My daughter just got one of those little bitty turtles?

Question

what are they called? (i know that they are turtles, lol. what kind)

can it get big?

if so how can we make sure it does?

and what kind of environment should we give it in its little tank?

thanks in advance for all your help.

Answer 1

Oh boy I hope your ready ...http://www.flickr.com/photos/29035692@N0...

Sliders, cooter, painted, map, yellow bellied all are basically the same and require the same basic care.  I have had my 2 slider  girls for 36 yrs. Plus an 8 and 5 yr old and now a 2 yr old adopted from this site.. Been in a pond for almost 7 yrs now. Got them on my 18th birthday! What a long lasting gift!

The bigger the environment the bigger the healthier the turtle. A 55 tank. Walmart has a 55 gallon tank with hood and light and filter, yuou would still need a reptile light UVA/UVB...

Did you know that they need to bask under a reptile light UVA/UVB for 8 to 10 hrs a day for the vitamin D that they need to grow. So that means getting a turtle dock also.

Leave the heater on 75 to 78 degrees always.

Their water needs to be clean otherwise they get sick easily from dirty water cause they p**p allot.

Total Body length: 5-8" average, up to 12 inches max. Life span: 15-25+ years

Males have the longer front nails and are used in mating. And are considered mature at about 5 yrs old. You can’t start sexing till about  3” across.

You need a good filter system! Gravel larger than they can swallow.

You need to feed them feeder guppies, goldfish or minnows for protein and calcium daily drop 20 or so in the tanks and watch them disappear in a few days!

This way when they swim for their dinner they get exercise also!

They sleep at the bottom of rivers, streams. lakes or ponds or your tank to avoid predators like coyotes,  foxes, owls, hawks, possums, raccoons and even some wide mouth bass.

TOSS in a bird cuttle bone in the water for calcium. it will dissolve real slow and if they eat it that’s fine!!

They can have garden worms, meal worms, crickets, flies, crayfish small frogs, dragon flies and  anything that moves!

They need leafy greens Romaine, Butter lettuce. (Iceberg and cabbage are bad for them, any other leafy greens will do) for vitamin A that they need at least 3 to 4 times a week.

You probably already know that they get sick easily, shell rot, respiratory sickness, lopsided swimming, coughing, blowing bubbles from their nose, Swollen cloudy eyes means lacking in Vitamin A. Which we all need for good eyes. Google ‘vegetables with Vitamin A.

I wish you luck.

Answer 2

All turtles are "little bitty" when they're young, you should have learned what kind of turtle it was before you bought it and then researched the breed to see what it would look like when it grows up, how big it will get, and what size cage it will need. That in my opinion is irresponsible pet ownership.

Answer 3

Most likely you have a red-eared slider(is it green with a red stripe on either side of its face?) which grows to about 12 inches long and needs lots of room to swim, like a pond or at minimum a 75 gal although a 125 would be better. They are very active. It needs UV bulbs a varied diet and good filtration. Look up Red eared sliders on the net. I'll reiterate that I don't know what it is but that is what most people have...can you post a pic?

Answer 4

Well those little itty bitty turtles are babies and heck yeah they will grow, they'll grow up to 12 inches sometimes more,You need to have this setup, it costs at least $300, and is a regular setup.

************ This is a setup for a red eared slider the most common type of turtle, they get up to 12 inches, but you will see them as babies at a store commonly, so know that they will grow very big**************

You will need to get a 50 gallon starter tank and upgrade to a 75 gallon later on when your turtle is over 6 inches...If you can not get that big of a tank right now then for now you can use a huge rubbermaid container filled up with clean warm water 5/6 of the way. The water should be 75-82F, that can be achieved by buying a water heater at the petstore, along with a water filter. Water filters that are best are canister filters, like the Rena xp3 filter which costs $200, but filters very well. Do buy a filter please, even a cheap one at $25, is better then none at all, since turtles are extremely messy and p**p-ful (haha). The bottom of the tank should be bare, no gravel because they could choke on that mistaking it for food. On top of the water you need 3 things, 1. a basking dock ( buy a large size zoomed basking dock). 2. you 100% need to buy a basking lamp+bulb, you buy them separatly, then s***w the bulb in ( 50 watts) and shine it on the basking dock over a mesh hood( cut a hole out of it and place the light there!). 3. This is very important, you need a uvb light. It is a long thin light, you need to get the actual lamp+ the long skinny bulb. Reptosun 5.0 is the best bulb( together costs $55). Shine that onto the basking dock as well. Turtles need these together because they use the uva for heat, so they stay warm ( the basking site should be 90-95F, not colder) and they need the uvb rays to metabolize calcium and vitamin d3 for a stronger shell ( like you need it for your bones!) The diet for the turtle should be reptomin pellets ( and other nutricuos pellets!) crickets, mealworms, bloodworms, shrimp, and krill. All of this is found dead at the petstore!;) They also need vegetation, get kale, mustard greens, romaine lettuce, and collard greens. Drop all of the food in the tank once a day, and remove any leftover bits after a few hours. By the way ALL of the protien food ( dead food, that was alive once) should be dusted with a calcium supplement ( powder) and you need to get a cuttlebone found in the bird aisle of the petstore and drop it in the water for him to knaw on, keep it there for a while (month) until he eats all of it, then get another. Once all of these things are done your turtle will be pretty happy!

Answer 5

yep i also think it might be a red eared slider.They grow pretty big and are very fragile so if you want it to live a long life and be healthy you are probably going to have to spend a lot of money on a big tank a basking area,food,heating lamp...And if you play with it it could ,die if your daughter is very young i woldnt reccomend her to take care of it,you also have to keep an eye on their water temperatures and like almost everything!!!I had 2 babies and they died after 3 months after- i spent a lot of money on them :(

Answer 6

Red eared sliders are very cheap and many people have them they have red on the side of their head that is how you can tell if that is it. If it is a red eared slider they can get pretty big when full grown.

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/ca...

http://www.wnyherp.org/care-sheets/turtl...

http://home.earthlink.net/~rednine/slide...

Your tank should probably be a bit bigger if you do have this kind of turtle you should probably have 10 gallons for every inch of turtle so if it is a male 70 to 90 gallons when full grown and female probably 80 and higher when full grown and the bigger the better.

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/re...

http://redtailboa.net/forums/turtle-terr...

http://www.paw-talk.net/forums/f90/red-e...

Answer 7

Believe it or not, those itty bitty turtles (Red ear sliders) that cost about $5 to begin with.. turn out to cost 20 times their initial cost.  A "little" tank is nothing close to what they require. Those turtles need a minimum (as a hatchling, bigger for adults), a 20 gallon filtered tank. The filter should be one suitable for a 40+ gallon tank. And it should be able to filter the bottom of the tank as well. They need UVA and UVB lights (nightglo-dayglo lights are NO good) with a temperature set around 78'. They need a floating dock or a rock to be able to climb out of the water and bask on. Basking lights should be around 90'. They need deeper water, however it is not recommended to add any rocks or gravel at the bottom of the tank because it hides dangerous bacterias and a lot of uneaten food and waste. Their diet shouldn't just be pellets, you can feed small feeder fish (guppies,minnows, goldfish are good) as well. You can also put in green leafy veggies (carrot tops, romaine, bok choy etc) but shouldn't be their main diet. Small turtles need food high in protein so lean more to feeder fish and pellets high in protein. Also the veggies should be sprinkled with vitamin D3 and it can be left on their floating dock/rock. I know the pet stores/vendors that sell those little turtles tell you everything you want to hear "They will never grow to be larger than the tank they're in." "They only need pellets." "They don't grow to be large." Truth is, those turtles will grow as much as they are destined to be from birth which can be up to 12-16 inches. If they are left in a small tank with no proper lighting their carpace (shell) will grow to be deformed. They will go off feeding and die. Also, those little turtles carry salmonella and should be supervised around your daughter if she is young, she should wash her hands after touching the turtle and the areas the turtles go on should be washed with antibacterial soap or a bleach/water mixture. Good luck!