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How to look after my turtle?

How do i look after my Turtle?

  • Ok my boyfriend got me a baby turtle he got from a river for my birthday, i really love the turtle and i dont wanna let it go (if i have 2 i will)...i dont want it 2 die so how do i care of it and what should i do 2 make it healthy...and ive look on the net and im not sure what kind it is...its has webed feet, greeny/brown and kinda has a long neck but not 2 long...its shell is only abit bigger than a 50c piece (australian)...if any1 nos what kind it is please tell me...and how to care for it thanks Sammi

  • Answer:

    I would let it go. Turtles that are captured from the wild don't do very well in captivity, even if you mimic their native surroundings. If you really want a turtle, buy one from a good pet store that's been born and raised in captivity. For this you need lots of stuff so I'll let you know. By the way, you have found an aquatic turtle but without specific markings noted it's hard to tell what kind, but good job at at least narrowing it down to an aquatic turtle! TANK You will need a tank that allows for 10 gallons of water per square inch of shell. For instance, a 5" turtle will need about a 55 gallon aquarium. There's enough room to swim and then a little so that they can come all the way out of the water to bask. You will need to invest in either a filter specifically made for aquatic turtles or a fish filter that can do twice the amount of water in the tank. For instance, if you have a 50 gallon tank, the fish filter must say it's able to handle 100 gallons of water. This is because turtles are way more messy than fish. You'll need to replace the filter at least once a week, more if necessary. You'll need to line to bottom of the tank with river rocks. These work best because small pebbles are easily swallowed by turtles but extremely hard to digest and can result in digestive problems. They will need to have a landing made out of river rocks on one side of their tank (mine is the width of the tank) that allows them to come completely out of water to bask. It needs to be wide enough and long enough for your turtle. LIGHTING Your turtle needs both UVB and UVA lighting. The UVB prevents metabolic bone disease, synthesizes calcium, and produces and synthesizes vitamin D3. This light aso helps with digestion. In a 55 gallon tank, a 5.0 UVB light will do the trick. When you get to larger tanks, you'll need a bigger light like a 10.0. You'll need a basking light. These produce UVA so these take care of 2 duties at once. They provide your turtle with the UVA it needs and heats their basking spot and tank. I recomend a 75 watt bulb to 100 watt bulb. HEATING Their water needs to always be between 75 and 80 degreese Farenheight. Their basking area needs to be between 85 and 95 degreese F. Any hotter, and you'll burn the turtle. Any colder and it will freeze. Turtles can't produce their own heat so the temperature around them helps them regulate body temps. At night, it's ok for the temperature gets to 60 degreese F but never any lower. Their UVA/heat lamp should be placed over their basking area. My heat lamp heats both the basking area and water but sometimes it's not this lucky. If the temperatures fail to reach these temperatures, you'll want to invest in a water heater. You'll also want a water themometer placed in the water area of their tank and a land thermometer placed near their basking spot to regulate temperature. DIET Turtles need a balanced diet. 50% feeder fish (minnows, goldfish, rosy reds, etc, I've fed mine these and tetras, zeebra fish, scissortails, and small stuff like that) snails, crickets, grasshoppers, krill, and baby shrimp, 25% a good pelet food like ZooMed's or T-Rex (my preferance on this is ZooMed's because the T-Rex float to the bottom and make a huge mess in the tank) but brands like Wardley's and ReptoMin suffice if they have to, and finally 25% greens like mustard, collard greens, and other dark leafy greens. They don't need to have greens until they are over 4" in diameter and they don't need feeder fish until then too. Sometimes turtles lack calcium (which if they have the proper diet should not but it happens) or they have over-active jaws. An easy and inexpensive way to cure this is with a calcium bone (also called turtle bones) that float. This is always avalible and mine nibbles on it occasionally. You really don't need supplements for vitamins if you provide them with the proper habitat. It is a hard job to supplement them with the vitamins and such that they recieve in their diet and from their UV lighting. CLEANING THE TANK You'll probably have to clean the tank once a week if not more. I find that this is easily done with a water syphon. You can get these sepcially made for aqariums that both drain and fill the tanks. You'll want to have a back up tank or tub to put your turtle in while doing a tank cleaning. You'll also want to put any feeder fish in this too. The rocks really just need a good rinse but to really get the tank clean you have to take them out. I spray the tank with ZooMed's Wipe Out and it helps kill and prevent salmonilla, which is very common in reptiles. You could simply use anti-bacterial and animal safe soap, like Dawn, to clean the tank also. MAINTANING A CLEAN TANK This is really not as hard as it sounds as long as you change the filter properly. You can also use snails (sucker fish aren't really recomended as the turtle may eat them) which the turtle may eat but are really inexpensive and really good for the tank. You can also add a plant called Anacharis which eats the turtle feces, looks good in the tank, is an oxygenizer, and the turtle may eat it. You can also add water conditioner like ZooMed's Repti-Safe which reduces pH, adds electrolites, helps ammonia build up, and a big list of good stuff. To help control disease, you can also use a turtle health conditioner (TetraFauna makes a really good one). You can also add Exo-Terra's Biotize to the tank to help eat the turtle feces but is pretty uncesseary. For new arivals you may want to add something that adds electrolites as it is kinda tramatizing when they're moved around a lot and good for new arrivals. A good thing for this, I've found, is Exo-Terra's Electrodize. If you want to get really paranoid you can always use pH strips too to make sure the water is perfect for them. Well, that basically wraps it up. Good luck, hon! P.S. I went back through your answers and someone said to feed it eggs and raw meat. Do not listen to this moron. Turtles will die if they eat raw meat and eggs carry a lot of fat and protein which they really don't need more of.

Brittany at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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You should release it back into the wild. Turtles require a lot of research before owning and you definetily don't know what kind of disease the turtle from the river has. Not to mention the turtle will never get used to its enviroment (well it might, but its better if you don't force it. only cuz its a baby) I think the best solution is to release it back where you found it.

stardancegal

Taking care of turtles is a lot of work. I have two turtles. The best web page for turtle care is http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/caresheets.htm. You will need to figure out what kind of turtle it is. Your best bet is to release it though. If you do not know much about turtles, they are expensive to keep up. A good turtle set up can cost you as much as $500 to $600.

The R

It is a baby... Its' from the wild. It is touch and go. Its best to feed it flies, grasshoppers. worms, ant eggs, moths, try raw hamberg meat if it won't eat insects. Try fish meat from a fish store. If your friend will not eat, let it go back to the river or it will die. You can try turtle food from a pet store. I had a green turtle from a pet store and it did real well. You need to get a larger container so it can grow larger in size or it will not get any bigger. Also exercise it by holding lightly on top and bottom in the middle of the shell. Like holding a cookie in the middle but with no pressure as this will injure the turtle as their sell may be soft. Do not squeeze. See if your turtle will swim by lightly holding it in the middle, waving it in the air. No pressure please. It may take awhile, but the turtle will think it is swimming in the water. Wave it like in swimming. Remember if it does not eat it will die. Let it go if it does not eat. What kind of turtle is this? Look it up in a reptile book at the library or book store. It could be a black turtle, green turtle or a snapping turtle. Most all turtles have long necks. Turtles need a lot of care and attention. I had one for 10 year + gave it to a cousin, they abused it and it got sick and died. Use cool water and keep it in a tank with water and a place where it can walk out of the water. A turtle eats its food in the water. Try not to use treated water. Use fresh water without the chemicals. I used well water. Good Luck.. PS - I had also found a wild turtle in the river. I decided to let it go because I did not want it to die. I let it go where I found it.

freelylucid

Take the turtle back to the river. Never take animals from the wild. He would require heat, special lighting and other care depending on the type of turtle he is.

KathyS

turtles are a lot of work. i know cuz i have three. if it has red on the sides of its head, then its probably a red-eared slider. thats what i have. other than that im not sure.

buff23_7

ok unlike alot f people who get on too Y!A, two people already posting here, i actually read your question. you mentioned "50c piece (australian)" i'm assuming that you're out of the US. red eared sliders are not found outside of the us and canada so one person who wrote here can't read. to answer your question. my first turtle was that size and wild caught. i still have it and it does fine but that's becasue i read alot about it. nooks articles online everything. so i suggest the same. find the exacts species and sub species it is. and yahoo search for "said species caresheets" that will bring the best and most acturate answers. but go off of several websites to verify what you found to make sure its accurate. care basics: right now anywhere from 10-20 gallons (40-80L) tank should do. depending on species is how big it's gonna get. some water turtles like the mentioned red eared slider can get up to 12 inches (30cm) in length. and rule of thumb is one gallon (4L) of water per on inch (2.5cm) of shell length. also it needs a submesible water heater, submersible water pump and filter and a place to get onto dry land in the tank. several flat balanced rocks would do. or a piece of driftwood. diet depends on species but bugs (worms, ants, grasshopers, maggots, flies, ect) and lettuces are generally good. find out the specific species through some research add it here and i may be able to find some good links for you. here's a decent start: http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/caresheets.htm just scroll to non us turtles and browse

Akkaiden

You will need 10 gal per inch of shell. The tank should be large enough to provide plenty of swimming room. The water should be twice as deep and the turtle is long. Many turtles get fairly large and at full size need a custom built enclousure. When young turtles are carnivours, eating fish, insects, ect. As they age they are more vegetarians. Also feed a high protien pellet food(tiny crumbles). Buying cheap low protine food will effect health. As for enclosure you need a basking area, and a swimming area. Turtles need a basking area to digest food, and they eat/eliminate in the water. You need to buy special lighting, a basking lamp for heat and a UVA/UVB light for vitamin D creation. Without vitamin D you turtle will get shell rot, and without basking light he will not be able to digest food. Air temp should be around 80 degrees. Turtles are very messy(waste producers) and you need a strong filter to clean the water.( I spent around 90 dollars for mine, (U.S)) You will also have to do a 25% water change bi-weekly. Remember they live in the water so you need it clean. You need an under water heater and thermomitor. The water needs to be kept at around 75 degrees. The start up cost for a turle is a few hundred dollars. Do you have a few hundred dollars to spend? If you are not going to take care of the animal properly and skimp on cage size, lighting, etc than don't keep it, for the sake of the turtle. Most people who decide to not provide propper care in the beginning never provide it. Costs(in the U.S, not sure about Australia: -Tank 20 gal: 50-100 dollars -Filter: 60-100 dollars(best to get a strong one made for larger tanks so you don't have to replace tank and filter as the turtle grows) -Rocks/platforms/ect: 30 dollars for one quality basking platform. -Food- 10-15 dollars for a small container of pellets, 10 dollars for each container of crickets, bloodworms etc. -tank water conditioner 3.00-5.00 dollars per pack, multiplied by 4 water changes a month -Lights- UVA/UVB light $24-35, basking light $10-15. Lamps $20-40 each(need two), depends on the brand -Water Heaters - $25-$100 -Vet care in case of emergency, etc can cost hundreds of dollars over turltes life. Be prepared to care for this animal for over a long time, as turtles can live decades. They are costly and not as rewarding a pet as other animals, and not for everyone. Remember they do not like to be picked up, and half the time mine doesn't even like to be looked at. There are too many pet turltes out there that are bought, taken, etc, by unassumming people who do not realize the expense and care that goes into these amazing creatures. Please think this through full before you decide to keep this animal. Evaluate the care you can give it, and weather the animal is better off in the wild.

Prodigy556

It sounds like a water turtle. They are partial water and partial land. My mom found a box turtle but neither she nor my sister knew how to take care of it. I went to Petco and asked for assistance, but the person helping me suggested I spend about $300-$500. I thanked her an decided to look around on my own, in the store I found a 20 gal fish tank that was only $11, a feeding bowl a swimming plate and compressed soil. To get to the point I only spent $23 on supplies. You actually don't need the thermometer, and the three types of light. My sister has kept hers outside where it gets partial sun throughout the day and she's had it for about a year now. You'd probably want to keep it inside though. You could spend all that money on a turtle, but that's just buying into what pet stores want you to spend, or you can provide items that are essential for survival at a cheaper price. Also make sure you feed it lots of dark green veggies as well as store bought turtle food. And provide lots of fresh water daily.

Nancy V

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