Do any of you own or know about water turtles. My cousin wants to give us some and I am curious as to how easy they are to care for.
By water turtles I assume you mean sliders? If so, they aren't hard to keep, but they will grow big and will need a large home. I started out with one small one, about as big around as a can, and kept him in a 20-gal long tank for about a year. This past summer I took him outside to my small (about 140-gal) goldfish pond. Since then I have adopted another larger yellow slider and rescued (yet another) yellow slider that had been hit in the road. Just over the last week or so all 3 have emerged from hibernation to sun and eat. Now if you can tell me how many/what size they are I can recommend the easiest/cheapest setups for them. In all truthfulness though, it will probably be best to assume you will move them outside at some point, because they will need the room and you will get tired of cleaning the tank constantly as they grow. They can be fantastic pets, though.
I am not sure what kind of water turtles they are. I better ask her so I can find the correct means of care for them. She has seven she is getting rid of so I want to do a little research before I agree to take them.
If they have red or yellow stripes on their heads they are sliders, but they could also be painted turtles or a number of other types. Either way they will all need plenty of clean water and a varied diet for good health.
I have a couple of those that I cant believe weve managed to keep alive for almost a yr so far lol. They are incredibly cute and easy to care for, but you must clean their tank or whatever often. the ones I have are fed pellets every few days, and they are in a small tank, so they have remained small, like tiny. I was told that depeneding on the size of environment they are in they will stay a size or grow larger, kind of like some fish. I think the little guys are awfully cute, but ufortunately Im looking to give mine away too right now cause I feel bad that we dont really mess with them, you have to sanitize your hands often if you touch them beause they can carry salmonella, too. But they are pretty easy pets.
Not to sound harsh, but I think intentionally keeping animal in something smaller than it should be in is mean. Technically we could all live in a closet, but that is called abuse. I think as the top of the food chain, we have a responsibilty to all other living things. Just because something *can* be done doesn't mean it should be, ya know? I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings, just wanted to express my opinion on it. Take it or leave it.
I agree. Thing is, when we got our turtles we got them a turtle home too from the pet store. The turtle house we have is not big, its not tiny either, they have room to move around of course lol. Thing is, I have a Huge aquarium at home that I was talking about putting them in when I was thinking of getting the turtles, but then the lady who sold them to me showed me the turtle homes and suggested them, they werent babies when i bought them, just tiny turtles. I'm not keeping them in the turtle home to keep them smaller, its just that the lady mentioned that they adapt in size to their environment. Maybe I wrote my previous post wrong, Im sorry
I just reread my 1st post, I did make it sound like I had them squeezed into something to keep them small! LOL Im sorry, I promise thats not what I meant. I was trying to say that I think they havent gotten huge cause theyre not in a huge tank? I promise theyre not living in a jar!
Unfortunately these turtles grow slowly, so most assume that they aren't growing at all due to the home they are kept in. In truth though turtles will continue to grow, though the less you feed them and the dirtier their water is, the slower they will grow. My 4-yr-old is still only about the size of a can, if that tells you how slowly they grown. He was kept in a 3-gal tank for the first 2 years, before I got him. Since he was put outside in the pond with good food and sunshine, he has grown about an inch or so. I am glad to hear that you aren't intentionally keeping them in a small container. Though if you feed them everyday (which I think they should be) and a varied diet (including small worms, raw fruits veggies), you will see their growth speed up a bit. Have you tried feeding them out of your fingers yet? One of mine will eat right out of my hand, but being that they don't have the best eyesight she will occasionally miss and grab my finger instead (ouch!), but they are small it is so fun!!
Thank you for the information! I think I will go ahead and get a bigger home for them and I didnt know you could feed them everyday! Wow, Sorry I posted on this topic since I knew so little But glad too because I learned so much, instead of giving them away, I think we will try again right this time, thanks so much, Pecangrove
Hi we have a seven year old red earred slider. "Franklin" came to us in a 10 gallon tank much too small for a turtle with his carpice size. So he was upgraded to a 55 gallon tank with seven inch depth of water. He has a waterfall fountain that doubles as a filter. Bought that at the pet store. It has made a huge difference on how often the water needs changing. He eats turtle pellets mostly. For awhile we got him rosy reds but found we ended up having to care for them because they squeezed under rocks and what not to avoid being eaten. Although Franklin does enjoy the chase. He isn't big on veggies so we don't usually give him those. You have to be careful because if you over feed they can become obese in their shells and have organ failure. So they recommend even skipping days. We find he has a period of several months in winter where he isn't as hungry and will go days almost hibernating under the water only coming up to breathe once in awhile. He hauls his heavy self out onto the waterfall filter top to bask under the tank lights. And his water is heated with a fish tank submerseable heater. So aside from water changes every two months~ yes the filter is that good and feeding he pretty much takes care of himself. I will say they do harbor salmonella and other bacteria so children under five shouldn't handle them. They also have rather long claws so be careful as they flail a fair bit when handled. And don't leave unattended outside or it's bye bye turtle I lost my last one when I put it under a flipped tank for five minutes to grab something from inside. Came back out and it was gone! I looked everywhere I guess they move faster then the stories tell us Anyway have fun and yes do identify your turtle and never release it as some species are invasive to different areas.
I hope I didn't come off as a know-it-all or rude.... I really am not like that, I promise! I just try to give the most honest information I have.
Not at all, Pecangrove, you've been very nice and helpful, again, thank you so much and I have put my turtles in my large aquarium and gave them some lettuce, I think they will be much happier
Oh, and when they are juveniles they are more meat eaters, but as they get older they will eat more plant matter.
