We found my daughter's pet miniature turtle dead this morning. What could've happened?

Question

We were careful to change her water to keep it clean, put a calcium tablet, fed her every day and made sure she got sunlight. My daughter however, handled her a lot, treated her almost like a toy, could this have killed her? We just got her three weeks ago and she seemed to be thriving in her new home. She did poop a lot as her water got dirty fairly quickly (less than 3 days since the last water change). But she was eating the floating pellets just fine. I don't know what to tell my daughter or if we did something wrong. Can anyone help?

Answer 1

I'm not sure how much you know about turtles, so I'm going to explain a few basic things (sorry if it insults your intelligence, just making sure they're known). You need a BIG tank for even a tiny turtle. General rule of thumb is 10 gallons per 1 inch in length, and that's a bare minimum. You need frequent water changes (as you noticed) because they poop a great deal. And turtles, unlike some other reptiles, are just-for-show pets. They do not like to be handled. They may be tame enough to not snap at you, but handling stresses them out. You also never want to buy a turtle that's less than 4-5 inches in length. Simple reason is because anything smaller than that is probably going to die. It has nothing to do with you. You could do everything perfectly for your little 1-2 inch turtle, but you find he dies in a few days. That's just a roll of the dice in nature. A lot of the times those 1-2 inch turtles you buy at malls aren't REALLY sold as pets. It's against the law to sell them as such. The only reason they get away with it, is with a "turtle soup" license. IE: You're buying the turtle to make soup out of it, not a pet. It's a nasty loophole that kills thousands of small turtles a year.

From what it sounds like in this case, I'm betting your daughter handled it way too much. Before you buy another (if you buy another), I sincerely recommend you read up on turtle care. My girlfriend made the mistake of putting a 1 inch slider turtle in a 5 gallon mini-aquarium without proper lighting, proper filtration, proper sterilization, proper anything really, and it was dead in a little over a week.

Hope this helps, and I'm sorry for your loss.

Answer 2

Turtles like color. If he's refusing what you've tried to give him to eat, add some color to his diet and skip the turtle food. A common favorite for turtles? Strawberries. I've also had a lot of success with cantaloupe, dandelion greens, blueberries, shredded carrot, pieces of apple, etc. The other thing to skip is the meat. Turtles are vegetarians and if they do eat a bug or two, it's a rare thing. Is there water in his tank? A good turtle tank should be 2/3 water and 1/3 land area. You'll want to have a heat lamp over the land area so that the turtle can bask (warm himself) and be able to digest his food. Warming up will also help raise his metabolism which will get him hungry again. And last but not least, anytime you have your hands in the turtle tank for any reason, wash them VERY well afterwards. Turtles can carry salmonella and if you bought it from a roadside vendor, you can almost guarantee that he has it.

Answer 3

I am a mother and a volunteer for Reptile Rescue. Your dilemma is never an easy one. Please tell your daughter that it is unlikely that anything she (or you) could have done would have changed anything.Unfortunately, the mortality rate for baby turtles in captivity is about 80%.A number of things contribute to this problem, floating pellets are not a recommended diet for baby turtles, same breeders are unscrupulous, some pet stores do not handle them properly. and yes, improper handling by inexperienced owners. The only way to know for certain is ask your vet for a necropsy, (sort of an autopsy for animals), but even that may be inconclusive. If I may make a suggestion, opt for an older turtle the next time, about 3 years old is a good age for a novice reptile handler. Encourage your child to research the turtle's care on line and in your local library. You can teach your child a lot about their responsibility as a caretaker for our planet by encouraging them to take responsibility one little piece at at a time.

Answer 4

Baby turtles are not meant to be handled much, and it stresses them badly.

Turtles are easy to care for pets... once the habitat and diet are squared away. For example, the turtle probably needed about a 10-20 gallon tank with water heated to about 75-80F, and filtered crystal clean. They need a safe, easily climbed basking site that is also heated to about 90F. It needs a diet that is a mix of good pellets and live or frozen/thawed 'fish foods' like worms and krill.

Comments like the calcium tablets and dirty water make me wonder if maybe there were flaws in the cares (calcium tablets are pretty much a waste of money).

On the other hand, a LOT of baby turtles are sick when they are sold. That is one reason it is against a federal regulation to sell turtles under 4" long in the US.

Answer 5

Yes. Too much of being carried around is bad for any pet. You should tell your daughter next time that pets need thier time alone too to rest just like us humans. This will even teach her values and she'll learn the value of respecting animal rights. I'm really sorry about your loss but it really is your daughters fault but it's okay, ther's always next time to make things right.

Answer 6

It could have ate something or cat or somebody killed it and left it there.