How to Look After Turtles and Terrapins

There is a lot to consider when you want to keep a turtle or terrapin as a pet. Some people assume, wrongly as it turns out, that having a pet turtle is an easy task and does not require a lot of time or work.

While it is easier in most respects to keep a turtle as a pet versus, say, a dog that requires loads of time and hands-on care, you need to understand that pet turtles also deserve a lot of attention and love and can live for many decades.

In fact, some turtles can live up to a hundred years or more so you should be prepared for a pet that will last you all your life, if not outlive you!

One of the key things to remember when bringing home a turtle or terrapin is that most of them need exactly the right kind of environment. Or two environments, rather, a dry one and a wet, or damp, one. You can have two aquariums for this, or even one aquarium made to your specifications, but make sure you've got enough space in your house somewhere for this.

You will also need to provide the right kind of lighting and temperature control so your turtle can lead a happy life and feels comfortable while switching environments as well. The lighting especially should be as close to daylight as possible so the turtle can follow the natural rhythms of the day.

In fact, you can even have your aquarium outdoors as long as you're sure there are no 'predators' (dogs or other pets) around that are going to harass, traumatize or even kill your turtle.

There should also be a constant supply of fresh water available for them which should generally be placed between the two aquariums or in their dry environment. And keep an eye out for any changes in your pet's behavior or appearance.

Some diseases or illnesses manifest themselves as odd behavior (not eating, not moving etc) or as changes in the shells (lighter color, texture going funny and so forth). So keep that eagle eye out and check your pets regularly.

It is possible to form a bond with your pet turtle as long as you are committed to spending time with it and to being a good pet owner.

Turtles As Pets - The Basics

Once you learn the basics of turtle care, keeping turtles becomes relatively easy. One of the first things to know if you are new to turtle keeping is that you can't keep turtles in the small shallow glass bowls like you saw in the movie Rocky. To ensure the proper health for your turtles you must provide them with adequate space to move around. One other important factor is you can't just put them in a larger aquarium or container and leave them be. Turtles need to be able to get completely out of the water and dry off.

There are many other factor to properly care for your turtles as well including UVB lighting, heating the water and basking spot, water filtration, and diet. I don't want to sound like it is incredibly hard to take care of turtles and that you need to buy all of this expensive stuff. I just want to make sure that you take is seriously enough to learn and implement the proper husbandry techniques to help your turtles thrive.

As far as diet goes, things like cat food, and hot dogs just don't work well for your turtles. Diet can also range between different species of turtles as well. It is important to research the type of diet required for the types of turtles you elect to keep. Luckily for you, there are many commercially prepared turtle diets that are well formulated to keep your turtle happy and healthy with the proper growth rate.

Now let's move on to the proper lighting required for your turtles. Turtles are cold blooded, meaning that they cannot regulate their own body temperature. In the wild they use the sun to bask and raise their body heat. This is why you commonly see turtles sunbathing on a rock on a log. They also need to get vitamin D to remain healthy in captivity. Again in the wild they get all they need from the sun in the form of UVB rays. So you will need to provide your turtles with a heat lamp and a UVB full spectrum light source. It's your lucky day again because there are now a bunch of commercially available bulbs that accomplish both of these functions in one.

One last thing for beginners is that turtles are a little different type of pet than a dog. Most do not prefer to be handled too much and they can get stressed pretty easily. This is why it is best to observe your turtle eating, swimming, and sunbathing in the turtles habitat. Especially new turtles that you acquire, give them some time to acclimate before you interact with them too much. This will help to cut down on the stress of it's new environment. Stress in turtles can lead to illness and it is best to not have to deal with this, especially for a beginner.