Good Turtle For Beginners?

Question

I love turtles and i deffenitly want to adopt one. I do relize that no turtle is easy. So, is there a turtle (Land or Water) that is good for beginners? If so why is it?

Answer 1

i like that you said "adopt" as opposed to "buy". very cool of you if you do indeed get a turtle through adoption.

for water turtles i'd go with a painted turtle, cousin to the red ear slider and yellow belly slider. a southern painted stays the smallest.

for land turtle go with a three toed box turtle. make sure it is captive bred. they have great personalities and are not too hard to care for if you have the time.

for a tortoise i would suggest a russian tortoise. they are readily availiable in the pet trade and are considered beginner torts.

stay away from sulcattas and red ead slider babies. both get very large and need tons of room and care. :)

Answer 2

water turtles require this $$$$$, and

I have had 2 sliders for 36 yrs now plus a 7 yr old and a 5 yr old. This is how I have taken care of them for 36 yrs. Great pets.

I have had them in a stand alone 150gal pond from sears..for about 6 yrs now..

Here is some important and a lot of info. If he or she is small get feeder guppies or small feeder goldfish, frozen brown worms ..or live brown worms from a fish store. petco and or petsmart do not carry live worms..

Red-eared sliders, Gender especially juveniles, can be difficult to s*x. Gender in adults is determined by external physical characteristics and behavior. In Comparison to females, males have longer fore claws (which are use in courtship), a longer tail length, a longer distance from the body to the vent opening, a tail that is thicker at the base and generally a smaller body size and shell length. Turtles are considered juveniles till after 5 yrs old.

Their Home

The minimum enclosure size for hatchling re-eared slider should be a 20-gallon aquarium minimum. As a general rule, the water depth should be at least 2 times the turtle's length, with several extra inches of air space between the surface of the water to the top edge of the tank to prevent escapes. So if your turtle is 4” around  he needs at least 10 to 12” of water to swim. For ONE 4 to 5 inch long sliders, the recommended minimum enclosure surface area is 50 gal plus tank with an extra square foot for each additional turtle.

What to Feed

In the wild, re-eared sliders eat both animal and plant sources of food. However, juveniles are mainly meat eaters but still love the greens.

In captivity, the diet for juveniles should consist  of a commercial aquatic turtle pellet and small feeders guppies or goldfish. Hatchlings and juveniles should be fed on a daily basis; however, they should be offered no more than they will consume during a single session to minimize water contamination. The diet can be supplemented with live fish of an appropriate size (guppies, goldfish), tubiflex worms and earthworms. Plant matter, in the form of chapped leafy greens or finely chapped mixed vegetables, can be offered once weekly but may not be readily accepted until they grow older.

Fill tank with approx 20 feeder guppies and or 10 to 15 small goldfish. you’ll know when to replenish the live food supply. just count what’s left and then fill it up again..Get a cuttle bone from the bird dept and drop in the water for added calcium. Hopefully they may eat it and that’s what you want.

For adults, 20% of the diet may consist of some commercial turtle pellets. Plus 80% of their diet is fresh alive fish to catch in their water which also gives them exercise when trying to catch to eat. Adults should be fed greens kale, romaine, red leaf lettuce, mustard greens, dandelion, watercress, parsley. Swiss chard, shredded carrots, shredded squash, thawed frozen mixed vegetables and miscellaneous fruits. Adults can be fed every two to three days. NO iceberg or cabbage!!

Vital Statistics

Total Body length: 5-8" average, up to 12 inches max.

Life span: 15-25+ years

Males have the longer foreclaws..

Water quality and Filtration

Sliders are voracious feeders and tend to foul the water quickly with their messy eating habits and frequent defecation. Therefore, a system needs to be in place for good water quality. Partial to full water changes can be performed. Many different filter systems are available ..

Common Health Problems

If you take proper care of your red-eared slider by providing excellent housing, nutrition, lighting, and heating, it is unlikely to ever become ill or injured. However, it’s still important to familiarize yourself with ailments common to sliders so that you can quickly identify them in your own slider, should it become ill. The following are some of the most common medical problems among red-eared sliders.

Fungal Infections

“Fungal infections are fairly common among red-eared sliders, especially younger ones. If you notice what looks like a light layer of cotton on your slider’s shell or eyes or in its mouth, this is most likely some form of fungal infection. Although their appearance can be alarming, most infections in their early stages are fully treatable at home. If a fungal infection remains untreated, however, it can spread across the entire body and cause serious harm to your turtle.

To treat a mild fungal infection, immerse your red-eared slider in a warm saltwater bath for about half an hour each day, using a soft sponge to gently scrub the infected regions. You can also treat patches of fungus with topical applications of a mild antiseptic, such as povidone-iodine. As long as the problem isn’t severe, you should notice signs of recovery within a day or two, and a full recovery in about 10–14 days.

If your turtle has a persistent fungal infection that home treatment isn’t curing, take it to the vet for treatment. Several medications are available that can address a fungal infection if it hasn’t spread too far.”

Shell Rot. First make a dry box to keep the turtle in, shell rot needs water to grow.

Keep it warm and give it plenty of light.

Scrub the shell gently with a toothbrush and water.

Let the turtle swim for about 20 minutes a day in something other than his pond..clean water.

1-2 times a day take a cotton ball apply Hydrogen Peroxide to it then to his shell. It'll start bubbling which means its cleaning it. it. DO NOT get it in his eyes.

Then clean the shell and apply providone-iodine solution to the shell, coat the shell and don't clean it off until he is ready to swim the next day.

** Keep this up for several weeks and it should go away. . MOST important !!! TOSS in a bird cuttle bone in the water for calcium. it will dissolve real slow and if they eat it that’s fine!!

Respiratory Infections

“Slider turtles and other aquatic species are susceptible to respiratory infections. Most respiratory infections that can affect sliders are mild and easily treatable in their early stages, but there are also some particularly virulent infections that can kill a turtle very quickly without veterinary attention. Sliders usually develop respiratory infections when their tank is too cold.

Symptoms of an infection include a runny nose, wheezing, lopsided swimming (an ailing lung changes the turtle’s buoyancy), lethargy, and a refusal to eat. If you identify the illness in its early stages, you may be able to treat it by removing the sick slider from its quarters into a new, clean tank (especially if you keep multiple sliders, since the majority of respiratory infections are contagious) and keeping it a few degrees warmer than normal. Warmth is the most crucial factor in treating respiratory infections in the home. If the condition persists for more than a few days or worsens, bring your slider to your veterinarian, who will treat the infection with antibiotics.”

Contact the “herpetologicalsocieties.com“.

Answer 3

I'd suggest either Red Eared Sliders or Painted turtles for a beginner water turtle.  Keep in mind if you get a slider that they get huge and likewise will need a huge tank (think 100 or so gallons).  

I'd suggest either a three-toed box or an eastern box for a land turtle.  Both are some of the hardier box turtles.  There tends to be a lot of regulation when it comes to box turtles, though, (more so for easterns then three-toed) so make sure you check out your state laws before you get one.  I wouldn't suggest Ornates (on the fragile side) or Asian box turtles (hard to take care of/ not very good beginner).  I'm not sure about the care of Florida box turtles, but from what I've seen they tend to be on the more expensive side so depending on your budget you may just want to avoid those, too.

For Tortoises I'd suggest a Russian.  They are hardy and easy to care for and they are some of the more personable tortoises; plus they don't get much bigger then a box turtle.  Like someone else above me said stay far away from Sulcattes.  They get to be extremely huge (around 200 pounds), and they tend to be destructive (think what 200 pounds ramming into a wall will do to it).

I don't suggest buying from turtlesale.com at all (in fact I've only seen people suggest it as a good idea on this site).  If you go into any serious turtle forums they'll tell you the exact same thing.  I can't count how many horror stories I've read about people recieving nothing but boxes of dead baby turtles and the company giving them the run around untill the people finally gave up trying to make the company follow it's own guarantee.

Answer 4

A red ear slider (Which is a water turtle) is a good beginner turtle. They are not very high maintenance. They are also very playful, active, and cute. You  can adopt one online at www.turtlesale.com for only 6.99.

I just bought 2 Red Ear Sliders from www.turtlesale.com, which is by the way the best place to adopt one from. And they are VERY healthy, active, and playful. And turtlesale.com has this policy: "if for any reason whatsoever your turtle dies within 2 days of being shipped, we will send you a new turtle free of cost." Hope this helps!

~Owner of 3 red ear sliders + petsitter for 2 common snappers.

Answer 5

land turtles are easier than water turtles and they're more fun

Answer 6

A dead one.