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I found a turtle today walking across the patio of my hotel. I have brought it home and my grandaughter wants to keep it.

Since you folks are the experts I thought this would be a great place to get solid and good information.

We need to know everything!
What kind of turtle?
What size tank?
accessories?
Food?

Just start firing away. I have an empty 10 gallon tank. some drift wood from an old lizard tank, aquarium rocks and the willingness to learn turtle keeping.

He is in a box now, I put some water in a saucer in the box and laid out some shrimp pellets I have for my fish. I need help fast so please do not be shy!

Thank you!

eh we cant say without pictures or no apparent physical description. all we kno is you found him on a patio...

well he is green and his under side is yellow and orange. I dont know how else to describe a turtle.

Can you post some pictures of the turtle? How big is the turtle? It probably would have been better to leave it in the wild. It's a big committment to keep a turtle, more than most people realize. To start, read the stickies at the beginning of each forum.

its a really bad idea to keep a turtle as pet that you found in the wild...
you should return him to his natural home and go to the pet store and buy one....

and unless the turtle is an inch or smaller.... a 10 gallon is way too small

thank you all for your input. I just talked to my grandaughter and explained to her what you all have posted and she has agreed to let him go back into the wild. we have a small creek close by and she will set him free after breakfast.

I appreciate your honesty and feedback.

Turtle on everyone!

I'm glad that you returned the turtle to the wild. I would still recommend reading through the main site and the stickys in the forum to get an idea of what you are looking at in getting a pet turtle. Turtles are see and not touch kind of pets. Most people don't cuddle their turtles, etc. I don't know how old your granddaughter is, but she may be unhappy with that aspect. Turtles are not a cheap pet to own either, and are a lifetime kind of pet. They can live upwards of 20-25 years or longer. Is that something she is going to want in the future? Is she old enough to make those kinds of decisions? Just some other things to think about! Good Luck!

missibsu wrote:Turtles are see and not touch kind of pets.

Sometimes I think that should be displayed EVERYWHERE for people thinking about getting a turtle. Maybe across those tanks in the mall where they sell 93845793 for 5 bucks a piece.

5 bucks really? Here they're 35$ plus tax! Wow, major price difference

I was also wondering about that "see and not touch" issue. The guy at the pet store has been really informative to me because he's had his turtle for like 3 years and he said that if you're like more "affectionate" wen they're young then they'll be used to it, but if you don't touch them at all and just look at them wen they're young, if you try to handle them wen they're older they'll just bite at you wen you get close to them (because he says that's what his turtle does since he never touched him before).

Is this really true or will they just bite at you no matter what? What are your experiences everyone?

$5? mine was $15!

Anyways...

If your granddaughter is young, you could get her one...

(i'm assumung she's 10)-but it'll die when she's 60!

25-50 yrs sounds right.

least thats what the guy at Petco told me.

sQuirtle, it is recommended to only hold them when it is absolutely necessary, especially when they are younger. Younger turtles tend to get stressed much easier than older ones.

I remove Koopa on regularly scheduled cleaning days to clean the tank. After cleaning the tank, he gets his "bath" (scrubbing with a soft toothbrush) and a shell check. After that I usually let him roam for a few minutes or hold him a few minutes. This is the only time he's removed and it works great for both of us. He's never tried to bite me but always seems very happy to be back in his home.

All turtles have different personalities so one turtle may be a bit more aggressive than the next one. I don't think any amount of holding would make a difference in this case. It could possibly make it worse if it always upsets the more aggressive turtle to be held. I agree that they are a more see and not touch type pet. People wanting something to cuddle or hold needs to look into another animal.

Thanks for the info Sonja
On the first day I got him he loved just sitting on my hand. Now over a week later, he's used to his home and he doesn't like it whenever I take him out to fix something in his home, he's always excited to be back home hehe. And now that he's used to me feeding him food, I'm afraid that if I try to hold him now he'll 1) be mad that I'm taking him out of his home 2) try to bite me cuz he's hungry & knows that my hand is where he gets food from!

But I'm okay with just looking at him, I could gaze at him for hours he's so cute lol

Yes my turtles were 7 bucks each. Crazy. It's really sad actually. I wish they would sell them for $35 here then people would think twice about what they are getting.

But yeah my two guys are 3 inches now and they have always fought me when I try to hold them. They just start kicking and trying to get away. They've been like that always. So I just don't bother anymore except for the occasional photo session. But now their legs are getting to be two powerful and I can't handle them with one hand anymore. So I rarely get to take pics when I'm alone anymore. I have to have someone help me so I can handle and chase the turtles and they take the pictures. lol But it's worth it in the long run.

sQuirtle wrote:5 bucks really? Here they're 35$ plus tax! Wow, major price difference

I was also wondering about that "see and not touch" issue. The guy at the pet store has been really informative to me because he's had his turtle for like 3 years and he said that if you're like more "affectionate" wen they're young then they'll be used to it, but if you don't touch them at all and just look at them wen they're young, if you try to handle them wen they're older they'll just bite at you wen you get close to them (because he says that's what his turtle does since he never touched him before).

Is this really true or will they just bite at you no matter what? What are your experiences everyone?

I 've had my turtles for 5 years and i handled them alot since i got them and they were little. They havent bitten anyone yet. And they dont even snap. lol they way of letting you kno they are not happy is to pee on you.