Does anyone have a pet turtle?

[Dannielle]

As the title asks, Does anyone have a pet turtle? I have wanted one ever since I can remember and am finally seriously looking in to it

What kind of turtle do you have?
How many do you have?
What kind of set up do you have?
Any advice or stories you wish to share?

& pictures would be great too

 

[SarahLovesJS]

I think Freke does! Hopefully she will chime in.

 

[purelily]

I have a pet turtle! She's a box turtle and about the size of my palm. her name is lala. I have had her for about 6 years. She is still very healthy (according to the vet) She lives in a terrarium with a plant light that provides heat and uv rays. Sometimes, she goes for a bath in her turtle pool or (her favorite) my brother's bathroom sink. She's the cutest thing ever. She eats leftover vegetables, hardboiled eggs, and meal worms.

ETA: My turtle is SUPER low maintenance and very friendly. She LOVES to pop her head out and say hello.

 

[Dannielle]

Date: 7/17/2009 3:06:03 AM
Author: purelily
I have a pet turtle! She''s a box turtle and about the size of my palm. her name is lala. I have had her for about 6 years. She is still very healthy (according to the vet) She lives in a terrarium with a plant light that provides heat and uv rays. Sometimes, she goes for a bath in her turtle pool or (her favorite) my brother''s bathroom sink. She''s the cutest thing ever. She eats leftover vegetables, hardboiled eggs, and meal worms.

ETA: My turtle is SUPER low maintenance and very friendly. She LOVES to pop her head out and say hello.

She sounds fantastic, Any photos?

 

[somethingshiny]

I''ve had box turtles and red eared sliders.

All of my box turtles are just like purelily posted. They lived in a big terrarium that was a lizard house. Actually for a while my friends iguana lived with my box turtle.

The red eared sliders were housed in aquariums or under the bed boxes. They like to swim so the width of the under the bed box provided more room for swimming than just an aquarium. I never needed a heat light for them, although they spent a lot of time outside. I fed them turtle food (in the fish food aisle) and I would also put in little bugs and fish for them to chase and eat. Besides water in their tank, I put a few rocks that led up to a large flat rock for sunbathing. I would put them in a baby swimming pool in the warm months and they loved it.

Box turtles are lower maintenance than turtles that require a lot of water time (simply because of the cleaning) and they will pretty much eat any vegetation. They have more personality than sliders, too.

All turtles can carry salmonella and you should always wash your hands after handling.

 

[MonkeyPie]

I never had a turtle of my own but...

You can have Otis! He''s only 125 pounds and he loves to climb in your lap! (Seriously - he did this to me while I was trying to take his picture, until I seduced him away with a bellpepper.)

 

[Catmom]

Date: 7/17/2009 2:33:49 AM
Author:Dannielle
As the title asks, Does anyone have a pet turtle? I have wanted one ever since I can remember and am finally seriously looking in to it

What kind of turtle do you have?
How many do you have?
What kind of set up do you have?
Any advice or stories you wish to share?

& pictures would be great too

We do! He''s actually a tortoise not a turtle. His name is Speedy2 and we''ve had him for years. He''s gotten very big, his shell alone is 11 inches. We have him in a 75 gallon tank right now with a small cat litter box as his pool. We have a filter in it that throws a stream of water out of the top. He will sit for hours under the spray, like he''s taking a shower. He eats voraciously [hense why he''s so big] and is finally switched over to all vegiatarian and off of the bugs and worms. YAY!!

 

[Dannielle]

Thanks for all the replies! I''ve gotten a little turtle fix so I am happy

After looking up our States reptile licensing laws we are only allowed to keep freshwater turtles, we have two common types- Eastern Long Neck and Murray Short Necks.. both require rather large aquariums (I read 10 gallons per inch of shell) but the Eastern Long Neck is a smaller turtle so thats what we are leaning towards.

FI is worried that the aquarium/turtle musk is going to stink out our apartment.. I have read they can be quite oderly, does anyone have any major issues with smell?

(I''ve attached a picture I found of the Eastern Long Neck.. I think they are adorable

)

 

[FrekeChild]

We have two red ear sliders. They live in a 40 gallon breeders tank with two different types of hardcore filters. Their water is disgusting. I wish we had a pond, but we don''t have a yard, so yeah.

Here''s a pic.

 

[FrekeChild]

And here is a picture of one of them as a baby. He got them when they were about the size of a silver dollar. And it's the reason FI and I are even together. (I found his page on Myspace and this was his default picture.)

 

[innerkitten]

Right now we have a foster turtle. We've taken care of her a few times before for like a month at a time. The owners are my in laws, my husbands brother wife and four kids, and I don't feel they treat him and care for him as well as they should. Last time he was with us we bought him a new tank and new things to put in his tank. This time although he has a new filter they only have one platform for him and he looks scared and bored.

He's a red eared slider and they took him ( this really bugs me) from a lake when he was a baby.

P.S. We are the permanent owners of their previous pet a small fire bellied toad.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 7/17/2009 12:38:33 PM
Author: Catmom

Date: 7/17/2009 2:33:49 AM

Author:Dannielle

As the title asks, Does anyone have a pet turtle? I have wanted one ever since I can remember and am finally seriously looking in to it

What kind of turtle do you have?

How many do you have?

What kind of set up do you have?

Any advice or stories you wish to share?


& pictures would be great too

We do! He's actually a tortoise not a turtle. His name is Speedy2 and we've had him for years. He's gotten very big, his shell alone is 11 inches. We have him in a 75 gallon tank right now with a small cat litter box as his pool. We have a filter in it that throws a stream of water out of the top. He will sit for hours under the spray, like he's taking a shower. He eats voraciously [hense why he's so big] and is finally switched over to all vegiatarian and off of the bugs and worms. YAY!!

hehe Speedy2 is so cute Catmom!!!!! Wow, he is BIG!

I have a tortoise too and she is little, like 6 inches maybe, he has a hole under a big tree root that he loves. I do have a shallow dish for her (mine is a girl) and she loves strawberries. hehe I have a huge yard so she finds all sorts of bugs and worms in the backyard. Anything you do in the backyard can ultimately effect the turtle/tortoise so I do not let the bug guy spray the backyard nor spray the trees for bugs, etc; it could be very bad for your little guy.

 

[Catmom]

Date: 7/20/2009 10:43:13 AM
Author: Skippy123

Date: 7/17/2009 12:38:33 PM
Author: Catmom

Date: 7/17/2009 2:33:49 AM

Author:Dannielle

As the title asks, Does anyone have a pet turtle? I have wanted one ever since I can remember and am finally seriously looking in to it

What kind of turtle do you have?

How many do you have?

What kind of set up do you have?

Any advice or stories you wish to share?


& pictures would be great too

We do! He''s actually a tortoise not a turtle. His name is Speedy2 and we''ve had him for years. He''s gotten very big, his shell alone is 11 inches. We have him in a 75 gallon tank right now with a small cat litter box as his pool. We have a filter in it that throws a stream of water out of the top. He will sit for hours under the spray, like he''s taking a shower. He eats voraciously [hense why he''s so big] and is finally switched over to all vegiatarian and off of the bugs and worms. YAY!!

hehe Speedy2 is so cute Catmom!!!!! Wow, he is BIG!

I have a tortoise too and she is little, like 6 inches maybe, he has a hole under a big tree root that he loves. I do have a shallow dish for her (mine is a girl) and she loves strawberries. hehe I have a huge yard so she finds all sorts of bugs and worms in the backyard. Anything you do in the backyard can ultimately effect the turtle/tortoise so I do not let the bug guy spray the backyard nor spray the trees for bugs, etc; it could be very bad for your little guy.

Aww, your''s has the cutest little face, Skippy!!!

 

[MonkeyPie]

I''m glad to see your little turtle you found is doing so well, Skippy!

 

[MustangGal]

My parents have a desert tortoise, he''s been in the family about 45 years now. He''s about 18 inches I think, and lives in the backyard. He comes in the house some times and just walks around, then wanders back out and into his pen.

We also had a red eared slider for a while, he was in a 50 gallon aquarium, and ate the feeder gold fish. Once he got pretty big my dad let him go in one of the lakes he makes for the farmers.

 

[4ever]

I have 2 red eared sliders which I''ve had about 9 years.

They used to live in a massive tank in my room but now live in a nice big outdoor pond we build for them.

They can be a bit high mantinance with cleaning the water, the tank water had to be changed every week at least and the pump cleaned out, which took me an hour to do. The pond get''s half it''s water changed every week and the punp cleaned which takes about the same time but is alot less work.

They are currently hibernating (it''s winter here) so no pics.

Turtles are a big comitment and often live way longer then the regular household pet.