Story behind the lost of Baby YBS's Tail

One month ago, one of baby YBS had lost h/she tail. It is unpredictable accident where one of my RES, Riri climb out from her tank basking area and jump into baby YBS tank. It was like 9 days after I have the baby YBS and suddenly this 'big' traumatic accident happen to her/him. Poor little baby. Riri was excited watching this skittish baby turtle swimming around and intended chase the baby and bite the tail~! I can't stop the incident as I'm not around. From what I read, we cannot mix the big turtle and baby turtle together as the bigger/senior turtle will try to conquer the place and being a leader. Turtles are solidatary animal. They can live alone by their own without companion.

A picture show the bloody cut, near to the vent/cloaca.

Since it is first time accident happen to my turtles, I felt so terrible that time because I don't know what to do. Here, I don't have any good vet who can helps my baby as most vet in my state are specialize for cats and dogs only. For the mean time, I clean the cut with warm water and dry dock the baby. After few minutes, I put some natural sea cucumber oitment.

It took 2 weeks for my baby to fully recovered from the injury as the tail still swollen. To avoid infection from other baby turtle, I separate the baby in other container and put wet tissue as the bedding. The baby looks comfort and resting, sleeping all the time.

Sleeping and resting my little baby...

I know h/she still feel the pain but still want to bask~!

Its been a month after the incident and my baby doing great! H/she be able to swim and walk even without a tail. H/she also very skittish, playful, alert and very very cute. H/she also know how to 'begging dance' in front of me when h/she hungry. Its hard to believe that the tail can't grow back. But I know my turtle is strong to live with me. I will cherish h/she as long as I can and make the baby happy! I hope my baby will live happily ever after with me.

These is a pictures after a month and fully recovered from the injury.

Update My RES and Baby YBS

Yeay~!! just want to celebrate that my new baby Yellow Bellied Sliders already ONE MONTH with me. They eat well, poops well and playful. The cutest who had lost this tail month ago really active and love to bask. But the other one seems don't know how to bask yet. Both of them already bigger than 50cents.

1st baby YBS

I love to bask~! Makes me feel good... wanna join?

2nd baby YBS

Basking together

Yeay again~!! My both RES will be 1 year old this coming 26 June 2009. Kiki and Riri are the most notty notty turtles but they are the cutest one. I love them so much. This pictures taken while I'm feeding them carrots. They love carrots so much.

Riri won't let go the carrot as I snap her picture.

Can you see I am wearing orang-y lipstick.. hehe - Kiki

Riri

Kiki - 4 inch

Riri - 4.5 inch

Found UVB Bulb in Malaysia~!!

Yeay~!! Finally I found the most precious item for my turtles that is UVB bulb~! I thought this bulb do not exist in my country, Malaysia but they do supply this item in Malaysia. What a relief~! Fiuhh... It tooks me 2 years of research and searching this kind of bulb through local website, ebay, lelong, yellowpages, contacts address and numbers in Malaysia. With help from my respectful Red Ear Slider - Turtle Talk Forum, I managed to gather all the information and the outcome is the best bulb available:

Exo Terra Repti Glo 5.0 26 watt UVB Bulb

Exo Terra is reputable brand. They do have retailers in Malaysia that is Rolf C. Hagen (SEA) Sdn Bhd situated at Cheras, Selangor Darul Ehsan. So what I do is, I check out the Exo Terra website and contact the address of retailer in Malaysia. I called them and they said, they do have all the products by Exo Terra and they supplied all the products to the ONE ESTABLISHED pet store in Malaysia which is Toby Reptiles & Exotics Sdn. Bhd. (main office at Pulau Pinang). To make short story, Toby Reptiles have 3 branches in Kuala Lumpur. One is at Ikano Power Center - The Pet Safari, second branch is at The Mines Shopping Fair, Sungai Besi and third branch is at Sunway Pyramid, Petaling Jaya.

There are many range of UVB output such 2.0, 5.0 and 10.0. Preffered is 5.0 at 26 watt for your turtles. Each bulb cost RM28.00 and I bought 2 bulbs and 1 clamp light fixture. Currently I'm using it for a month! It does wonder job to my turtles as their shell looks good and shining healthy. Note that, one bulb produce UVB rays for a year (12 months) so after that we need to change the bulb or buy new one. If the bulb does not broke or shatter, we still can use it as tank lighting for our turtles. I also buy this clamp light to hold the bulb.

Exo Terra Glow Light Porcelain Clamp Lamp (S)

So for those out there from Malaysia, who are turtles owner or anykind of other reptiles' owner can get their UVB bulb~!! Or for more details and information you guys can email me or just leave a message.

Importance of UVB rays for turtles

Proper lighting is a critical aspect of keeping RES. Normally, natural SUN light provides beneficial elements necessary for healthy turtles. There are three main elements provided by correct lighting: UVA rays, UVB rays and heat. For turtle, UVA exposure is essential for normal behavior including activity, feeding and mating. UVB rays are crucial for your turtle’s health and development. UVB rays is necessary for the production of the vitamin D3 that is required for the metabolization of dietary calcium. Heat entices your turtle to bask. This warmth elevates their metabolism along with their digestive and immune systems. Drying off also helps hardening of the shell, scute shedding as well as minimizing algae growth and waterborne infections.

UVB’s primary importance for your RES is stimulating the natural production of the vitamin D3. This vitamin is required for the metabolization of dietary calcium and together with the calcium, plays a roll in the prevention of illnesses such as Metabolic Bone Disease. UVB rays, also out of the visible range, have UV wavelengths of 315–280 nm which are also referred to as Medium Wave. UVB causes sunburn and skin cancer in people. Exercise caution when looking at these bulbs directly.

Direct and unfiltered sunlight is the best source of UVB. For indoor setups, turtle keepers need to rely on providing UVB through special bulbs. These bulbs are specially manufactured to emit UVB rays and have special glass casings that allow the rays to pass through.
~~Articles taken from www.redearslider.com