ok, now you can say i told you so

I sadly have to say that y'all were right. Jaws ate claws today. Its strange, he never even bothered him before. But i spent all day cleaning. I cleaned and remodled my turtle-crawdad tank. I had gone to petco and got some cool ideas for the tank. Anyway i made the pool end deeper and gave them a regular basking rock and changed the light system to different bulbs. I even got jaws some new food. I think something triggered his eating his friend, something i did must have done it. I dont know, and its silly to cry over a crawdad-fishbait but i still feel really bad. I just hope the rest of the critters at rainbow bridge dont have a taste for crawdad.

Turtles are predators, they can't help it and as a reptile... there's not a lot of higher brain function going on there.
Maybe you switched the tank around in such a way that the crawdad didn't blend in as well or didn't have as deep of a hiding spot?

A reptile forum I'm on always stresses the importance of not mixing species at all. You can always get another crawdad sometime, and set it up with it's own tank - no fish unless you want it to eat them.

Have you looked at the other threads that I've posted turtle information in? And the very informative links that tell you what turtle must have to survive in captivity? It's possible that your little turtle is missing something and finally decided that a crawdad dinner was the way to try to fix that.

honestly i think it was because i switched the food, before i was using the reptomin sticks, then i switched to the reptomin combonation that has freeze dried krill, shrimp and the sticks. plus i made the swimming area deeper. i will check out the other threads and see what i need to do, i know i will eventually need a bigger tank, but for now he is still quite small, only about the size of a silver dollar if that big. btw i think jaws is a female. the ones at petco identified as males had LONG claws where as my jaws has short little claws.

It's really hard to tell the sex of hatchlings. As they get older they get more proportional and you can use the best method - tail width and vent distance from plastron edge.
Turtles are tricky and pricey pets. You need supplements and special reptile lighting if you want your little one to start growing. You'll still need to feed some pellets, and if you can get small insects -those are good a few times a week.

If it's a girl, you'll need to put it outside eventually -best for any turtle really. I'm sure you've came across sliders on the side of the road before or moving around during spring/early summer mornings. Those large ones are females. But it can be a fun project if you like the idea of making a decorative garden with a pond!

what kind of lighting do you suggest? right now i am using regular aquarium grow bulbs. i have to keep a hood on the tank because of the cats.

ReptiGlow 8.0 if the light is several inches away from the turtle's basking spot, ReptiGlow 5.0 if closer. These are fluorescent tubes with the smallest length being 18", I believe. Price varies depending on store but generally it's $1-2 an inch price wise. These are known as UVB reptile lights. There are also coil versions that fit into normal lamp fixtures, but I think the UVB output on them may be even lower.
This along with an incandescent bulb for heat - needs to be left on 12-14 hours to simulate summer daylight hours.

All animals, including humans, need some access to unfiltered UVB. It's used to turn vitamin D2 to vitamin D3, vitamin D3 in turn is used to help absorb and process calcium for growing and keeping bones strong. Reptiles are very dependent on getting UVB, without it they get metabolic bone disease - (a bit like osteoporosis) bones get soft weak/brittle as the body tries to use what calcium it has. In turtles, the shells will get soft and prone to infections. This is why you also need to provide calcium - as a supplement (powder, a good one is called Rep-Cal) and you can give it cuttlebone to munch on.


-Side note, if you notice yourself feeling more tired/fatigued lately it could be from a vitamin D deficiency. Some people have problems with it, especially in winter.

Awww, I am sorry about Claws May he RIP

Poor claws!!! Such is life though...... You could always get a little 10 gallon tank to put another one in. Our pet store has BRIGHT blue mini "lobsters" that I want so bad!!! I have a big Oscar though, so the little lobster wouldn't stand a chance.