Anyone Have Pet Turtles?

[BiG_KiD]

Hello all I was looking at my LFS and saw some turtles I never thought about it before but I think they would great pets.. You could after all take them out of the tank and play with them.. At least I am thinking that you could.. Does anyone have any expierence with them?.. thanx

[DAVER]

just bought a baby turtle for my four year old son. i have him set up in a 5g tank that i had lying around. have had him for a couple of weeks and my son loves him. he has been doing water changes and feeding him every night. i think turtles are a great pet.

[DAVER]

just bought a baby turtle for my four year old son. i have him set up in a 5g tank that i had lying around. have had him for a couple of weeks and my son loves him. he has been doing water changes and feeding him every night. i think turtles are a great pet.

[agoailam]

I have 2 Red-Eared Pond Sliders that my wife & I got almost 3 years ago. I keep 'em in a 20g long tank with about 4-6" of water in it. Also plenty of rocks for them to hide/bask on, and some fake plants for scenery. They are LOW maintenance, but you can't really "play" with 'em. They sorta retreat into their shells when they're out of the tank. But IN the tank, they're very personable. They follow my finger around & eat from my hand & stuff.

Reptiles and amphibians are GREAT pets. I've had many (snakes, lizards, frogs, etc) over time. These turtles--for me--have been the easiest to care for. I also recommend Bearded Dragons (especially for people with kids) as these are "tameable" reptiles that are easy to care for & relatively inexpensive as reptiles go.

[bellows]

A few years ago someone I worked with had a brother-in-law that gave his kids a turtle for Christmas. (not sure breed) A day or two after he lapsed into a coma and would be for the next nearly 3mths.

It took them quite a bit of time to figure out he had caught so he caught nasty virus from the turtle. It took a few mths after coming out of the coma to actually be able to walk around. (he was very weak/sickly)

It was probably because he didn't wash his hand thoroughly enough but keep in mind how well kids (compared to adults) wash their hands. I would never consider getting a turtle for my kids sorry guys

ps I did enquire on this problem (we got the kids a snake and wanted to make sure it was not a reptile problem/made sure before purchasing the snake btw) and apparently turtles are bad for carrying disease.

[ginntonic74]

Turtles are known to carry semonella, you are not allowed to sell turtles in nj for that reason.

[visualscapes]

Turtles are interesting animals, but they aren't very sociable (at least the ones I've kept in the past).

Tortoises on the other hand can be very out going and friendly. I have a Red footed (Geochelone carbonaria) and a Yellow footed tortoise (Geochelone denticulata), they both live in the same enclosure inside my house. Both are from tropical regions and therefore require a heated enclosure. They also eat similar diets (mostly fruits and veggies). Any tortoise or turtle for that matter will require A UVB light source, this is necessary for Vitamin D3 syntheses (needed in calcium metabolism) for proper shell and bone growth.

There is a lot of information online about tortoises but a good place to start is www.chelonia.org. Also feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

BTW washing your hands after handling your tortoise is a wise idea, its true they can harbor salmonella.

[SurferDude771]

i love my amphibians. Tons of salamanders,newts and frogs. Also have 2 snapping turtles(with permits). They are illegal to take here in md. The snappers are awesome. I can pet and hand feed the one, but the other one you cant get near without being snapped at. Dont try that at home. He got a piece of skin once

[Pamela]

I was told that once they grow larger than 3 inches they no longer carry the virus however I'm not postive enough to say go for it.

[lottawaterman]

We have 3 turtles that are 3 years old ... Rack, Shack & Benny
My boys love feeding them in our front yard pond every morning. They eat right out of their hands.

[seaofdunes]

just remember these are living things and can outlive some people.
My old doctor, Margolis was his name, had a house near mine up on Blue Mountain outside of harrisburg, PA. All the kids who were his patients (me included) would bring him the turtles we found in our backyards. When i left PA, he had a variety of box turtles, wood turtles, and painted turtles. He would keep them in his front entrance (he had a large brick floored entrance before the front door out side with many plants. He kept them and wrote the initials of the person who gave them to him on the back of the turtle. And any time you wanted to see the turtles, you could come right over. He even had turtles give birth if i remember correct. very neat!

[agoailam]

Originally posted by ginntonic74
Turtles are known to carry semonella, you are not allowed to sell turtles in nj for that reason.

Most reptiles carry the salmonella bacteria. It's part of their normal flora.

Reptiles are not the best pets for SMALL children. But many "diseases" people associate w/ reptiles can be thwarted by simply washing your hands after handling the animals.

I'm not condoning turtles as pets for children, but I figure parents should be responsible enough to make their own decisions.

[beerguy]

I had a freshwater pond turtle until he ate my lovebird. My girlfriend at the time convince me that I should give him to a "turtle rescue" organization rather then my idea of tossing him off of a freeway overpass.

But I'm not bitter.

[BiG_KiD]

I meant for me..LOL I am not a small child.. Well not in age anyway.. I am 24 I just wondered how hard the upkeep and how disease prone they were.. thanx

[BiG_KiD]

What species is the best suited for captivity and what is the best way to house them in captivity?.. Size of enclosure and type please.. I would like one that I could keep inside but I would also like to able to take it outside and let it go for a walk..LOL.. to turtles or tortises go for walks? I don't know..

[bellows]

Originally posted by BiG_KiD
I meant for me..LOL I am not a small child.. Well not in age anyway.. I am 24 I just wondered how hard the upkeep and how disease prone they were.. thanx

It's fine to say you'll wash your hands well but I have a question here, what if it bites you? Doesn't much matter how well you wash your hands in that case? Or if you have a cut for that matter!? Cute or not I just see them as a recipe for disaster.

Are you planning on getting it a leash (j/k)

[bellows]

Originally posted by BiG_KiD
I meant for me..LOL I am not a small child.. Well not in age anyway.. I am 24 I just wondered how hard the upkeep and how disease prone they were.. thanx

It's fine to say you'll wash your hands well but I have a question here, what if it bites you? Doesn't much matter how well you wash your hands in that case? Or if you have a cut for that matter!? Cute or not I just see them as a recipe for disaster.

Are you planning on getting it a leash (j/k)

[agoailam]

Originally posted by bellows
It's fine to say you'll wash your hands well but I have a question here, what if it bites you? Doesn't much matter how well you wash your hands in that case?

Well, then... You'll have to stay away from pet SNAPPING turtles!!

[SurferDude771]

snappers rule. they eat whole fillets of fish and shrimp from the grocery store. I got mine from the bay so they need salt

[SurferDude771]

snappers rule. they eat shrimp and fillets of fish

[visualscapes]

BigKid,
If you want to keep aquatic turtles, you'll need a decent sized tank for it. Id say at least a 40gal for long term. It will require a place to haul out and bask in the light, like a rock or something. I kept a red ear slider, and built a shelf out of plexi glass. I put a couple small pieces of flagstone on top, one an inch or so under the water, and one out of the water so the turtle could crawl up on it, but could also swim underneath it too. The one thing about turtles is they are very messy. Serious mechanical and biological filtration is required to maintain good water quality.

Tortoises (my personal favorites ) will require some sort of wooden enclosure or a large Agricultural stock tub. It really depends on the species you get, of course the larger the animal grows the bigger enclosure you'll need. A red footed for example will need around a 4'x6' enclosure at adult size. Some people will dedicate a spare room. BTW Red footed tortoises are one of the best species for captivity they are also very outgoing and friendly. I let mine go out on my "lawn" and it will follow me around, It is nice to be able to let them out as much as possible.

Definitely check out that website I mentioned previously, tons of info regarding both turtles and tortoises.

Good luck!

[BiG_KiD]

Thanks for the info.. I was looking for more of a land based animal.. If I want water I got my reef... Thanks.. I will look into the red foot

[seaofdunes]

My LFS has a tortoise (red footed), and he is great. He's about 8-9" long and comes right up to anyone. He really likes to munch on your shoelaces when your not looking. They also have a dog, but the tortoise is more sneaky, he's so slow you never know hes coming!