General Care Discussion :: Hey

[sorry!]

my girlfriends birthday is comin up soon and she mentioned before she wud love to have a turtle as a pet so i'm thinking about buying her one. i already have a 30 gal. tank i'm not using.

i'm just wondering how fast do they grow say i bought it at like 1-2 inches how long will i be able to keep it in my tank until it would outgrow it and need a new one?

[joeybsmooth]

Each turtle type of turtle is different. So they grow at different rates. But if he is a inch are so, when you get him he by grow a inch and a half a year .

BTW before getting her one, you might want to see if she really wants on.. after she finds out how much care turtles need.

[EmperorTunaFish]

I was given a turtle as a birthday gift. We had no idea what we were getting in to. I will echo what Joey said and show her the reqs before jumping in.

That said I will say that once a turt is set up, its not too bad to keep it all running. Veggies are cheap, and pellets can last a long time. Filter media can come in multiple sets. UV bulb should be replaced every 6(I think?) months. Vets are expensive trips regardless of what animal you keep.

[Rubicon]

Sorry! - Please read the care sheets provided on the front page of this site, so you can see exactly what is required. There's alot that goes into a turtle setup but like mentioned once it's setup it can be great. You really need a good canister setup with some good biomedia to keep the water good and algae down.

[sorry!]

yah i've already read all that + some more at other sites. looks like it'll b more work than i thought originally but thats cool i'll keep it at my house at first see if she would be willing to take care of it on her own if not it can just stay at my place no biggy. (apparently the way they keep turtles in abowl or something on the movies isn't how your actually supposed to take care of a turtle who would have guessed )

so about an inch and a half a year eh. so after like 2 years say my 30 gal. would need to be upgraded then assuming it grew at that rate?

also about these docks. I've notied alot of the tank set ups here have basking areas out side of the aquarium but like idk if i would be able to build one of those for a while... so would it be cool to say just fill up the tank 3/4 or so thn have the basking area inside of the tank?

[TheComputerGremlin]

Well, that's not exactly correct. If you get a 1-2" turtle, it should be about 4" by the end of its first year. So within a year of purchasing the turtle, you will need to upgrade. Only after the first growth spurt, do they slow to about 1" per year until fully grown. You could possibly squeeze 2 years out of a 30 gallon if you filled it up all the way (2" from the top) and build an above-tank basking area. However, then you'll need a new tank, hopefully your last upgrade. You would then need a 75-120 gallon tank, depending on your turtle's gender (male = smaller, female = bigger).

There are some reasons to buy a fully legal (4") turtle, though. If you find a good pet store with healthy turtles, you will already know the gender (don't entirely trust the employee, know the characteristics yourself before going in). Then you can choose your gender instead of the 50:50 chance you get with hatchlings. Another reason to buy/adopt an older turtle would be that they are less likely to get sick and die. Also, turtles are already vastly overpopulated and so many adoption groups have them waiting around. Lastly, RES are one of the bigger species that are commonly sold. Some turtles stay much smaller, though you would likely need to get them through a pet store/adoption agency/breeder. But some can remain in as little as a 50 gallon tank their whole lives.

And remember that if a turtle is kept well and healthy, they can live for upwards of 40 years, species dependent. Are you (or your girlfriend) ready to make that kind of commitment? Esp. since turtles are more of a "look but don't touch" pet?

If not, a lot of people on this board can highly recommend cute fuzzy rodents! We have quite a few hedgehog/chinchilla/rat/etc owners around. And they live a lot shorter lives, mice only live up to 3 years, hamsters around 4 years, hedgehogs I think around 6 or 7 years? And cute fuzzy rodents are much more hands on.

[turtles are wicked]

yeah urm....turts need a hell of a lot of looking after, most people fall into the trap of thinking turtles are boring and slow, TERRAPINS are verry fast and very active, they do poo quite a lot after feeding so i would recomend a good filter, lighting is a deffinate thing you have to get, you have to get the correct lighting also, heater!!! need a heater for your turtle to be toasty warm not literally toast but you get the idea, you MUST feed them well and dont just feed them meat, they need some veg (eg. cabbage, carrot, apple peel.....)
but dont worry, if you get this turt you will not be dissapointed, i fell in love with mine the day i got them, you will too, im sure the guys on this site will agree, turtles arent boring, they are cute, beautifull , unpredictable and loving little things, also keep out of reach of children and CATS!!.and racoons, we have had some sad stories on here

[sorry!]

yah im fully aware of whats necessary :p was just wondering how fast they grow. i've had many pets like bearded dragons and snakes never a turtle though so this will be something new. i've already light fixtures heating lamps etc etc

++what were these smaller turtles you speak of called?

and i'm from canada so i don't think that 4" rule applies here

[TheComputerGremlin]

Hopefully someone else comes around to answer correctly, but I think painted turtles and maybe map turtles are smaller? And a male is smaller and in a way, easier to care for.

And no, the 4" rule doesn't apply in Canada, though it's still best to get them bigger, as you'll know the gender and they end up being healthier.

Good luck venturing into the world of turtles!

[Dein211]

i would make sure about the laws in your area regarding turtle speicies and sized.

anyway some of the smaller types of turtles include Maps, musks i believe are pretty small if your looking for something not quite as aquatic most wood and boxies are pretty small. i would look here
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/caresheets.htm

they have a lot of information about a lot of different types of turtles and tortoises

[sorry!]

thanks for the link and all the info guys

[Rubicon]

Being an owner of both I would recommend getting a painted turtle. Also they can be alot less temperamental. Find a place like they have here in Wisconsin. You can adopt turtles for cheap.

Here's what I have in my area:

http://www.smallscalereptilerescue.org/

You can get a perfectly healthy 4" or larger painted turtle for $25.