General Care Discussion :: Turtles turtles turtles...

[Bzoink]

Hi, new here. *waves*

Anyways. Reason I signed up was to get some opinions. I've always liked turtles, never got one though cos... I dunno. Seemed like they were a little expensive (tanks and what not). So today when I saw on craigslist a free turtle tank, with heater, blahblahblah all that stuff, I was kinda like WHOMG!! Guy's also giving away his turtle of 4 years.

Butttt... The tank is only 10 gallons. The turtle is 6 inches. On this site I've read how 10 gallons min. is recommended for every inch of shell... So there's the problem...

Should I get the turtle? Look into a new tank? Does it really need a bigger tank? Maybe get a rubbermaid...? The ad on craigslist said they cleaned the tank biweekly and that the turtle was very low maintenance... But reading up it seems like they need a much much bigger tank.

*puffs* Yeah. I emailed the guy saying I was interested but still researching soo... gimme some opinions on what to do!

[xsavingsaturdayx]

if i was you, i would get a rubbermaid container.

but thtas just me

[Bzoink]

The thing about the rubbermaid container though, would I need to buy like... a new heater and what not to suit the size of it? I own fish and I know that once you upgrade the tank you need a better filter and what not to suit the size, but turtlesss is new territory so yeah I dunno-_- I'm new to this XD

[jenaero]

I'd go ahead and look into what types of containers you could use in place of a tank. If you don't take him, some know-nothing person is going to take him and keep him in that 10gal thinking it's ok because that's what he's in already....but that's just me.

[missibsu]

I would be very leary of the health and condition of the turtle if he has been living in a 10 gallon tank. My guess is that the person does not know proper care for the guy and who knows what other kind of health problems you could be getting

On the other hand, you are doing your research, you know it's going to cost you some money. It would be a great rescue! Sounds like the little guy needs you!

A rubbermaid container would be a cheap start up option, you could go ahead and purchase the larger filter, heater, etc that is going to be needed while you look into a more permanent housing situation. Since you already know about craigslist, you could get lucky with a good deal on a used tank as well.

[z-chic]

I just rescued a 6" slider from someone that had him in a 20 gallon...my guess is they rarely cleaned it because he had sludge in the crevices of his shell. Needless to say he is being treated for shell rot now. Like others said. The heater and filter probably won't be big enough for a new enclosure...and if you have the room I would suggest a stock tank (like you would get at a farm store) Here is where our RES Steve is living now, in the spring he'll upgrade to an outdoor pond.

[Bzoink]

Well sorry guys the turtle wasn't given to me:(

I was emailed saying that he gave it away to a school as a class pet, hopefully they'll care good for them:)