Soft shell turts.

[kevinb]

I was wondering of anyone has any experience with spiny and florida soft shell turtles. I'm really interested in getting one, but I don't really know anything about them, so if someone could point me to a good caresheet or give some first hand accounts that would be great. I mainly want to know what size enclosure ill need, what to feed, and what would be a good filtration system for the enclosure.

Thanks all.

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[kevinb]

After doing some reading I'm seeing 75-90 gallon for a male. But females need hundreds.

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[Christine]

Thats pretty much all i know about them is they get BIG lol. they tend to be a bit nasty when they get larger.Here is a list of caresheets. Austins turtle forum would be able to help you.

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/caresheets.htm

[aldebono]

The Florida ones get huge. The wild ones here around UF are very friendly and VERY hungry. They are nearly as big as a car tire (trying to find something for size comparison).

[XSReptiles]

Florida softshells are the largest softshell turtles in North America. They are known to reach up to 24'' in lenght. Even some of the larger spiny softshells reach 18''. I'd recommand you look into a chinese softshell they are considerably smaller and readily available online.

[el8ch]

I have a Florida Soft Shell and they are a ton of work. Currently he is 3 years old and is in a 125g aquarium. Filteration is key and I am running two Eheim canisters on both sides of the tank to limit on the amout of upkeep, but there is still a ton due to the fact that they aren't the cleanest of eaters. For substrate they can use normal aquarium rocks as adults, but when they are younger they should have sand or something softer to prevent them from damaging their shell (they burrow like crazy). Temperature is important (as it is with all animals) and the water is kept at 80 degrees - I use multiple heaters to prevent hot spots in the tank. I feed mine a combination of specialized turtle food, meal worms, shrimp, live feeders, freeze dried fruit and potatoes.

They have a ton of personality and a great to look at, but are not a pick up and hold kind of turtle. As a defence mechanism they have a long neck and their head can reach back to their tail to ward off attacking predators... or your hand.

If you can commit to the care and high cost of keeping one of these animals they are great and offer a lot of viewing enjoyment. Otherwise I would not suggest them.

[kevinb]

After looking at other species I'm kinda thinking a diamondback terrapin would be better for me, sure they need brakish water, but they don't get nearly as big. Does anyone have one?

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[XSReptiles]

DBT are great highly active and inquistive turtles. The CB ones live in fresh water just fine and males are smaller than females. Check out the kingsnake.com ads they are very common.

Xavier

[ReptilesK2]

I have a couple diamondback terrapins. They don't need brackish water if they're cb and raised in freshwater.

Here's a couple of mine!

[kevinb]

I heard they tend to be more colorful in brackish water, not sure if its true or not. What are you keeping yours in?

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