Turtle

hey, does anybody here own a turtle...i saw one in the shop and loved it

Yup,I have 3 boxies and 1 RES.

My sister has 2 Red eared sliders (RES) and 1 midland painted turtle, I do most of the maintaining of the tank so I do know a little about them.

Here is one of the RES's who is also in a photo contest (see sig)

I have an African-Spur Tortiose. His name is George and he weighs about 15-20 lbs and is about 8/9 years old.

I have a desert tortoise. He's about 40 years old.

are they hard to keep??? how big does the tank have to be? what do u feed them, and what equipment do u neeD?

George basically has free roam of my basement. It's too cold to put him outside and he's not huge yet. He has a house with a light and what-not on it. We feed him all kinds of veggies and sometimes the occasional fruit (fruits have a lot of acid and aren't very good for him). The only things we don't feed him are lettuce, spinich (again, too much acid) and avocado. He's very friendly as we hand-fed him from the time we got him when he was about the size of a half-dollar. When he was young we kept him in a 20-long tank with a flourescant UV/UVB light and a heat lamp. It's also good to provide them with hay and barley to munch on. If you have any other questions feel free to leave me a personal note

I think that doggfather was asking about turtles, not tortoises...



My uncle used to have some - they stank and I seem to remember him and his wife got very bad salmonella poisoning (or something like that) from handling them

This is what I have

Tank
3 of my sisters are living happily in a 30 gallon aquarium. The rule is 10 gallons per inch of turtle but you could get away with less than that. I have about 7 inches in the 30 gallon and they are happy.

Filter
Turtles need clean water otherwise they will develop shell rot .I have an emperor penguin biowheel 330 on the tank and only run it during the day (It is noisy). You could probably run another filter in there and it doesn't have to be expensive because turtle's aren't as picky about water conditions. I chose the biowheel because it has a long intake without a lot of sections to suck air.

Basking
Turtles need to bask to regulate body temperature and to help in the digestion. You can buy basking lights at pretty much any pet store. You can either hang them from the ceiling, clamp it to the side of your tank, or let it rest on the screen hood.

Turtles need UVA/UVB light for their shell to be healthy. This can either be a floresent light or a basking light. It will say on the box if it has UVA/UVB lighting.

The basking area is a solid area (I don't think plants would work but I am not sure). The area needs to be able to absorb heat to heat the turtle evenly, no plexiglass unless you glue some pebbles or some cork bark on it. The area needs to be so the turtle can get on it fairly easily and the turtle is fully out of the water when it is on it.

Water Level

My tank is about 2/3 full of water. I think this gives them plenty of swimming space.

Hood

I have a screen hood. Some come with hinges so half of it opens which is very nifty. No plastic otherwise it will melt under the basking light.

Water temp
I recommend having a water heater in the turtle aquarium, get an unbreakable fully submersible one since they will almost always break the glass ones. Check where the turtle you are getting is from and set the temp accordingly.

Plants
You should have plastic plants that float or reach the surface so the turtles can sleep on them. DO NOT have real plants as the turtles will destroy them.

Food mmmm.

I feed my sister's turtles Reptomin as a staple and crickets, worms, etc. They will eat pretty much any insect except ladybugs. You can also give some beef heart to them as well.

As for vegetables, they like Anacharis, romane lettuce, carrots(helps rid of worms) just to name a few.

This is a link of a great site for turtles and forums.
turtletimes.com

Hope I could be of help!

Don

Here is a pic of my sister's setup.

If you buy the turtle from a shop or breeder, it will almost always not have salmonella. There is no guarentee though if you catch the turtle from the wild.

rsz said:

My uncle used to have some - they stank and I seem to remember him and his wife got very bad salmonella poisoning (or something like that) from handling them

Click to expand...

Not really, they only stink if their owners practice bad husbandry.
Turtles are not fish and require a little more work with daily upkeep.
Also, thier equipment can run a little more pricey.
With his wife getting sick, that could only happen if she dranked the water in the tank or didn't bother to wash her hands after handling the turtles and any of their equipment. It is not just turtles who passes such types of illnesses. It is found that all reptiles and some other animals have the same capabilities.

As a owner of multiple turtles of different species, i have found that the red eared slider is the better for the beginner turtle keeper.

For more detailed information on this type of turtle, you can visit here. If you click on the forum link, there are many who will love to answer any questions you may have.

Have a good day and I hope I have been able to help.

hmmmmm i got a RES when i wa in grade 4 i kept him in a 15 he was so small like an inch totaland he was so fast then he grew oh man did he unfortunatly i had to get rid of him when he was 7 he was like 7inches across.and he kinda stunk so i let him go in a stream and in the summer i still see him

it took a bout a year to prepare him for the wild

rwcihclid.......what r the easyest tortoise to keep and the cheapest cause i was looking at some prices and some were almost $3000 dollars and the cheapest i saw was 69.99 and whats the care level on them adn cost of keeping them

All Tortioses require a lot of space. I have no idea which is the easiest or the cheapest. We got ours from a reptile show for about $50. The problem with them is figuring out what you will do with them when they get really big, or when they out-live you. They can live outside in warmer climates but you have to provide heated shelter for them to re-treat to. Also, nature centers and zoos will sometimes take them. Ours was hand-raised and is VERY friendly so we will probably give him to a petting zoo or a kid-friendly nature center if we decide we can't keep him when he gets big. If you have any specific questions, fell free to IM me on AOL (rwsheep) or e-mail me, [email protected]

I used to have a box turtle and we kept him in a tank with a flourecent light and fed fim green leefy veggies and canned dog food....