How do I pick up my newborn baby turtle out of the water?
One of my newborn baby turtles will NOT get on the surface.
But the other one is completely fine.Cookie (the one who won’t bask) I am afraid he will get soft shell or fungus.I am afraid to pick him up because my other turtle died from to much handling.I just got them today and I don’t want Cookie to die from drowning!
Congratulations! I had just about given up on finding somebody who knew that handling is not good for turtles, especially small ones. I’m sorry that you had to learn the hard way, though.
While basking is a good way to pick up vitamin D, it is not the only way. The easiest thing for you to do is to feed your turtles strips of liver. If you dust them in bonemeal, you will provide calcium for the vitamin D to work on too. Other good sources of vitamin D are Linatone (expensive) and cod-liver oil. If you feed whole fishes, the turtlets will get vitamin D and calcium, although in smaller quantities.
Be sure that the ramp is easy for the baby to climb up. If it still doesn’t want to bask, don’t worry. There is a lot of individual variation and species variation. Snapping turtles, for example, rarely bask out of the water and I have yet to see one with either fungus or soft-shell.
Also have a part of the tank where Cookie can stand on the bottom and still reach the surface to breathe. Cookie should be fine. Or as fine as any newborn turtle can be.
