Bright Eyes the little Eastern Painted Turtle continues to drive me a tiny bit crazy as unless its raw fresh meat that is waved in front of her little snapping jaws, she will not eat in front of me, but the other day I did get her to have bite of a blueberry, so slow, very slow progress is being made, most of the time, its a matter of placing it, leaving it, and then scooping and cleaning her tank.. I also have invested in a water conditioner that helps create the right Ph balance in her water.
Let me tell ya, even for sure a little wee turtle she surely does require a goodly amount of tank care, I found by the time I had her big dry sleeping spot, and her floating pad and the floating stick that allowed her to pull herself up on the lily and then onto the big rock, we were losing a great deal of swimming space in her tank..
So her Xmas present besides dried shimp (which she does not like that much yet, I really need to get her some minnows or guppies and or a red wiggler or two to munch on) was this awesome floating turtle island, its held in place with magnets on the outside and so fits snuggly in one corner of her tank with a underwater enter place..
She is growing and looks very healthy, so I must be doing something right..
Just another Day on the Farm 
What a great idea, combining a hiding-spot/ramp/high-and-dry area. You’ve gotta love those super-strong rare earth magnets, don’t cha?
Glad to hear she’s growing; she does look great (and grumpy as ever lol; ) LOVE her colours and great shots of her shell construction too btw; I’ll be saving these for future reference. Thanks for the update!
Hi Deb, She is really liking it, wish I had found one of these this fall when I was doing the orginal set up but the really great thing it that its suited to her from now to full size adult, so it was a one time buy..
I am pleased as well with how her shell is growing, she goes though her cuttle bone pretty fast, I have figured out its better to put it in for a few days, take out and dry out, or break smaller peices and put in and then take out as it soften’s up..
But I think between the cuttle bone, and her speical baby food that she gets to help with shell growth that they are doing the trick so far.. she really does appear to prefer live food if you can get it for her..
She’s one smart girl hey?
“Feeder” fish (guppies or goldfish, I think?) are pretty cheap…
My turtle books all say that goldfish are to fatty and not a good fish to feed her, they say minnows and guppies are a much better choice, they list a few others but i would have to look it up, the problem is none of the pets stores local to me within 30 min carry any fish, I will need to drive to the big city to get some..
Uh oh… Another fish tank in the works?
LOL! Guppies are super easy; )
I went to the Big Al’s when I was in Ottawa for the meet. Do NOT buy any fish from them. They were all sick which could kill your turtle. Check kijiji or post a note saying you are looking for guppies. Guppies breed every 28 days with an average of 12 fry per breeding. If you make it down this way, could give you several dozen guppy – endler live bearer mix fish. Perfect size for your turtle
Thanks for the help, went on Kijji and found a person about 20 min away that is always having young female/male and babies available for a good price, they are willing to also sell me a peice of the living green plants that they use to hide in and it is to help keep the water clearer, so that was a wonderful idea indeed!