why do turtles die fast?

Question

uhm..... i was wondering why turtles live for a really short period of time? i havent owned any in my entire life but i have a neighbour who had a turtle for his birthday and he seemed to pay a lot of attention to it. But then after less than a year it passed away. So then he purchased another two, which passed away after about 2 monthes. Then once again,he bought another two, which also passed away for after 2 months. Now his parents wont let him get anymore turtles, lol...... hehe, i was just wondering...

Answer 1

Turtles have long lifes when taken care of properly
Your "neighbor" is not taking care of them properly.

http://www.chelonia.org/care.htm
http://www.chelonia.org/articles.htm

Answer 2

The answer is poor care, poor diet.

Too many people try to raise turtles in the way that was popular in the 60's- small bowls and terrible food- either a dried diet of ant eggs and dried fly parts, or the old hamburger and lettuce diet.

This guarantees that the turtle will die within a couple months of starvation and exposure.

Turtles are not easy pets- they need a complete habitat made for them. Assuming we are talking about pond turtles like Painted turtles or the common pet Red-ear slider, some care points would include:

- A tank that offers AT LEAST 10 gallons of swimming space per inch of turtle- especially for the young ones!
- Lighting that simulates the sun in intensity, duration, and completeness- especially UV-B rays which the turtle NEEDS but cannot pass through glass.
- Heating that keeps the water around 75-80 (cooler in some spots and at night) with basking sites around 90.
- Filtration and water cleaning practices that keep the water from ever smelling funny
- Good basking sites that allow the turtle a choice of places to get out of the water safely. At least one needs to be heated to about 90
- A diet that meets the nutritional needs of an animal that mostly easts fish, bugs, worms, and other living things it can catch. High-quality pelleted food is a good starting point, but it should be supplemented to offer variety.

With decent care, a turtle should live 5 years easily in captivity. Many people have the same turtles for more than 10 years without much work after the set-up is running correctly.

The sites below have other ideas that might help:

Answer 3

Many times the turtles you get from pet stores are exposed to bacteria and other organisms that they are not normally around. So, they may get sick easier.

Also, maybe it's something in that person's environmeant that is contaminating the cage. Like, their A/C unit or other things in their air or water supply.

Normally turtles live very long lives. It could be because he doesn't keep the cage at the right balance. There are many reasons. Like is he washing his hands before he pets it, so he doesn't bring foreign bacteria into the cage?

If he has this much of a problem maybe he's just not ment to have a turtle. He should try a plant.

Answer 4

Turtles are very hard to care for correctly. Everything has to be perfect including temperature humidity lighting and food has to be specially prepared. If everything is not perfect the turtles wont live very long. The fact is if a turtle is cared for properly it will out live the owner. Most people that get pet turtles either don't know how or are unable to care for them correctly so most of them die. The pet stores wont tell you about all this because 1. They don't know and 2. If they did know they wouldn't tell you because they want to sell you a turtle. here's a link that explains care of different kinds of turtles. In case you wanted some more info. http://www.austinsturtlepage.com

Answer 5

Turtle live as long as human do! They can go on without eating for month, but if that happen, you should release it before it die. the turtle die not because of it short period life, because either the space is not big enough, water is too much that the turtle need some air..or either water too little that they can't swim.

Answer 6

OMG please DONT purchase any more turtles for that child something is definitely NOT right. My grandma still has the turtles she had when I was a tot and I'm 35. They usually have a nice LONG life span!!!! Here I copied this from a site hon

{The box turtle (bottom) and the hellbender (top) are examples of animals with slow metabolisms. They can live to 50.}

Answer 7

Baby turtles like red-eared sliders are too often kept in cramped and unsanitary quarters. They'll get shell fungus or pneumonia. If properly kept, your slider should live 30+ years in captivity.

It's easier to care for a turtle that's already an adult, though.

I had a pet red-eared slider and pet snapping turtle for 17 years. They both caught pneumonia and died.

My dad had a pet slider for 40 years -- it was old-looking (all black in color, the red and yellow markings disappeared as it aged) when it finally passed away.

Answer 8

There are different Kinds: Bataguridae -- Batagurine turtles, Geoemydidae
Carettochelyidae -- Pig-nose turtles, Pitted shell turtles
Chelidae -- Austro-american sideneck turtles, Austroamerican side necked turtles
Cheloniidae -- Sea turtles, Marine turtles, Hard shelled sea turtles
Chelydridae -- Snapping turtles
Dermatemydidae -- River turtles, Mesoamerican river turtle
Dermochelyidae -- Leatherback turtles, Leatherback sea turtles
Emydidae -- Pond turtles, Box turtles, Water turtles
Geoemydidae
Kinosternidae -- Mud turtles, Musk turtles, Mud and musk turtles
Pelomedusidae -- Afro-american sideneck turtles, Afroamerican side necked turtles
Platysternidae -- Big headed turtles
Podocnemididae -- Madagascan big headed and american side necked river turtles
Testudinidae -- Tortoises
Trionychidae -- Softshell turtles
Growth rates measured in green turtles from Florida and Puerto Rico fall within the range of growth rates measured in the southern Bahamas. Based on growth rate studies of wild green turtles, the researchers Balazs, Frazer and Ehrhart estimate the age at sexual maturity range anywhere from 20 to 50 years.

Answer 9

you need to never use at present faucet water by way of fact it has chlorine and hint metals as nicely as different remedies in there that should kill the fish. consistently use filtered or bottled water. Now, how extensive is your turtle? Is his mouth greater than that of the fish you go with to install your tank? the explanation why I ask is by way of fact pink eared snapping turtles are the main elementary domestic dog turtle. they gained't attempt to eat some thing they might't eat with one hold close and swallow. they do no longer look elementary to mar or attack different fish so long by way of fact the fish are greater than their mouth. yet yet another element is the selection of fish. interior the adventure that they've have been given long fins, ie, like an angel fish, then it incredibly is a no by way of fact the turtles will attempt to eat the ends of the fin. very final yet no longer least, how great is the tank? Fish choose section for suitable oxygen tiers.

Answer 10

This person obviously doesn't know how to take care of his turtles...they DO live a long time, some of the longest lived animals on the planet are turtles/tortoises!

Answer 11

Turtles are very long lived. He must not have been caring for it properly. Sadly most people who own turtles are missing something vitally important in lighting, water quality, diet etc... and the turtles are the ones who suffer.