Turtles...anyone?

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SarahofTwins
SarahofTwins Posts: 1,169 Member
in Chit-Chat
Okay I'm wondering if anyone has a turtle or ever had one?....If so please explain to me if its good or not to get one.

My hubby wants to really get one because as he says "I like turtles" - from the show Tosh. Anyhow He is all for getting one and taking care of the aquarium but I'm just hesitant because I'm not sure if it smells quite frequently or what to expect. Any advice or anything to encounter?
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Replies

  • MrsVagus
    MrsVagus Posts: 82
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    They are not very smelly, but it can be a lot of maintenance work as they get bigger. Tortoises are a little easier because you don't need the water filtration, but they need fresh fruit and veggies everyday. Good luck!
  • Umeboshi
    Umeboshi Posts: 1,637 Member
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    Don't know much about the care of live turtles but...
    chocolate 'turtles' are delicious! :laugh:
  • aling01
    aling01 Posts: 163
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    if you are looking to get a water turtle they are super cute. i use to own a lot BUT they stink up the tank and it involves like weekly cleaning else your house will reak. I'm not much of a cleaner so that's why i ended up getting rid of them, it was a lot of work for me.

    unless you guys have a pond where it will stay outdoor and has a very strong filter.

    the turtles i use to have are red ear sliders. my friend actually has a pond with about 50-100 of them, not sure how many escaped already after the pond was overflowed with the rain.

    if you buy baby ones they are about the size of a half dollar and can get as big as 10".
  • Heather75
    Heather75 Posts: 3,386 Member
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    You can get salmonella from handling them, so make sure you wash your hands after. I had turtles when I was younger. Doris, Peter, Ruth, Steven, Wendy and Helmut.
  • pandad
    pandad Posts: 1
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    get a filter one size more than it reccomends for your aquarium otherwise. el stinko grande! and they get HUGE mine is the size of a small dinner plate
  • SarahofTwins
    SarahofTwins Posts: 1,169 Member
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    Thank you for the input everyone....I'll have to show these comments to him so he can see from what the experience is. :drinker:
  • change_happens
    change_happens Posts: 491
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    Hi. My friend has a turtle and all she does is complain about the up keep of the tank since the turtle has grown in size. And, once I went to her place and it smelled because she had missed a cleaning. Other times, the tank has a smell, but not a nasty smell, if you know what I mean.
  • LJCannon
    LJCannon Posts: 3,636 Member
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    I found a red eared slider a little over a year ago near a local Park. At the time he was about the size of a Half Dollar. He is now about 2 inches in diameter (there are several pictures of him on my Profile) and I am told he will get to about 8--10 inches in diameter. I clean the aquarium weekly and really don't notice a smell unless I let it go over 10 to 12 days.
    I really enjoy him and I don't think it is any more work or maintenance than a regular aquarium, but I am a little concerned about how I will clean a 40--50 gallon aquarium when he is full grown.
    :laugh: I even take him outside occasionally for walks. I have a friend who has a 70 pound Turtle (idon't know what kind he is) and she takes him to the Park often to walk, and even took him to PetSmart last year to have his picture made with Santa!!
  • sbwood888
    sbwood888 Posts: 953 Member
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    We had one and it was STINKY! Turtles poop every time they eat, so the tank gets messy very often, If you don't clean it right away it smells horrible. Waayyyy to much trouble.
  • kathrynkatana
    kathrynkatana Posts: 90 Member
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    lol
    Click this link
    http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee43/Daniellerox444/turtles.jpg
  • nicothepotato
    nicothepotato Posts: 306 Member
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    Full grown turtles and tortoises need space! If you get a tortoise, make sure it's enclosure does not have anything it can use to climb out. I've chased a tortoise down the street because it climbed over 2 railroad ties on top of each other then a chain link fence. We ramped up security and it still ended up running away. We didn't mind. It was a wild one that was injured that we nursed back to health. We figured if it was healthy enough to get through all that, it was good to go. Our tame ones didn't really like him either.
  • Saruman_w
    Saruman_w Posts: 1,531 Member
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    I like turtles

    i-like-turtles-kid.jpg
  • Heather75
    Heather75 Posts: 3,386 Member
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    I found a red eared slider a little over a year ago near a local Park.

    You kidnapped a turtle?!?
  • TDGee
    TDGee Posts: 2,209 Member
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    TMNT.gif
    They reek of the sewer and tend to attract troublemakers, but Turtles are cool!
  • LJCannon
    LJCannon Posts: 3,636 Member
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    I found a red eared slider a little over a year ago near a local Park.

    You kidnapped a turtle?!?


    Technically it was "Turtle-napping"!!:wink: And he was near a busy road, a LLLOOONNNNGGGG Way from any water.
  • koosdel
    koosdel Posts: 3,317 Member
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    Turtles can make for a surprisingly rich chilli.
  • LJCannon
    LJCannon Posts: 3,636 Member
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    Turtles can make for a surprisingly rich chilli.

    :laugh: Shame on you!!!
  • samcee
    samcee Posts: 307
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    My ex brought me a pair of turtles for our anniversary. They're my absolute favorite animals! Please do your research on how to take care of them because they're very high maintenance. They can get ill very easily if you don't provide them with right lights (they need heat lamps with UV lights turned on constantly) , cleaning and food etc. However, they are the sweetest pets to ever have.
  • EdieBird
    EdieBird Posts: 38
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    My red-eared slider, Gamera, went from the size of a quarter to six inches long in just about two years. At that point my 20 gallon tank was no longer enough space for her speed-racing swimming habits, so I gave her to a local pet store to rehome for me. (along with a request that she go to either a pond or an ENORMOUS tank as she was very, very active and prone to hitting her shell on the glass of smaller tanks)

    I had a filter meant for a hundred-gallon tank running on that 20, with weekly 3/4 water changes. A floating "rock" attached to the wall made up her basking surface with the tank mostly full of water, mesh top on the tank, and a light fixture with a normal light, a UV daylight bulb, AND a heat lamp, plus a submersible heater to keep the water from getting too chilly. Gamera would get calcium enriched food every other day, with occasional treats of fruits, or eggs, or whatever. (she also got my rejected betta babies as I was breeding them at the time and would sometime end up with fish that were just wrong...not very efficient though, she let the ugliest, most misbegotten fish EVER live in there for three weeks) I'd inspect her every few days to make sure her shell was clean and healthy, as my sister had a slider once that developed shell rot, a nasty condition for any turtle to live with. Fortunately, Gamera was the very picture of radiant turtley health. And spoiled.

    She was a very nice turtle, not a "hold me" sort of pet, but she would always come up to see me for head rubs and would strike the most hilarious turtle-yoga poses while basking in her sunlamp! When I took her to the pet store, the girl there asked to see her before they put her into a tank, and was stunned that she not only did not bite, but actually arched her head up to be touched and gave the girl the one-eyed glare of doom. (Gamera would always look at you sideways while assessing how dangerous you might be)

    Okay, done rambling.
  • aling01
    aling01 Posts: 163
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    lol they are quite entertaining to watch.

    i like waking up in the morning, going downstairs to see like 4 of the turtles on top of each other just laying there in the heat.

    and they do do funny basking poses.
    My red-eared slider, Gamera, went from the size of a quarter to six inches long in just about two years. At that point my 20 gallon tank was no longer enough space for her speed-racing swimming habits, so I gave her to a local pet store to rehome for me. (along with a request that she go to either a pond or an ENORMOUS tank as she was very, very active and prone to hitting her shell on the glass of smaller tanks)

    I had a filter meant for a hundred-gallon tank running on that 20, with weekly 3/4 water changes. A floating "rock" attached to the wall made up her basking surface with the tank mostly full of water, mesh top on the tank, and a light fixture with a normal light, a UV daylight bulb, AND a heat lamp, plus a submersible heater to keep the water from getting too chilly. Gamera would get calcium enriched food every other day, with occasional treats of fruits, or eggs, or whatever. (she also got my rejected betta babies as I was breeding them at the time and would sometime end up with fish that were just wrong...not very efficient though, she let the ugliest, most misbegotten fish EVER live in there for three weeks) I'd inspect her every few days to make sure her shell was clean and healthy, as my sister had a slider once that developed shell rot, a nasty condition for any turtle to live with. Fortunately, Gamera was the very picture of radiant turtley health. And spoiled.

    She was a very nice turtle, not a "hold me" sort of pet, but she would always come up to see me for head rubs and would strike the most hilarious turtle-yoga poses while basking in her sunlamp! When I took her to the pet store, the girl there asked to see her before they put her into a tank, and was stunned that she not only did not bite, but actually arched her head up to be touched and gave the girl the one-eyed glare of doom. (Gamera would always look at you sideways while assessing how dangerous you might be)

    Okay, done rambling.

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