fresh or live options are not available. The dried food should be created with shrimp or meat protien rather than vegetation. We have found that brown crickets are the most readily accepted, but you can also use black crickets , dubia cockroaches or locusts hoppers.
If you keep a male and female together, they may breed. You do not need to do anything to encourage this, providing they are healthy and the conditions are good, it will happen naturally. You need to consider whether you want this to happen. What will you do with the babies if you incubate the eggs? A gravid female should have access to a nesting box to lay her eggs. The box should be large enough that she can fully turn-around and deep enough to dig in to. We use a soil mix in there that is wet enough to clump but no more.
We have found that Spider Life substrate is ideal. The eggs should be incubated in an incubator at 84 o F. When keeping multiples, limit the number of females that are kept together.
These nervous and shy turtles do not appreciate being handled too much and doing so will deny the animal its safe place: the water. With strong jaws made to crush river snails and crustaceans, these animals offer a strong bite, so keep your fingers safely away from the head. Of all of the pet aquatic turtle species, these are the turtles that most like a strong current from a large filter or even a powerhead; they like deep water too. Originating in large flowing rivers, they are strong swimmers who feel right at home in mildly turbulent water flow.
Full-grown map turtles need plenty of swimming space, but typically a gallon fish tank will do well for one male turtle; females need about a gallon tank. Gravel built up with some larger rocks to create a beach on one side of the tank serves well as a basking area and dry-docking station for your turtle. A variety of floating accessories for the turtle's use as raft haul-outs are available at pet stores.
Water quality is very important to animals that spend the majority of their lives submerged, and dirty water can cause a number of infections. Quality filters are a must for any Mississippi map turtle enclosure to keep the water clean, clear, and free of odors.
Submersible filters like the Cascade internal filter and canister filters are your best options for creating very clear water. They should be constantly running to not only provide filtration but also aeration. Mississippi map turtles don't need extremely warm temperatures but will be more active and have a better appetite if they are kept around 85 degrees F. If temperatures are allowed to drop below the 60s your turtle may become lethargic, not eat well, and start to go into hibernation.
Turtles that are housed outside in warmer months should be brought inside to a warmer environment when the outside temperature gets too cold, so they don't go into hibernation. Map turtles that are housed outside do not need supplemental UVB lights since they receive natural UVB rays from the sun. UVB lighting should be provided for 12 hours each day and year-round in the form of a special reptile UVB bulb. Also, this bulb should be replaced every six months since the invisible UVB rays expire before the visible white light does.
Map turtles are omnivores that eat their food while swimming. Aquatic turtle pellets are a good staple diet for map turtles, but they should also get some fresh, leafy vegetables or plants. Dark, leafy greens like romaine, dandelion greens, and fresh parsley should be placed in the water on a regular basis or clipped to the side of the tank with a suction cup clip sold in the fish department. The plastron, which is the underside of the shell, is usually yellow or tan.
That color is accompanied by slightly darker brown lines, creating a wood-like effect. The skin of the Mississippi map turtle has some iconic markings, too. Most turtles are colored in black or dark green.
However, stripes of pale yellow cover the entire body. The average Mississippi map turtle size is around 3 to 5 inches long for males, and 6 to 10 inches long for females some have even reached 12 inches when fully grown. Their size is impacted by a number of different factors. Breeding practices, genetics, and the quality of care during their developmental phase are the biggest.
Mississippi map turtle care is great for beginners due to their small size and low-maintenance requirements. Caring for a map turtle means you have to approach their habitat from two sides.
You must maintain both land and water conditions to keep the reptile happy and healthy. The appropriate size for your tank is going to depend entirely on whether you get a female or a male turtle. Male turtles are smaller. Thus, they will need a smaller habitat than females. While overall tank size is obviously important, the length is crucial as well. These creatures need tanks that are longer than they are tall.
Adult males Mississippi map turtles can do well in tank size as small as 75 gallons. However, we recommend bumping that up to 90 gallons if possible. Generally, males do fine in tanks that are around 4 feet in length. This provides plenty of swimming room. A height of at least one foot is recommended. Females will need a much larger tank. Ideally, females should be kept in tanks that are no smaller than gallons.
The length needs to be about 72 inches. Mississippi map turtles require different tank dimensions than your average pet turtle! Here is where you can get creative since Mississippi map turtles require both land and water in their habitat. Most owners tend to focus on creating a larger water area.
This makes sense when you consider how the turtle moves. They are avid swimmers. Red-eared sliders are strong swimmers, so you don't need to worry about drowning as long as the turtle can get out of the water and there is no place it can get trapped underwater.
The basking area for your turtle can be provided by stacking smooth rocks and sloping large smooth gravel to one side to make a land area. You could also use wood or a plastic "turtle dock. When designing a tank, it's a good idea to keep it uncluttered and easy to clean. Remember that turtles can knock things over and push stuff around. Plants may be a nice aesthetic touch, but turtles are likely to make a snack of them or uproot them.
Plastic plants will likely be dug up and just make cleaning more difficult. The best tank accessories for a red-eared slider are larger rocks and stones, and driftwood. If using driftwood, make sure to purchase it from a pet supplies store rather than using driftwood you find on the beach. The kind sold in the store is parasite-free and will not harm your turtle. The water in a red-eared slider turtle tank should be kept at about degrees Fahrenheit, and up to 80 F for hatchlings. The daytime ambient air temperature in the tank should be between 75 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, with a basking spot between 90 and 95 F over the land area of the tank.
The basking spot lighting can be turned off at night and the air temperature can drop down to as low as 60 F. A submersible aquarium water heater can be used to keep the water warm if necessary. Glass aquarium heaters may become damaged by large turtles and could cause a potentially lethal situation if it heats up the water up too much.
You can protect the heater so the turtles can't bump it by placing it behind something a brick is one idea or by fashioning some sort of cover a piece of PVC pipe could be used.
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