Turtle

[hckycoz]

does anyone here have any turtles in their aquariums? I would love to get one but I don't know much about them. Please help with a website or anything. Also where can I buy on the net? (if possible)

[Ilyena]

I only know about the RES (red-eared slider) turtle, maybe there are other turtle species more suitable that I don't know about but I somehow doubt it, but the RES get pretty big and supposedly they eat fish. I'd never put turtles in with fish, IMO they need their own aquarium and a rather large one at that. They do look cute as small and a young turtle could get by in a 10 gal but soon you'd need to upgrade to at least a 55 gal and preferably a 75 gal for just one turtle, much bigger if you have more than one. The RES I'm babysitting atm is fully grown at about 11 inches and is about 20 years old. So if you do get a turtle, make sure you are willing to give it the space and time it needs for the rest of its life.

Maybe you'll find some more helpful information here:
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/

[maxpayne_lhp]

I have 2 red eared sliders. they eat carps! or whatever they can catch! It's not a good idea to put your turtles into the aquarium, first off, they need basking place where they can dry off their shelves, secondly, their waste are told to toxic the water. Then thirdly, like what I've just said, they can have fish for tea. So if you can look up any harmless turtle for aquarium and manage to make a place for them to climb over, there you go. But As they grow large, you can encounter loss of fish, and repltiles waste a lot. So better look up in several other sites. as the TT forums or you local pet store be4 mixing the turts with the fish.

In my own opinion, it's better for you to keep turtles in their own tank!
Hope that helps, if you have any more question, just ask. We'll answer if we know ^^

[maxpayne_lhp]

For the TT forums, please click here

[MiSo]

turtles are pretty easy to care for but can get expensive.

i had a Red Eared Slider but gave him away because i couldn't properly take care of him.
for turtle care there is a 10 gallon per inch rule.
so you'd need a really large aquarium. plus they need a spot where they can get out of the water to dry and bask. aquatic turtles are extremely messy! be prepared to change the water a lot.

some ppl say turtle poo is toxic but in reality fish poo is toxic to fish also.
turtles are just more of a mess. i've kept my res with my fish for maybe 3 months and all the fish were fine... well, exept one who got eaten.

for more turtle info go here
http://www.turtleforum.com/

[maxpayne_lhp]

Not very expensive this end. I heard that somewhere in the states, you can find turtles in large quantity. So I think the price is not very high. And of course, all depends on the turtle itself.
About basking place, I don't know if I get it rite but I saw in some photos, the guy put on a driftwood or something look like that, may be floating or attached to the glass so the turts can climb over to dry out their shelves.

[Ilyena]

I don't know about other places, but in my country it is the equipment for them (especially the large tank they need) costing a lot of money, not the turtle itself (assuming we're talking aquatic turtles; land turtles are pretty expensive since they aren't found too often in shops here).

[maxpayne_lhp]

I see... but for a medium RES, you don't need a really large tank. I keep 2 of mine in the 30 gal. for over a year. And you also don't neeed equipment. As you're in Finland, you absolutely need a heater, a UV light (Ouch sorry that may be expensive), a tank and a filter. Try asking for the prices at your local petshop... if it's too unreasonable, shipping from other country may be good. What cha think?

[Ilyena]

The RES I'm babysitting over summer is actually fully grown, not medium, and I disagree that you don't need a large tank. I feel sorry for this girl for having only a 40 gal because it's painfully obvious she just doesn't have enough space to swim around in. I can't however do anything but point out this fact to the owners of the turtle and hope that they will buy her a bigger tank.

Anyway, with my last post the only intention I had was to point out the fact that keeping turtles is not a cheap hobby, especially if you aren't lucky enough to live in a place like yours. I'm not planning on getting my own turtle (not fun enough animals IMO), so there's no need for me to get any of the equipment you were talking about or importing anything, but I can tell you that if I were to buy an appropriate home with all equipment necessary for a turtle or two here, it would cost about €800-1000. IMO that's pretty expensive.

[maxpayne_lhp]

Oh I see... well Hmmm so I've been stuck them into a small home? I havent followed the stocking rules... Ouch! Do you remembere the rule? Thanks

[Ilyena]

10 gallon per inch is the rule I've heard. But I'll admit that I don't know that much about turtles, I did study up quite a bit after I agreed on taking care of this girl over summer so I could properly take care of her and that is what I'm basing my opinions on, but maybe I'm wrong and they can live just fine in smaller tanks as well. It might be worth asking some more experienced turtle owner about it.

[maxpayne_lhp]

Yea... I did tell the people at the turtle forum about the number of turtles I have and the tank that they're living in... but they may not notice that so... better tell them again.hckycoz, you should ask more over those forums...

[shev]

turtles are vertebrates.

they produce twice as much amonia as fish.

[maxpayne_lhp]

Duh, right!
Hey guys this is a video of my turtles as theu see me coming (It's too dark and blurry cause I recorded them from my junk camera) turn the speakers on!

[shev]

heh, sorry it was in the invertebrate section.

the video doesnt work on my computer.

[redpaulhus]

I get people in the store all the time wanting to buy turtles, since at about $15 they look like cheap pets.

But since (in the USA) its illegal to sell turtles smaller than 4 inches, these are good sized turtles.
We generally recommend at least a 40g breeder tank for this size, with a bigger tank (or a whole room!) for them when they grow (remember, this pet may be around 20-30 years or more).
Generally, a basic aquatic turtle setup at our store (UV a/b lighting, basking light, filter, tank, stand, screen top, etc) is probably about $300-400.

For a land turtle (tortis) it is usually a little cheaper, maybe $200-300.

Plus the tortises tend to foster much lower bacterial counts (not living in such a hot wet environment) so they are generally much better pets for homes with children.

(we also get a ton of customers in who bought the "illegal" tiny turtles at the local flea market (etc) - they always come in with no idea what the turtle truly needs, and are generally told that they can keep it in a #$%^ plastic shoebox ! )

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebI...earsliders.htm

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