DD15 wants a small turtle.....where to start?

[Tap]

DD15 really wants a turtle.  I don't want her to have one in the house, but her boyfriend has agreed to care for it for her if I will buy it.  (We discussed custody if/when they break up and they agreed he would keep it LOL)  Now, I have to follow through.  I know Nothing about them or what to look for.  Where to start looking for information?

 

We have a 30 gallon fish aquarium that he can have as a  home.  I assume I need some substrate and a different bulb though.

 

OHHHHHH why did I agree to this! I told her she needed to research to figure it all out, I just need to know enough to make sure she is getting the right things.  

 

See update in post #8.

[bettyandbob]

Some turtles live to 80 years.

 

My neighbor has had turtles, but she's a certified reptile rehab specialist and the turtles she's kept had permanent disabilities, so she could not release them.

 

Anyway, I'd think about how long an animal lives before I made a commitment.

[Spryte]

Aquatic turtle?

 

We have 2 red-eared sliders and a mississippi map turtle.  They were given to us by a well meaning grandparent, but oh my. They take a lot of work, and they need a lot more space than one would think.  They live long, get big, and they cannot be released later, as that would be cruel - they can't fend for themselves.

 

Here's a good site with lots of info: http://www.redearslider.com/index.html

 

The site above will give info on tank size, etc.  Invest in the best filter you can - turtles need heftier filtration than fish.  I would skip the substrate, personally, as it just adds to the cleaning duties, and I think I may have read that some turtles eat it (not healthy).  They need a good basking area and a splash proof heat lamp.  

 

DS loves our turtles.

 

DH and I have sort of a love/not-hate relationship with them.  They are adorable - they do turtle yoga as they bask, and they form the cutest "turtle towers" while basking.  We love feeding them treats (oh!  watch their food intake carefully, an overweight turtle is not healthy!) ... They are fun to watch swim... 

 

The downsides for us are the size of the tank - it's grown and grown, and finding a space for it is hard.  The expense of set up, buying new filters as we learned more about care (and realized a better filter would equal less cleaning time for us), filter changes, general cleaning - no one enjoys cleaning a dirty turtle tank.  Ideally, we'll someday have an outdoor pond and transition them.

 

Ours are now the size of salad plates and still growing at 4 years old.  Don't believe anyone who tells you that they only grow as big as is reasonable for their tank - that's a myth.  :001_rolleyes: 

 

ETA: don't forget to find a vet in your area who will treat turtles.  They can need care sometimes.

 

 

[LostSurprise]

I don't find the clean up particularly messy, but we don't feed our turtle in his tank. We have a shoebox sized plastic container that we half fill with water. My 10 year old feeds 'Steve' in that. Turtles often poop while they're eating so the employee at the pet store recommended a separate feeding area. It saves some of that tank clean up. Tank clean up goes more like a fish tank cleaning.

 

They can live quite a while and they do get larger. We only have one (a Mississippi Map aquatic turtle) and our 10 year old is very responsible and committed to having turtles for a long time, so we allowed it. I'm not sure 2 could live in the 30 gallon tank we have now. 

 

They do need more space than you think. We thought a 20 gallon would be fine, but it doesn't leave room for basking. The basking floaters available at the store are not helpful. Eventually we bought a turtle topper (basically it sits on the top of the tank and a has a ramp he can climb up). We put the basking light up there and turn it on for part of the day. The tank also needs a heater. 

 

All in all, I would say they don't take a lot of work. They eat many fruits and vegetables in addition to their food. They don't need a lot of attention. They are fun to watch, in a low key way. They recognize the ones that feed them, and do have a vague sense of time, so they'll often swim over to you and look up at you when they think they need to be fed. You can also take them outside and let them wander a bit when the temperature is right. You do have to clean your hands after every interaction (while it's unlikely in a pet store turtle, turtles can carry salmonella). 

[Dmmetler]

First of all, are pet turtles legal in your state? In mine, they aren't, period, and others really restrict them. If they're not legal, you won't be able to find a vet who will care for them, and won't be able to send them to a rescue or shelter if, at some point in the future, you cannot care for them.

 

Second, do you have a long-term plan in place? Many turtles are very long-lived, and it's hard for rescues to find a place for a dinner-plate sized turtle who is only 10 years into a 50+ year lifespan. Some tortoises live over a century.  In general, reptiles are longer-lived than dogs/cats, and are often harder to rehome.

 

 

Oh, and the salmonella thing isn't any different for a pet store turtle vs a wild caught. Salmonella is a commensal species with most reptiles-the bacteria helps them digest their food. In general, if you have a herp pet, you need to wash hands carefully and often. One piece of advice I got with our frogs is to shut the cats out when I change their water, because cats will happily drink that froggy water and love it-and then pass salmonella on to the humans in the house. I would imagine turtley water would taste good to cats, too.

 

 

[Acorn]

I've professionally cared for turtles and do not recommend them as house pets.  That aside, I don't understand the boyfriend in the equation.  If he wants a turtle, let his parents deal with it.  Are you willing to give the boyfriend hundreds of dollars in tank, filter, basking lights etc.? 

[Dmmetler]

I'd also add-be careful about telling a child that they need to do the research and show they know what to do for a pet to get one. My then 7 yr old presented us with a 20 page presentation comparing the care needs of three different snake species and outlining what she would be responsible for, what we'd need to help her with, where the local vet clinics were, and so on. I admit, I'd never expected my writing-phobic child to follow through, but she did. And she ended up getting a snake.

 

 

 

 

[Tap]

YEAHHHHHH!!!! 

 

You have all talked me out of it!

 

I LOVE you guys!

 

I really didn't want to do this, and you swayed my wavering heart to a 'nope, not going there!' answer.  I knew they were a pain, but was getting tempted with his offer to home the critter.

 

 

 

Just to answer a few questions:

yes they are legal in our state.

The boyfriend was going to keep the turtle because I don't want the commitment and DD15 has extreme environmental allergies.  I have no idea if she would react to anything turtle related but I am not willing to chance it.  Yes, I would have been fine with setting him up in $150 in turtle gear (he was going to pay for upkeep) because she wants it so bad.  Alas, it is just one more thing that I will have to veto and tell her to wait until she is an adult and out of school.

[J-rap]

I haven't had a turtle since I was in child, but we had one that was about 8 inches across, and it just lived in our backyard.  We built a little pond as it liked to swim now and then, but mostly it was on land.  We had it for years!  I don't even remember feeding it -- haha!  Maybe it just ate bugs and whatnot, or maybe my mother fed it.  I remember thinking it was fun.  Our dog loved to pick it up and carry it around, but he never hurt it.

[Spryte]

Tap, I think that's a good choice.  The boyfriend part of the situation would have muddied the waters anyway.