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There is a spiny softshell turtle at a home buissness in our area. The man that runs the store has the turtle in a 20 gallon tank with 2 other turtles that are fully grown(hardshell turtles).There is about 1 inch or so of water in the tank. I feel really bad for the turtle and I sorta want to get him just so that he doesnt have to suffer anymore from the other turtles always stepping on him and stuff.
I already have 3 baby RES and I know how big they are going to get and how much space they will need.
So...if my parents say that it is OK that I can get the turtle, should I get it??? What is your opinion?

i say get it! all turtles will need a caring home so y not.

Check out the turtle forum at austinsturtlepage.com There are people there with a wider knowledge of other kinds of turtles, see what you can find out about their needs. So long as you're able and willing to provide a good home for him, I don't see why you shouldn't!

I say get a little more info on the turtle before you buy it

You should investigate what kind of care the turtle will need and consider what you can give it.
Perhaps you can convince him to give the turtles better care or to a rescue? If not, maybe you could buy them and adopt them out.. although that is a lot of time and commitment.

Don't softshells get REALLY huge? They're also aggressive and need very specialized care and can suffer from fungal diseases very easily.

Yea, maybe buy him and give him to someone who can provide a GREAT home.

If you really want to save him, get him and give him to a rescue agency like Kevin said.

Only keep him if you are willing to fully take care of it.

Wouldn't that be supporting negative business?

Not if you complained and criticized to the show owner...lol

Your right but if hes going to get a turtle and give it to the rescue
Thats one turtle saved
Then they might replace the turtle he bought

But what changed here
He feels like he really helped one turtle and possible saved its life.

You would say, but then you would just put another turtle out of its habitat into the same situation

Well in this case, people who breed turtles and sell them to store owners, keep them in bad condtitions anyway, and for their whole life, these turtles have seen nothin but the 2 inch room they have to swim in.

So either way, it would be getting a turtle out of hell

Safdar wrote:Well in this case, people who breed turtles and sell them to store owners, keep them in bad condtitions anyway, and for their whole life, these turtles have seen nothin but the 2 inch room they have to swim in.l

Not always.

I know this dude with who breeds frogs and has this AMAZING setup and he sells frogs to the pet store sometimes.

adam85491 wrote:Wouldn't that be supporting negative business?

That's how I feel. I don't buy animals from stores that don't know how to care for them. Especially if they are already sick. One, that is taking on a huge responsibility. Two, you are supporting the bad store. Even if you spend an hour chewing the guy out, in the end you are still giving him your money, and that's what he wants/needs. Three, if you are really worried about the turt, then call a rescue or the ASPCA or something. Last, if you buy this one, they'll just get something else and you can't buy all they're sick animals.

Yes, some petstores get it from people who capture turtles, but even then
The people who capture keep them in the same situation and when u transfer one turtle from a bad place to another bad place nothin really changed.

Im sure there are other ways petstore owners get turtles from, whcih will proably viod my conversation, but waht im trying to say is.
In the sitaution i presented its most likeyl okay

In the end, i myself will never get it from a bad petstore, I got Tito from a relaly good petstore and he had like 4 res in a 50 gallon tank, they all were like 1 1/4 inch.


I was just trying to sometimes taking a turtle out of a bad place is a good thing for it

It's great for the turtle to get a better home. But just think of the turtle that is replacing the sick one you bought. The way I look at it is my buying the sick one is eventually ruining another healthy turtles life because it will replace the sick one I bought, if that makes sense. I would love to take all the sick animals home with me of course, but I can't afford them and it's just not a good idea.