Pet turtle care

Not all people are right for pet turtles and unfortunately that is the blunt truth. Yes turtles are cute (well some of them anyway) and when they eat its rather entertaining but those are not valid enough reasons for deciding to take on a turtle as a pet. It’s worth really taking some time to think over your reasons and assessing whether you have the facilities to offer the right pet turtle care.

For the person thinking about buying a pet turtle for the first time here are a few questions you should be asking yourself which will help you decide on whether it’s a good idea to bring a turtle into your home.

• Can I provide the right environment for the turtle to live in and be happy?

This is one of the first things you should consider with regards to caring for turtles, Will you as the pet owner be able to provide the right pet turtle care? A massive part of that is providing a habitat whether indoors or outdoors which is ideal for your turtle’s size and species. This often includes maintaining a certain temperature for them and using a host of important turtle supplies to help set up a good enclosure.

• Do I have young children in my home?

Bringing a turtle into a home where there is a toddler or baby is not a recommended at all. During these early stages in a child’s life they are still very much developing their immune system and turtles and other reptiles sometimes carry harmful bacteria (mostly salmonella) on their skins and shells. The child does not have to come into contact directly with a turtle but if they were to crawl or drop a toy on a surface that the turtle had previously journeyed across they would be in danger of being contaminated. The best thing to do would be to wait until your child is a bit older (or when you feel they are mature enough) and then opt to buy a turtle then so both you and your child can learn to take care of your pet turtle.

• Do I have a good understanding of turtles?

A lot of people buy a turtle almost like an accessory or because they think they are cool and even though turtles are very cool there are many things anyone serious about caring for pet turtles should understand about them. Turtles like most reptiles need special conditions and special care. They are not like normal pets that’s why it’s also important to find a reptile veterinarian before even brining your turtle home. You should also take some time to find out about turtles a little by researching and there are a number of pet turtle care guides available both on the web and in book stores that cover all aspects of pet turtle care.

• Is it a pet I’m looking to keep for the long term?

Turtles are not short term pets, do not buy a pet turtle if you only want to keep it for one or two years. Even your average aquatic turtle who tends to have shorter life spans than land turtles will live for around twenty years if cared for properly. For this reason it is very important that you are committed to caring for your turtle for as long as possible.

Aquatic turtles sometimes start to develop a rather ugly coat of slimy green furry turf known as algae. You may notice that not only will you see algae on the turtle’s shell but algae also tends to coat the sides of the inside of the turtles tank. In some cases it can be so bad that the water in a turtles tank will turn bright green, making it very difficult to see anything in the tank including your tank. Algae is harmless to turtles but can be a major inconvenience for you.

When treating a build up of algae in a tank its best not to use chemical algaecides as a lot of them contain hydrochloric acids which is harmful to turtles. One good way of preventing algae growth is to keep the tank light off for a shorter period.

The number one way of preventing algae build up in a turtle’s tank and algae on a turtles shell is to consistently change your turtle’s tank water to keep it clean. This is something that all aquatic turtle owners should do anyway as part of routine pet turtle care for their pet turtles.  All in all algae is not a major problem the only thing it really does do that can be annoying is prevent you from seeing into your turtle’s tank and if it’s on your turtles shell it may look a bit unattractive but if  they are quite young its very likely that they will shed it off anyway.

Signs of turtle shell fungus are not good and not the same as algae on a turtle shell which is harmless. If your turtle has cottony white tufts on their shell or skin then you really have to pay attention to this post as the signs are pointing at them having some kind of fungi infection. Fungus will usually affect areas on a turtles shell or skin where they have had an injury.

Most turtles prefer warm and damp conditions and unfortunately this is also a big factor in fungi growth. Fungi bacteria are present and waiting in these conditions for an opportunity to invade new territory which could be on the surface of your poor turtle’s skin or shell. If the fungus gets into the turtles scutes it can penetrate the carapace or plastron and produce large, gaping holes, a condition known as ulcerative shell Disease. The fungus then enters the body cavity which is extremely serious and potentially life threatening.

Fungus infection can and is easily treated though and it’s best to take action as soon as you notice anything that even resembles a fungus infection to provide your turtle with the most effective pet turtle care. A good way to remedy the problem of a fungus infection is to place the turtle which has been infected into a weak solution of iodine (just enough iodine to turn the water color slightly). The turtle should be soaked for ten minutes twice a day and between times of treating them keep the turtle dry. If your turtle is aquatic you will need to keep them in a dry area and prohibited from entering water. Also make sure to maintain a slightly higher temperature in the environment.

Here are two things you can do to help prevent fungal infection.

• Make sure you always provide a dry and warm area in their tank for basking to help them dry off completely.
• The land area should be absolutely dry even in aquatic tanks.

Finding reptile veterinarians for your pet turtle can be one of the more difficult parts of taking on the caring for a turtle. While many are well trained for assessing and treating small animals, the numbers are small for ones that have training in the medical requirements needed to treat reptiles and amphibians. Most vets will reject taking on the task of examining a turtle and if they do decide to check your turtle out, their lack of reptile training means they cannot properly diagnose the problem your turtle may be facing.

Keep in mind that living in or around a large urban area gives you more of a chance of finding a vet with a sufficient enough experience in reptile care.

So how can I find the right veterinarian?

The first thing you should do is find out if you have a local herpetological society and then contacting them for help. Your local herpetological society deals with qualified veterinarians all the time when dealing with animal rescues and adoption. Some of the herp society staff may even be qualified competent reptile vets.

Another option is to visit your local zoo and to ask the staff for help in finding a good herp vet. It is very likely that they will have recommendations because of the fact that they keep large amounts of animals and occasionally they may need to send some of them to see a specialist.

*Also don’t forget that with the power of the internet at hand there are several sites that list good veterinarians by state. If you try this and can’t find any useful information about good vets in your state that deals with reptiles then it might be time to pick up the phone book to ring any vet and ask them to point you in the direction of a recommended reptile vet.*

Here are a few quick tips to keep in mind…

• Before bringing your pet turtle home make sure your have done your research before hand and have a selected vet.
• Don’t forget to ask friends for recommendations
• Check in your local herp society
• Always ask if a vet is a member of the association of reptile and amphibian veterinarians.
• Finally… Feel free to ask questions and seek a second opinion

Trying to tell a turtle’s age is a very difficult task when you have taken into care an adult turtle. Sometimes  the person or pet store you brought your pet turtle from might have been keeping a record of the turtles age and so you may have a good idea of your turtle’s exact age. .. If you are one of those fortunate few than consider yourself very lucky.

To be honest the only guranteed way of knowing your turtles proper age is to have owned them when they were babies and not a lot of people have their pet turtles during that stage.Even though not completely accurate or guranteed there are suggested ways to finding out the stage in life that your turtle is in and to put a rough number to it.

Alot of people say a good way to determine your turtles age is to count the rings around the scutes on your turtles shell. Usually the plastron which is the shell underneath the turtle can be used to also gather information on the turtles age in which the wear patterns can give a good idea of what part of their life a turtle is in. The only problem with using this method is that when a turtle is twenty or over it becomes very difficult to determine their age through looking at their plastron as it is very smooth from the many years of voyaging.

One thing I have to point out is these methods of figuring out your turtles age will only be valid for turtles with hard shells..

Heres a decent vid on finding out your turtles age

As a turtle owner you’ll probably be aware of the connection between turtles and salmonella. Turtles, particularly aquatic turtles have salmonella bacteria living naturally on their shells and skin. It’s very important that every turtle owner takes the right precautions to prevent themselves and others from contracting salmonella.

Here are a few things you can do to prevent spreading salmonella

• Wash your hands every time you handle your pet turtle.
• Make sure you use soap when washing your hands as it kills the salmonella organisms
• If you’re keeping your turtle indoors don’t allow it to wander into the kitchen or on surfaces where you prepare food.
• Never wash your turtles drinking dish in the kitchen sink or the bath tub as traces of salmonella can be left behind.
• Ensure that your turtle’s water is always clean whether it be terrestrial or aquatic. Change it often to prevent the salmonella bacteria from building up.

A few more important facts

• Salmonella is also carried by other reptiles and amphibians such as snakes, lizards and frogs.
• Children under the age of five are more susceptible to being contaminated. It’s best to not have a pet turtle in your home, if you have toddlers and infants who are still in preschool.
• Wild turtles do not carry as much if any salmonella as that of captive turtles and this has been well documented in reports.

What are the symptoms of a person contaminated with salmonella?

Some of the symptoms of salmonella poisoning are:

• Vomiting
• Fever
• Diarrhoea
• Nausea

These symptoms usually last for about a week.

If you have an aquatic turtle then you should be changing the water in your turtles tank quite regularly. Even though you may have a powerful filter, its still important to replace a portion of the water in the tank with fresh water. The reason for this is that as waste products is excreted into the water, ammonia toxins are produced and filters can’t remove this.

Replacing half the water every four weeks will be just fine, assuming that you are feeding your turtle in a seperate container,bowl or tank of course. If you have a turtle that is fed in their home tanks then it’s recommended that you replace the water in their tanks every week as their tanks will be a lot dirtier than the tanks of turtles who feed in a different tank to their home.

The replacement should always be at a temperature similar to the water being portioned. If your local water is heavily chlorinated then a good way to allow the toxic compounds to dissipate is to leave the water out in an open container to stand for twenty four hours.

A lot of people make the assumption that turtles are not smart enough to be taught turtle tricks and although a turtle is nowhere near the intelligence of such pets as dogs, there are a few species of turtle that really stand out as the Einstein’s of their bunch. Take the North American Wood turtle which is regarded one of the most intelligent turtles. They are able to run a maze almost as quickly as a lab rat and can retain what they have learnt for many weeks. Of course trying to teach an old turtle new tricks will be a much harder task than starting off with a young one as older turtles tend to get stuck in their old ways…

But is it possible to teach a turtle tricks? well yes and here’s the evidence:

To be honest this is not an easy thing to do and you will need to spend many hours with a young turtle (the best time is usually around a year old) to form enough trust and comfort to get them to learn and remember all these tricks. It may become frustrating for you and even your turtle but it’s possible and I guess if you stay committed you’ll be one of the only people in your area that can say proudly you know my  little buddy can do turtle tricks

You would be surprised by the number of people in the world that don’t know what the difference between a turtle and tortoise is. Generally the word turtle is used to refer to any reptile with a shell on its back and tortoises and terrapins fall into this category. To point out a few distinctions between the groups of turtles, names such as tortoise and terrapin have been used as terminology. These names help people to understand the kind of habitat and sometimes the species of the turtle.

Okay so here are the differences

Turtles:

A turtle will spend most of their life in water or in areas surrounded by water and is well adapted to swimming by holding their breath for long periods of time. Turtles will have webbed toes or fins (which is an attribute of mostly sea turtles). Turtles also have flatter backs than tortoises and will mate and lay their eggs underwater or on shore. They are mostly omnivores and will eat anything from plants and insects, to fish.

*Mostly water based or depending on species enjoys water as well as land*

Tortoises:

Tortoises are turtles but this does not always apply the other way round as not all turtles can be tortoises. Tortoises are land based and tend to live in arid dry areas. The only time they come into contact with water is when they need to drink or to soak themselves. Tortoises are not built for water and can easily drown if the water they come into contact with is too deep or rapid. They are also mostly herbivorous and enjoy feeding  on plants. The shell of a tortoise is a rounded dome shape and they can withdraw their limbs and head into it to protect themselves from danger.

*Mostly land based and will only soak in or drink water*

But what about terrapins?

Terrapins:

Terrapins can be put in between turtles and tortoises because some begin their lives in water and eventually end up on dry land. They have smaller or lighter shells than land turtles and webbed feet. The difference between a turtle and terrapin in some cases are very small and they are only differentiated by a countries preference.

*Enjoys water and can be largely aquatic*

To a biologist, there are no technical distinctions between turtles and terrapins, although usually the term tortoise is reserved solely for the members of the Testudidine group of land turtles, and the word terrapin most often refers specifically to the Diamondback terrapin of the eastern United States. All the shelled reptiles turtles, terrapins and tortoises are members of the order Chelonia, and all Chelonians can correctly be referred to as turtles.

A lot of parents wonder if pet turtles are good for kids and the answer quite simply is Yes and No… (Sorry if you were expecting a straight answer but bear with me and let me explain why)

Turtles can be great pets for kids but it really depends on how mature and informed the child is about taking care of their pet turtle.  Keeping a turtle is not like looking after your conventional everyday pet. They are not cuddly or as responsive to their owner as a dog or cat would be and definitely don’t share the same emotional bonds that can be developed with these animals. The majority of turtles and tortoises do not like being picked up, handled or played with which is something that most kids like to do often with their pets. For a child to take a turtle in as a pet they will need to provide the turtle with constant pet turtle care which will involve doing these tasks everyday:

• Feeding
• Cage cleaning
• Changing water

If your child can’t perform these tasks responsibly then it will fall upon you to do them.

For your child’s safety and to prevent the turtle spreading a disease to your child, you should make sure that you alert and ensure that your child does not make these mistakes:

1) Kiss the turtle

2) Leave their hands unwashed after handling the turtle

Even though it is illegal and unlikely that you will buy a turtle that has been infected with salmonella, there is still a chance (and you should make the assumption that turtles  and salmonella are never far apart) that any and every pet turtle has some kind of salmonella bacterium living on their shells no matter how clean they are.  So to keep your child safe from contracting salmonella and any other unwanted diseases make sure that you drum it into their little tiny heads about the importance of washing their hands and not kissing their little buddies.

With that said and out the way here are a few positives that your little ones will gain from looking after their little ones:

• Turtles if cared for in the right way will live for a long time and will be worthy companions for many years to come.
• Children often develop an interest in the diversity of wildlife and have a care for animals and this is always a good thing as we all know about the risks of species becoming endangered. Knowing that the next generation will be more caring towards animals is a bonus.
• Kids gain a sense of responsibility from looking after their little buddies.

Also this is a great chance for you to teach curious kids:

• How to hold a turtle
• Things to feed a turtle
• Not to kiss a turtle
• Ways to give a turtle a safe home
• About different types of turtles

If you decide to buy a pet turtle for your kids, it’s worth making sure you understand every aspect of caring for the turtle so you can help you kids take the best care of their new pet.