Other Turtle Discussion :: Rules/Ideas for Playing with Your Turtle?

[VLeduc]

hello everyone,

just wondering if anyone does or have any ideas of how to interact with your RES in an entertaining way. one of my friends has a little floating grape-sized plastic ball in his tank that the turtles chase around.

on a related note, is it ok to bring an RES out of its tank and let it walk around on the floor or carpet?

thanks in advance

[Starchick]

I had a ping pong ball in with Napoleon for a bit, but he tried to catch it for about 30 seconds before deciding that it wasn't going to work and never touched it again. Napoleon is very interactive, and will follow me back and forth, so I run around the tank and let him chase me. As to whether it's okay for them to come out, it depends on your turtle and your home situation. If you have kids or other pets, it can be a bad idea because there's a risk of your turtle getting trampled or gnawed. If you have stairs that can't be blocked, or lots of places a turtle could get wedged into, you need to be really careful and vigilant. Don't rule out vertical spaces either, my turtles have been known to get wedged between walls and things like bookshelves. Once they get in there it's very hard for them to get back out. And if your turtle is shy at all, coming out won't be pleasant for them. But in my case, my turtles are extremely outgoing, and love to romp around, and my apartment has very few places where they could get trapped, so they come out all the time. So it's really up to your judgement. But if you have any doubt at all, so long as your tank is big enough for them to swim vigorously and explore, they don't really 'need' to come out to play. You can stimulate them by changing around the arrangement of their tanks or maybe rotating decorations? That way they have something relatively new to play with. Another thought would be to occasionally give feeder fish.

[steve]

All I can add to Starchick's post is that "grape-sized" is probably too small and can cause a serious and fatal obstruction if swallowed.

[VLeduc]

All I can add to Starchick's post is that "grape-sized" is probably too small and can cause a serious and fatal obstruction if swallowed.

i should mention that the 3 RES i have are tiny (their heads are about half the size of a grape right now)

[SpotsMama]

I agree with everything Starchick said.

Also, turtles like to play with things in their tank. Mine spends some time every day playing in the waterfall created by the filter. He likes to push his rocks and decorations around. Some people have said it's neat to put a mirror by the tank. When the turtle sees himself in it, he thinks there's another turtle and finds it interesting. I may be more stress for the turtle than fun.

When they are older and not afraid of you any more, they really seem to like just being noticed. If you go up to the tank and talk to them and point at them they seem to find that a lot of fun. Some people dance for/with them! Who knows what goes on in the brain of a turtle? But they seem to really like it.

[steve]

i should mention that the 3 RES i have are tiny (their heads are about half the size of a grape right now)

Considering the growth they will be experiencing over the next few months, its best to keep a very close eye on that.

[pumpkinsherbet]

i used to take my turtles out of the tank a lot when i first got them. i really pay attention when i'm here, though, and have come to break that habit. i can tell it is stressful on the turtles, and trying to avoid john's bites aren't in the least bit fun. they seem more pleased with me to stay in the tank. they'll come up to greet me, john will play by the basking rock. sometimes he'll make to climb on it. they'll both come to me to poke their heads out of the water, and aeryn plays a bit of a ''peekaboo" game with me. i'd like to get a ping pong ball, though.

the tank embellishments they have they love to play with, especially the plants. i put a toy snake in the tank the other day, and watched as aeryn attacked it. now she kinda ''hides" by it. they love the waterfall and moving rocks, though it's obvious aeryn gets more enjoyment out of that than john. john likes to play in the plants and by the basking rock. they both like to hang out in front of the mirror, and are social with each other.

[industrial_girl_2000]

I take my (adult) RES out on the carpet with me & let her walk around pretty much unsupervised in the house (she actually begs to be let out & gets upset if I don't let her out). But she is very outgoing & not stressed at all (actually follows me around the house & climbs on me to get my attention). I also feed her in a separate pan of water to help keep her tank more clean so she is used to be taken out of her tank to eat (no wonder she wants to be let out all the time; she thinks food is involved, LOL!).

Of course, she is a bit hard to lose in the house since her shell is 9" long & she is thick (barely fits under the couch anymore & has to squeeze to get under there).

I do take her outside on beautiful sunny days so she can get *real* sunshine. I supervise her closely on our outdoor walks to make sure she doesn't walk in the road or dig into a place where I can't find her.

I don't have any "toys" in the tank because, quite frankly, Sheba eats everything. If she can't eat it, she tears it up, like her cuttlebone. She doesn't really like it, but I do see a few nips in it once in a while (she usually just bites into the cuttle, then spits out the pieces so I have little bits of cuttle all over the bottom of the tank).

I think it is safe to say that Sheba's favorite game is "Where's the food?"

[VLeduc]

thanks for all the tips and ideas, everyone... dang that sheba is old! i want my RES to be chill like her one day

[pumpkinsherbet]

sheba's not old, she's experienced

[industrial_girl_2000]

sheba's not old, she's experienced

LOL, you guys are cracking me up!

[4Lancer4]

My turtle use to play chase my finger around as i spin in circles, Then one day it caught my finger and it wasn't fun anymore . I normally make my turtle work for its food by sticking the bottom part in and getting his attention and go a pace which i know he can catch up to. I think thats good enough exercise for him, since his favourite spot to hang around is about a meter away from his basking area.

[VLeduc]

[quote="4Lancer4"]My turtle use to play chase my finger around as i spin in circles, Then one day it caught my finger and it wasn't fun anymore . quote]

LOL....wasnt fun for YOU, that is. i try to get my RES to chase pellets too

[pumpkinsherbet]

i just bought them a small frisbee, but my cat seems more interested in it than they do. for the record, the frisbee came from a 5 pack, i'm not dunking my cat in the tank!