Turtle care.

So You’ve Got A Little Green Turtle & You Want To Know How To Care For It?

By

Richard Lunsford




Common Scenario: You’re sold a $15 ‘plastic lagoon’ bowl with a little palm tree, a little green turtle with red patches behind the eyes, & perhaps a little so-called ‘turtle food’ & told the turtle will grow to fit the bowl & live out its life there.

For starters you've been grossly misinformed by a man who probably broke a Federal law by selling a turtle whose carapace (top part of the shell) was under 4 inches (the 4” Law) for purposes other than research or education.

Do not worry that the FBI or even the Dept. of Natural Resources are about to kick in your door. The latter might get him, but it's highly unlikely anyone will bother you.

Many of us advise you do not buy from such people because it encourages the ignorant to remain in business, harming uncounted turtles. What this guy did is comparable to selling people St. Bernard puppies claiming you can keep them for life in a small pet carrier feeding nothing but beanie-weenies.

The small plastic cage is garbage; you may be able to use it to hold live insects and what-not you're going to feed the turtle. That's about it.

Now: clear your mind. It is time to learn from scratch. I wish you’d researched before buying, but let’s get you started.

Questions You Must Answer:

1.) What Kind of Turtle is it? Likely a red-eared slider (RES for short). This is a bright green turtle with a red ‘jelly bean’ shape behind each eye. Hatchlings are about 50 cent piece sized, adults somewhere between a milk saucer and a dinner plate. Keeping it in a small container will not limit its size; only malnutrition and poor health will do that, and not reliably or predictably. The turtle may live over 20 years. Note: Only follow the following advice if you have a red-eared slider, yellow-belly slider, cooter or painted turtle! A map turtle is also cared for this way but cleanliness is even more critical. Box turtles, snappers, soft shells, mud & musk turtles, tortoises & foreign turtles are less commonly sold by the ignorant. Make sure you don’t have a box turtle or tortoise, since they drown in an enclosure like I’m teaching you to make.

2.) What Size Enclosure can I afford? RES are basking turtles; they spend a lot of time sitting on logs taking in the sun, and a lot of time in the water. A hatchling RES deserves at an absolute minimum a 10 gallon aquarium, and preferably at least a 20 gallon long. An adult male RES needs at last a 55 gallon tank or larger for indoor housing, & a large female at least a 75 gallon. You should consider a 125 gallon aquarium for a female or over 2 male adult RES. Read: Setting Up Your First Enclosure.

3.) How much Water & what Heater? For a hatchling, fill that tank about ½ to 2/3’rd full. You need a submersible aquarium heater with a thermostat (so you can set a specific temperature) and set the temp. about 80 degrees. See that most of the tank is covered so the tank air stays fairly warm, especially at night when the light’s off. Put some driftwood & synthetic rocks (not abrasive concrete or lava rock!) & artificial plants (plastic, not silk) in the tank so the turtle can sit resting near the surface without having to choose between deep water & basking. This makes the deeper water workable. Read about Submersible Heaters (Ebo-Jager is well-recommended; Tronic’s okay, too).

4.) What Basking Spot? You will need a piece of driftwood that juts out of the water enough for the turtle to easily crawl out of the water and bask. You do not want to just pile up rocks because that takes away from the turtle’s swimming room. Read about basking options at: The Basking Spot.

5.) What Lighting? You need a basking light to shine onto the basking spot & keep its temperature around 85 degrees. A regular incandescent bulb (60 or 75 watt bulb) in an inexpensive lamp from Wal-mart should do fine. Ideally you should get a special kind of fluorescent light bulb that produces UV-B, a type of radiation that helps turtles metabolize vitamin D3 so their bodies can process calcium. The one most use is the ReptiSun 5.0. It costs about $40 (cheaper online), and after 6 months should be replaced. Note: UV-B light can’t penetrate glass. Note #2: the basking & UV-B lights should be turned off at night, providing a regular day/night cycle. Cheap timers from Wal-mart are wonderfully convenient. Read about Lighting (Basking/Heat and UV-B) and UV-B light Products.