Pet Turtle Care: How to Look After a Pet Turtle

If your considering getting a pet turtle or maybe you've already got one and realized they are a lot more work than you thought they would be! There are many varieties of turtles, but they can be broken down into those that prefer completely wet habitats and those that require dry habitats. Whichever kind of pet turtle you choose, you need to know how to care for your specific turtle so it can have a good quality of life.

Depending on if you have an aquatic turtle or a more land loving creature, your going to need to create different habitats and different pet turtle care steps need to be taken. Aquatic turtles obviously spend alot of time underwater and vice versa, so make sure your turtle habitat meets these requirements by having the right balance of land to water.

The Best Type Of Turtle For Your Home: Semi-aquatic turtles make excellent pets to have in your home. They need both an area to swim around in and a basking ground with plenty of sunshine (or a UV lamp) in the enclosures. The temperature of the environment needs to be carefully regulated. The water should be kept cooler than the rest of the habitat and will need to be cleaned regularly.

Life Expectancy: A lot of people forget that turtles have quite a long life expectancy, some breeds live for many decades while some can even go up to a hundred years! So make sure you get along, your friend will be around a while!

Turtle Diseases and Health: They are prone to various diseases so make sure to carefully note any changes in their behavior. Give special attention to the condition of their shell, as this is usually an indicator if something is wrong with your turtle. They need plenty of fresh vegetables to eat and a shallow bowl of fresh drinking water available to them at all times.

What They Love To Eat: Turtles are hungry little guys and they're very messy eaters! They will eat worms, small chunks of meat, and small leaves. For bigger turtles, fish, raw vegetables, frogs, bugs, consist of their main diet.

If you're having trouble getting them to eat, feed them something different or something smaller. A variety of fresh vegetables is also needed and makes up the bigger part of their diet. They may have eating problems because they're not digesting properly. Having a light for heat is essential because turtles require heat and sunlight to properly digest food and help develop their shells.

A good feeding tip is to make sure you feed them in a separate plate from their habitat, else the habitat will get very messy.

Pet Turtle Care : A Truly Unique and Interesting Pet

Pet Turtle Care

Turtles can be great pets and it's a fact that children love turtles as their pets. These animals are very fascinating. And there are several types of them too.

If you decide to take a turtle for your pet, try to learn more about these animals first. They require proper care and a certain level of attention. There are some species that can be taken cared of by humans while there are others can't be taken away from their natural habitats.

Generally speaking, there are two types of turtles that you can take home - the aquatic and the terrestrial types. Terrestrial turtles need a lot of time on land while aquatic turtles need to be in water most of the time. It is important that you know which type of turtle you've got so you can take care of it properly.

For terrestrial turtles, you have to prepare a big tank and some mud. Mud turtles need twelve hours worth of sunlight every day. If you can't take them outside, use a UV lamp instead. Terrestrial turtles also need to be in a place with a temperature of 80 degrees during the day and 70 at night. And while these pets prefer the land, they also need fresh water to drink and swim about.

As for the aquatic turtles, the common species are the painted turtles and the sliders. The sliders want swampy areas. They live near the lakes that have lots of mud. They tend to go out in the sun in broad daylight and then swim during the night to cool off. But then, they still have to spend more time submerged in the water than out in the sun. Between the sliders and the painted turtles, the latter is the specie that is a lot harder to take care of because of the special things it needs.

At this point, you should have decided on the type of turtle you want. The next thing to think about is the size of the tank you'll buy. You normally need a 40 gallon tank - or larger if you want a larger specie or if you want to take care of more than one turtle. The bigger the tank you have, the better your pet can move around in the water and over the land.

Plants are required, but you have to be sure that they're not poisonous. Don't put barks and wood chips in the tank either, as bacteria and molds might form on them. Turtles tend to munch on these things too, although their digestive tract can't handle it. Instead, add some small rocks and mud for the turtle to play on.

As for food, your pet would need berries, lettuce, and some feed sticks. Some species eat goldfish and insects too. You also have to be very particular about the water these pets drink and swim on. Use mineral or spring water instead of tap water in the tank.

The chemicals and chlorine in tap water can be very harmful to your turtle pet. Chlorine and other chemicals in the tap water can cause bacteria in their digestive systems.

PetCareGuide.Org - pet care articles and tips. Read the review of the TurtleGuideBook - turtle pet care guide.

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