Keeping Turtles as Pets

So, how do you feel about samonella?

Roger...tsk tsk tsk

gargamel, if you really do want a small pet, have you consider some other reptile, such as an iguana, or a ball python (which I have).

The ball python won't grow much more than 4-5 ft. They're the most docile of snakes and are quite popular pets. (unless snakes give you the heebie jeebies)

here's a picture of mine (her name is spotessa

I have a Beta - I love him. He is eager to see me when I feed him and he can take care of himself. I just have to clean his bowl every so often. He is pretty too!

Onyx, I love that webpage!

Thank you ma'am )

as kids , my brother and i had a frog as a pet for many years . it was easy to keep - just a good supply of flies - sometimes some minced beef -kept him/her (?) happy .
quite often we would allow the frog out into the kitchen and he'd hop around inspecting things .
one fall he got away on us after being let out in the kitchen . our mother found the frog next spring in a cupboard where it had overwintered - that was the end of it . the frog was given FREEDOM in the garden .
actually was quite an interesting pet - when rain was approaching it would climb on the top of the ladder - we didn't need to listen to the forecast !
hbg

When I was little I ate a turtle once, thinking it was a cookie (so the story goes).

That's pretty effed.

Also, salmonella is a good thing. It curbs the infant and elderly population. And if you wash your hands, it's not a big deal.

I have good news!

The Russian Tortoise can live happily in varying climbs, even indoors.



Read all about em: Russian Tortoise

Turtles are prone to all kinds of diseases when they are kept as pets, more fatal to them than you. How about a rat? Gargamel, you seem like a guy who would enjoy owning a rat. I knew someone in college with a rat and he used to take it for walks on a little leash and harness, try that with a turtle.

You raise a few good points.

Before I dive into anything I'm going to contact the Chicago Herpetological Society or the Chicago Turtle Club to learn more from people who own tortoises.

My friend owns one and her biggest problem is cleaning up piss.

I think alot depends on where you purchase your reptile. The trauma of being confined to a pet store aquarium can trigger all sorts of illness. It also depends on the species. The box turtle and aquatic turtles, it seems, need particular care and attention to diet and temperature.

And I've got plenty rats, thank you. Talk about diseases!

I've probably talked about Sally and Spot on a2k before. They were my business partner's box turtles. She's had Spot for more than 25 years, and was given Sally around 1999 by a customer at her nursery who said Sally wasn't eating. Well, her upper 'beak' was riding over her lower beak, so she clipped it a bit with nail clipper, and Sally became a happy eater again.

They stayed in our studio gallery in a box my friend made, about a foot wide and 4 feet long, with a plywood bottom and at least 12" plexiglass surrounding the plywood. (I can't remember, it could have been 16".)
They had a little "bedroom" with curtains, straw along the bottom of the box, and a french ceramic tart dish for a pond/water source. For warmth, there was the aluminum clamp lamp with I forget what watt bulb.

Sometimes she carried the box out on the back patio in the summer, but didn't let them out of the box as this all faced a busy alley, and Sally and Spot can, yes!.... run.

They ate turtle food and worms and kiwis and apples..

Sally produced a number of eggs, rushed to another friend's incubator, but they were infertile. Sally and Spot had very different patterns on their shells, so maybe turtlettes were not meant to be.
I don't remember them every being sick in the six years or so I knew them. Spot had a few sort of sluggish times, when he wasn't as active as usual, but he'd always snap out of it...

The elem. school I worked at last year had lots of animals (mostly in two classrooms). One was a tortoise (dry land turtle) who wore a diaper and lived in a dog crate. It also ate vegies off the floor in the corner of the room and had a bath every morning. That beast's pee smelled bad! Also, it was not very healthy (far as I could tell) as it was not in a natural environment.

Yeah, just from what I've read today on different websites, it's pretty clear that box turtles really need to be out in the yard in the sun.

Damnit, I want a Russian Tortoise. And by God I'll get one.

How about a rubber ducky?

I prefer to bathe with Malibu Barbie.

How about a miniature liger?

That would be




FRESH

NO
Are you ready to make a commitment for the next 70 years or so? If not, then don't get a turtle. I have two (I didn't buy either, but rather was given them by irresponsible friends.) I love my guys to death, but they are not as easy to care for as you would think. You have to worry about hibernating them, and if your in a warm climate, that may be tricky. You have to worry about them gaining adequate weight for hibernation (which means weighing them regular and tracking their weight) Captive box turtles are susceptible to a host of problems, prolapse for one. If you do decide to buy one, make sure you are using a reputable breeder and UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you ever remove a wild turtle from it's habitat. If you have an specific turtle questions you can PM me.

We have two box turtles that live here somewhere on the farm. We see them all over the place and they dont seem afraid of us after all these years. We named one Edsel because his scutum looks like a car grill, the other one is named "Schultz" because he looks like a German helmet. If they show up Theyre pretty good for breaking up the monotony of weeding, if you run into one in the garden, theyll take time and inspect all your weed clumps (I guess theyre looking for some snack). Outside of that, they dont do any tricks , and theyre not so cute like a MAine Coon cat.