I acquired this turtle from a girl who thought it was cute in the beginning. This poor turtle has been living in this little tank for over a month.
The little container didn't have a space for the turtle to dry off or enough water to swim in.
For the first night I put him in a bigger container and used the lid as a dry spot. Previously the turtle had no way to get dry. These turtles need a basking spot with a heat lamp and a UV lamp. They need warm water and are very dirty so need a good filtration system.
They also don't stay small. They can get to 10 inches. That requires a huge tank.
As soon as I turned on the basking light he got onto his dock and stuck his leg out.
Also, these turtles can have salmonella. I don't really have my kids handle them much, mostly when we are cleaning out the cage. Then I ensure that they are washing their hands. When we have turtles they are for watching, not handling.
I haven't named my little fellow yet. I hope he survives his early lack of proper care.
Any turtle name ideas?
When Matt was a teacher, he had two of these guys. They were quite bigger than yours...easily 7 inches long. They had a large tank. They require a lot of care, but they're so cool to watch! If you give them deep enough water to really swim in, you can put small feeder goldfish in for the turtles to hunt. Matt's whole class used to gather around the tank to watch the turtles have a feeding frenzy on fish days. His turtles were named Turbo and Scooter. We rarely held them, because they bite very hard...hard enough to break skin.
ReplyDelete