Pet Turtles

[Bravotwozero]

Just wondering if any JC members have pet Turtles or any experience with pet Turtles. I've acquired 2 pet Turtles and am basically after some info in regards to keeping them happy and healthy. What do they eat? How often should I feed them? What are good things to put in to an aquarium? Rocks, plants, stuff for them to hide in etc etc.

Any help would be great!

[VT-565]

Time to get technical.

Are they 'turtles' or 'tortoises'? There is a difference.

I'll put my left one on that you have the latter.

Their enclosure will dictate their size as they will usually slow down on growth if they feel their enclosure is too small. They eat shrimp mainly, you can buy that freeze dried sh*t from the pet store (most convenient) or you can feed them little pieces of raw prawn. They don't like the cold (they are reptiles as you know) or rapid changes in temperature, there are a squillion different types of tortoise, but they do like to have somewhere to get out of the water from time to time, another thing, don't let their shell dry out, they should be able to regulate this themselves, but if you have them out on the grass, keep them wet. Keep the tank as clean as you can, when they get bigger, their turds do too, so keep that in mind.
Good luck.

[Bravotwozero]

They are fresh water long neck Turtles.

[Emackulation]

We bought turtle pellets from the pet store, they have vitamins and stuff to keep them healthy and strong.

[VT-565]

lol at pellets. I know they exist, but that would be like feeding your kids those crap LCM bars for breakfast lunch and dinner he he he

Long necks? The advice I offered in my first post stands then.
They are cool animals, we had a dinnerplate turtle for near on 14 years before it died one winter. Got it the size of a 50c piece, died the size of....well, a dinnerplate. lol

Have fun.

[Bravotwozero]

So you have a pet Turtle? What do you have in the aquarium? Do you put plants in there? Will they eat the plants? Any other info you can give me?

[Stressball]

I'll put my left one on that you have the latter.

Try feeding it that

[MEANVY]

The missus got me a turtle last christmas, i actually got it sometime in february cos i was away and she gave me a ring to tell me she got him and he was looking pretty sluggish, i had a bit of a think and realised she had the aircon going and he was cold blooded. he was fine after that :P
But we feed him pretty much anything, prawns, worms, fish, bugs and occasionally some dried pellets from the pet shop. don't worry about getting a filter that puts oxygen into the water, the turtles don't need it! get a powerful one that just sucks the water through a filter and spits it back out. i'll take some happy snaps of mine tonight for ya....

[VT-565]

Had a tortoise. Well, we used to say he was a turtle, but technically, tortoise.
He was an awesome pet, had a real character about him.
We used to feed him dried shrimp most of the time, with some VERY lean roo meat or prawn meat every now and then.

Didn't have plants in his tank, but that's not saying you cant. I'd honestly put plastic one in there incase the real ones you pick might be toxic to them.

Just make sure they have somewhere to get out of the water (not the tank lol) and you should be right. They're pretty basic. But as I said earlier, they don't like the cold, so depending on where you are, you might have to look at a heater. Maybe talk to someone at a petshop nearby too.

[MEANVY]

So you have a pet Turtle? What do you have in the aquarium? Do you put plants in there? Will they eat the plants? Any other info you can give me?

funny you should say that....just went home for lunch and for the first time ever the turtle was biting the leaves off one of his plants. never seen him do it before until today.
i gave him a prawn so he should be sorted

[Panama]

if you are in WA you need a license, and you need a suitable enclosure that they cannot escape from, and you need an infra red emmiting light and a uv light for them to sunbake under.

there are hefty fines for keepint reptiles without a valid lisence. i would be careful about that no matter what state your in it's worth checking out.

the local rangers should be able to give you a list of what they eat, and how to obtain a license if required.

[Bravotwozero]

if you are in WA you need a license, and you need a suitable enclosure that they cannot escape from, and you need an infra red emmiting light and a uv light for them to sunbake under.

there are hefty fines for keepint reptiles without a valid lisence. i would be careful about that no matter what state your in it's worth checking out.

the local rangers should be able to give you a list of what they eat, and how to obtain a license if required.

I'm not in W.A and you can own a Turtle in Victoria without a license. I have a pretty big aquarium that has a uv light in it so no problems there. I'm just not sure what I should put in the tank to make it liveable I guess. And what food or how much I should feed them. Yeah I'll go see someone at a pet shop but thought I'd ask here anyway.

[naf33n]

i have had my turtle for 11 years, first few years in a pond out the back but now he is in a 5 foot tank. cant have anything in the tank as they will just destroy it, even plastic plants.

just a covered area, a rock, and a light, thats it.

i clean my tank when ever it get dirty(usually every couple of months) and fill it up again with normal untreated water from the garden hose, and i have never tested the ph level or any crap like that.

i feed it turtle food, which is like lttle pellets, and it has to be a certain brand as he is a picky little ****.

and every now and then i let it have a cruise around the back yard.

also he is not too fussed about live food, if he does not catch it in the first hour he gives up, so now i have fish that he doesnt want to eats.


this is him in his first day out of the pond, he no longer has moss on him since he has been in a filtered enviroment