General Care Discussion :: "turtle rights"

[zoologist]

a 200 gallon pond is not going to be big enough... back to the drawing board.
i'll probably get in trouble for this, but i think its funny how you went on about how people need to know what they're getting into before they get a turtle as a responsiblity and yet you have three turtles in a tank that is way below average for their size.
we have people come to this forum, see their mistakes and correct them within a matter of days. the transformation of tank set ups is amazing in most cases. point is, they're correcting their mistakes and so should you.

by the way, i refer to my turtle as a "she", although now i think she may be a he. also she is about 5 inches.

[Bumby's Mom]

Some people rescued their turtles from dying and didn't have the ability to research how to care for them before they got them.

[theyellowbus]

ty! im helping my friend take care of his. one recentlley died and he asked me for help. they were in seperate tanks though

[ScrewZoo]

mine grew quick.

[spaceapple]

Back to the original question, I think the reason that a few people around here call their turtles "it" is simply because they don't want to get attached to using a certain gender-specific pronoun until they're sure of what their turtle's gender is. I mean, it must be kind of weird if you've always thought of and referred to your turtle as one gender, only to find out later that it's the opposite!

[Fuzzy Hamster]

Too true, too true.....just check out imderanged's avatar for an example...

[fishyfingers]

I use "it' and will continue until I know what sex "it" is. Just makes sense.

[untsmurf]

I use 'it' when referring to the younger turtles of other keepers. I only use 'it' when I am unsure of the sex and if the poster shows no preference for he or she. It isn't meant to be anything offensive.

[PcBuilder14]

I use it on other turtle if I'm not sure which like untsmurf, but I call mine he, him, and his even though he could very well be a she, HOPE NOT!!!!

[TheComputerGremlin]

I'm with untsmurf, I only use "it" when the owner hasn't specified a preference and the name isn't gender specific. Otherwise, I try to see what the poster thinks their turtle is. I have referred to my turtle as a "he" for the whole year I've had him now, but I'm thinking he is a "she", so I'm working on a new name so I don't continue saying he forever.

I've heard the 10 gallon rule can be broken with multiple turtles that are known to get along. I've heard 10 gallons per inch for the first turtle and 5 gallons for each one after that. So 120 gallon for the first turtle, and 60 for each following turtle, and you'd need 240 gallons, so a 200 or so gallon tank with an awesomely large basking area will probably do fine.

And theyellowbus, most people that show up here have gotten a cute little turtle at a fair or random shop and got the "death sheet" of care instructions and think for a second, hmm, this doesn't sound right. So they get on here and we try to right the wrong doings. My turtle's just now hitting 4" and he's probably just over a year old or so (I got him and he was about 1.5" and that was last September, so I don't know the actual age). But we have some long experienced turtle keepers on the board who have had their turtles forever and they are full grown and living in their final tank setup.