They’re well on their way…

• Deeper clean water is fine at this stage.

• 80 – 83 degree water temperature.

• A basking dock can be added. 

• A basking bulb can be added.

• Feed 1 time a day.

Once a terrapin reaches 3 inches.  They can be moved to a larger enclosure with much deeper water. At this point, the carapace has developed beyond its delicate hatchling phase, and a hard basking spot, as well as full 10-12% UVB light should be offered.  It is important to continue to offer a lot of fake plant cover for the juveniles to hide in.  A 75 gallon aquarium, or equivalent sized stock tank are preferred methods of keeping juveniles.

We continue feeding a variety of pellets, as well as offer dried and raw shrimp as an occasional treat.  At this stage, we reduce feeding down to once a day.

As with hatchlings, warm clean water is highly important. Although the water temperatures for juveniles can be dropped down to 80-83 degrees, keeping consistent water temperatures will allow the juvenile terrapins to continue growing at a nice consistent rate. 

Clean water is also very important at this stage.  Depending on filtration, water should be changed at least 1 time a week.  Not only tank size, but also reducing the frequency of feeding (and feeding outside the tank if you choose to do so), helps reduce the bioload in the tank. And as a reminder, terrapins of any age and size require extremely clean water.  If this step is dismissed, your terrapin has the chance to become ill, and develop skin and shell fungus.  And although terrapins at this stage are much hardier than hatchlings, any terrapin left without detecting an illness, or fungus in a timely manner, may require a vet’s attention.