The Truth About Pet Turtles
- Aug 9, 2018
- 2 min read
In my continuing series about pet misconceptions, today I am going to talk about turtles. There are a lot of types of turtles and tortoises. So to begin with there are different needs and habitats depending on what you own (or plan to own). This means that the basic turtle care information is already possibly inaccurate depending on the species you are purchasing. The focus of this blog post will be aquatic turtles (like red-eared and yellow-bellied sliders), as they are commonly sold as pets.
I have never known anyone that has had a turtle as a pet. I am not sure how common it is in Canada, but supposedly it is quite common in the United States. People will sell turtles on the side of the road and purchasers will be unaware that the tiny turtles they are buying will grow a lot and have specific needs.
As with my rabbit blog post, this post is inspired by a YouTube video that I watched. Tyler Rugge rescued a turtle that had been kept in terrible conditions for a long period of time, with no awareness on the part of the owners about what the turtle actually needed. You can the watch the video here. Essentially, it was amazing that the turtle was even still alive.
I believe that most pet owners do not intend to mistreat their pets. The people that owned Tyler's turtle likely were not even completely aware of how terrible the situation was. However, this once again highlights the importance of being a responsible pet owner and doing your research prior to taking ownership of an animal that will rely on you for its survival. That said, I will address a few of the things to keep in mind with an aquatic pet turtle.
First of all, turtles require a lot of space. It is recommended that turtles are given at the very least 10 gallons (~38 litres) per inch of their size. This means that a fully-grown slider turtle could potentially need a 120 gallon (~454 litre) tank as a bare minimum.
For reference: behind Tyler is the turtle's new 125 gallon tank. That is not all of it. They are very large, and many people therefore do not actually have the space in their home to properly house a full-grown pet turtle.
Second, aquatic turtles need both wet and dry parts to their tank. The dry part is so that they can come out of the water to bask in the light and rest. The water is for them to swim in as an aquatic animal will want to do. However, turtles also need very good filtration in their tanks or the water will get very dirty, very quickly.
Finally, keep in mind that turtles need ultraviolet light and a good, varied diet that includes fresh fruits and vegetables and provides all of the required nutrients (like calcium and vitamins).
Turtles are pretty cute animals that can make great pets. However, be aware of the space and other care requirements of your specific type of turtle before you commit to taking it into your home.
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