I need advice on baby turtle care. Can anyone help me out?

Question

Does anyone have good advice on baby turtles? I'm getting one for Christmas but I don't know how to take care of it properly. How big of a tank do I need to get for two 1-inch turtles?

Answer 1

I was looking up information on pet turtles yesterday. You should google it. That's what I did, they have a lot of good info on turtle care.

Answer 2

I started with two one-inch turtles, now their like almost a year old. So cute. You will need a ten gallon tank, but later on you would need a bigger tank. You need a ramp/dock where they can bask. Need a basking light (UV). You need a water heater. Temperature must be about 75-80 degrees. You can feed them pellets, vegetables/fruits (ex: romaine/carrots/grapes), fish (goldfish/minnows), and live food (crickets/worms). You need a good filter because turtles can be messy. It be best if you feed your turtle in a separate container, that way your tank can be cleaner. For the pellets, try Nutrafin..my turtles love it. Hope this helps =)

Answer 3

find out what kind of turtle it is and how big it will grow as an adult. then take the inches and multiply by ten and that's how many gallons you will need.
also if you're getting red-eared sliders or yellow belly sliders I really recommend not getting two. I'd just get one if I were you because as they grow they could become aggressive and start attacking or biting each other at which point you have to separate them and come up with the money and space in your house for a completely separate habitat for them.

But a painted turtle or map turtle, you could probably keep 2 together with no problems.

find out what kind of turtle you're getting and check http://www.austinsturtlepage.com for a care sheet for that species. it should tell you everything you need to know.

Answer 4

You can put the turtles together only if the tank is large enough. Figure 15 gallons per inch of shell, cumulative. You can use something smaller if it is low and broad, like a wading pool. There is a decent book on turtle care by De Vosjoli. Many pet stores carry it. Smart move, doing your research first.

Answer 5

I don't know where you got your turtles, but it's illegal in the US to sell or buy a turtle that is under 4 inches unless it's for educational purposes. I can't answer your question as you didn't specifiy what type of turtles they are (water, box, tortoises) since they require different care/food/etc.

Whatever type of turtle it is, type the name in the search bar & you'll get all kinds of websites about their care.

Answer 6

Best site is http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/

Learn everything you can. Get the largest tank possible--what is the full size of the turtle you are going to get? Rule of thumb is a 10 gallon for every inch of shell. Water heater, basking logs/platforms, water filter, heat bulb, UVB lighting, frequent water changes, NO loose gravel or other substrate.

Answer 7

Complete water changes should be done every one to three weeks. Partial water changes should be done more often. How often the water is changed depends on how large the cage is, how much water is in it, and how many turtles are being kept. If there is a large volume of water, a good filter is being used, and only one turtle is being kept, the water won't have to be changed as often as it will in a small aquarium with no filtration and multiple turtles. Most of the waste that is produced by aquatic turtles is excess food. To combat this many people choose to feed aquatic turtles messy foods (earthworms, turtle pellets, crickets, etc.) in a separate container outside of the cage to reduce the amount of excess food in the tank.

Lighting: Aquatic turtles require two different types of lighting. A fluorescent light bulb that produces 5% or more UVB radiation (Exo Terra's Repti-glo 5.0 and Zoo Med's Iguana Light 5.0 are common brands) is required when turtles are kept indoors. Power compact bulbs that produce UVB radiation have recently become available as well, and can be used instead of a fluorescent light bulb. The UVB-producing light bulb should be placed within 12 inches (30 cm) of the water level and basking area. It should also be positioned over a screen cover or open area rather than a glass or plastic aquarium cover. The amount of UVB radiation that the current available bulbs produce slowly dies off over time so they need to be replaced every five to seven months. One of the most common reasons that baby turtles die is because their shell gets "soft". Aquatic turtles and many other diurnal species of reptiles need UVB rays in order to process calcium in their diet. Without the correct amount and type of UV (ultraviolet) radiation and the correct diet, the calcium level in the blood will fall too low. When this happens turtles will start to take calcium from other parts of the body (the shell for example) in order to keep the calcium in the blood at a safe level, eventually leading to death.

The second type of lighting that aquatic turtles need is an incandescent spot light to create heat for a basking area in the cage. Standard light bulbs can be used for this purpose, otherwise special tight-beam reptile light bulbs can be purchased at most pet stores and work well. The wattage that is needed to create a basking spot at the correct temperature will depend on how high the light bulb is from the basking platform, what the ambient temperature is in the room the turtle is kept in, and what species of turtle is being kept.

Temperature: The correct temperature inside the cage will depend on the species of turtle being kept. Most species will do fine with a water temperature that ranges from 75-80F (24-27C). A submersible aquarium heater can be used to heat the water. Care should be taken to position the heater in such a way that rocks aren't likely to fall or be pushed onto it and possibly cause the glass to break. Using a submersible heater made from titanium or plastic that can’t be broken is even safer. The basking area on land should stay between 90F (32C) and 100F (38C). I used a 50 watt light bulb roughly 6 inches (15cm) away from the basking spot to accomplish this in my painted turtle's juvenile cage.

Food: Offering aquatic turtles a varied and nutritious diet is the key to long term success. Contrary to what many recommend, turtle pellets should not make up the entire diet of aquatic turtles. Juvenile water turtles are generally more carnivorous than adults, although some species such as painted turtles will still consume a reasonable amount of vegetation while young. Small sized aquatic turtle pellets (Repto-min and Serra Raffy are very good brands to use), small earth worms, small crickets, chopped night crawlers, black worms, tubifex worms, small freeze dried krill, wax worms, and feeder guppies can all be offered to meet their carnivorous dietary requirements. Collard greens, turnip greens, dandelion greens, mustard greens, romaine lettuce, red lettuce, kale, aquatic plants such as elodea, and other dark leafy greens should be offered daily. Occasionally shredded carrot or sweet potato can also be offered. Ice berg lettuce, spinach, and rhubarb leaves should not be offered often or at all. It's not uncommon for very young turtles to ignore plants and other vegetables, but they should still be offered regularly to ensure that they are available when the turtle starts to eat them.

Proper calcium and vitamin supplementation is critical, and is a part of aquatic turtle care that is often overlooked. The best way I've found to provide supplements to my turtle is to roll an earth worm or chopped night crawler in a powdered reptile supplement and then offer it to the turtle with tweezers to prevent the calcium or vitamins from washing off in the water. Use a supplement that contains calcium with vitamin D3 along with a high quality vitamin supplement. Rep-cal calcium and Rep-cal Herptivite are a reliable brands to use.

Very young turtles can be fed three to eight turtle pellets once or twice a day along with a large piece of a dark lettuce or other leafy green vegetable. Other food items can be substituted for turtle pellets one to three times a week. Aquatic turtles usually need to be underwater in order swallow, so do not place the food on land, just throw it in the water and remove anything that isn't eaten within a couple hours. Many juvenile turtles are picky eaters at first and may refuse turtle pellets and other common food items. Live blood worms and black worms are rarely ever turned down by juvenile turtles and are great for getting picky eaters started on something.

Answer 8

http://www.jackspets.com/pet_tips/caresheets.html use the link to see if you can find out what kind of turle you have and it will tell you everything you need to know...hope that helps