pet water turtle?

Question

im thinking of getting a water turtle, but id like a very small active type....can anyone help. Ive never had an aquatic turtle, any help would be appreciated!

what size tank? what kind of food? do they need heaters?

Answer 1

If you looking for a water turtle that stays small, seek out some sort of musk turtle or stinkpot turtle. They are 90% aquatic and max at 6" whereas red eared sliders get to 12".

Check the regulations in your state. Each state has different laws on turtles. There is a US wide ban on the sell of turtles under 4" outside of educational use.

Answer 2

You should look at some of the articles on http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Articles/articles.htm for more on the positives and negatives of different types of turtles, these articles are a great source of information and will help you to understand the details of owning and caring for turtles.

You may want to consider a Mississippi Map turtle (or another variety of Map) turtle if you desire a small turtle. If possible, look for a male Map turtle as they stay smaller (females are larger than males). I setup a turtle tank in my daughter's classroom with two Texas Map turtles and the male was maybe 4 inches long while the female was around 7 inches long.

Tank size can be roughly estimated by 10 gallons per inch of turtle (measure the length of the shell from front to back). It is best to plan your budget for the mature size of the turtle rather than get surprised later. So, a 5 inch turtle would need around a 50 gallon tank!

In terms of other equipment, you'll need a really good filter and you'll need both a basking light and a UVB light. A heater is usually required unless you happen to live somewhere quite warm. The best type of filter to use is a canister filter, which sits on the floor under the tank. I used a Rena Filstar XP3 for a tank with 60 gallons of water and it worked quite well.

If you have detailed turtle questions, you may want to visit the forums on http://www.turtleforum.com/forum/upload/index.php?act=home as there are a good bunch of experts there who will help you to get started. Also, lots of people may have already posted the same questions that you have, so answers might be there already.

You probably don't want a Red Eared Slider, as they grow quite large and are difficult to get rid of if you decide you can't handle such a large turtle. They're great turtles in terms of personality and ease of care, but they just get too big.

Answer 3

Pet turtles take a little more set-up than most people want to do, but to keep a turtle healthy, remember a simple rule: "They love big, warm, clean, sunlit pools".

Big- Aim for at least 10 gallons of water per inch of turtle. The smaller species, like Reeves turtle, get to about 4-6", so plan ahead.

Warm- Most turtles want around 75-80. Some want it warmer, other cooler. You usually need a heater with a thermostat to ensure the right temps. Cold water is one of the top reasons pet turtles do not thrive.

Sunlit- Turtles worship the sun, and the rays they need most, UV-B, do not penetrate most glass or plastics so you need to provide them. Many good reptile bulbs can do this.

Clean- Filter the water with 2-3 times the filtration you'd use for a fish tank.

Honestly- it can cost about $100 to make a good turtle set-up, but once you do, the other cares are pretty easy and the turtle will thive for you!

Try http://www.austinsturtlepage.com and their forums for great articles, discussions, etc.

Answer 4

Turtle

Answer 5

FYI: Water turtles are very high maintenance. Not sure what type you should get. I have two red eared sliders and when they are younger they are very active but one of my turtles who is about 7-8 inches long is slow and sluggish now.

Also when it comes to turtles you can keep them from growing. A turtle will not out grow its surroundings. So so long as you do not keep updating the size of its living environment it could stay one size. I always feel bad for them though and have to upgrade there tanks.

What you will need is a tank that is in good proportion to the turtle. I suggest you have your tank and everything ready and waiting for the turtle when you buy the turtle so you do not scare him. You will also need a basking rock. You will need a heating lamp, and I use a heater in the winter otherwise there water can get very cold... which really doesn't hurt them because they hibernate but I prefer to keep them warmer. You need to feed your turtle a diet of turtle pellets. These should consist of about 85% of your turtles diet. You can also feed him lettuce, crickets, meal worms, some fruits, and of course live fish.

Hope this helps.

Answer 6

if you want a small water turtle try a musk ( i have one) or a map turtle. The females get up to 6 inches and males range from 4-5 inches. Now smaller turtles stay in shallow water. they dont need there tanks filled all the way. I have a musk and she is very active. They dont bask very often, but enjoy to walk on the bottom of the tank or swim around. I would get the biggest tank you can afford. The rul is 10 gallon for every inch of shell. so I would start with a 40 or 50 gallon tank and then you shouldnt have to buy another one later on. when there hatchlings you should only put about 2 inches of water in the tank that way they can just reach up and stick their head out of water. DO NOT use gravel they can eat it, become impacted with it and could die. if you want rocks use river rocks and make sure they are bigger than your turtles head. they eat krill, turtle pellets( i use zoomed turtle food, its tiny round pellets easy for little turtles to eat) dried shrimp. now I will give you a website where you can buy them I think on the website there about $26 plus shipping. I live in pennsylvania and we have reptile shows so if you can find one of those there cheaper there, I only paid $10 for mine. www.turtlesale.com great website with alot of turtles(water and land) theres also a forum where you can get alot of info and care sheets. now I'll give you a list of what you need
-tank
-filter ( sumergable one that can go completly in the water) fluvals are great! keep my water very clean. I only change the water once a month and only change about 70% of the water.
- turtle dock ( zoomed makes them or you can make your own)
-Heat lamp ( regular 100 watt house bulbs will work fine) just buy a holder at your pet store
- UVB/UVA light ( give the turtle natural sun light that they NEED)
- food and decoration if you want them. Good luck when you get a turtle, they are really great to have, and they only cost alot of money when you first get them and have to buy everything they need.
-water heater, you can use a regular fish tank heater just buy the gaurd for it so it doesnt shater the glass, or they make a turtle heater that stays the right temp. all the time, there great too.
water should be around 72-78 degress, basking area should be around 90

Answer 7

i have 2 red-eared sliders and they are very active. they like to take treats out of my hand, but you have to clean their tank out A LOT! for a red-eared slider i would recommend a mostly water filled tank with a little bit of land and a basking rock in the water with a light on it or you can buy one that has a heater in the rock and it is automatically heated, because turtles are cold blooded reptiles which need to keep their bodies warm by direct heat. you can buy turtle pellet food at your pet store, all you have to do is read the back of the food and it will tell you how much you need and then drop it in.

Answer 8

Hi. I used to have semi-aquatic turtles as a little boy and they were great fun!never got bit,and a lot of fun.the best bet is if you have a 'Petco' store around your area,check there.they not only will get the turtle for you if out out of stock,but also give you a paper with all the pets needs.Cool place.they eat mealy worms,crickets,and some will even eat small goldfish when they are older.anouther low maintenance cool pet is the 'packman' frog!they eat cricketsand get pretty big and can and will eat mice when they get bigger(i hate mice,yuk!)back to the turtle.if it is also semi-aquatic,you can really dress up the 5gallon to 10 gallon aquarium with small(fine)rock,not sandy.and have a place where he or she can get out of the water and on a dry spot now and then.hope this helps you.and God Bless ya! cheers,dennis

Answer 9

I had two little water turtles. They were so cute. Fluffy and Tiny. Fluffy i had longer, and he seemed loney, so i got him a freind. The only thing is, the tank gets really dirty fast. If you don't clean it almost every week it can be very stinky. But they were very good pets. Everyone that came over thought they were cute too...

Answer 10

I had a red eard slider for a long time - actually two of them. You dont think they can be a lot of work, but really they are. You have to clean their tanks all the time and mine didnt stay little. They got to be the size of my whole hand - no joke. Theyre nails got so long and I felt so bad having them in captivity. After 3 yrs, I ended up taking them to a zoo.