Where can I get a turtle?

Question

I need a small turtle. It has to stay small. I need it for learning purposes. I am home schooled and I need it for a bio project. [[It will not be hurt or killed]] I need it soon.

Answer 1

Heck no they dont ever stay small, and no way do you have permission from anyone to do experiments on the poor creature. You would have to buy hundreds of dollars worth of supplies to keep it more then a week, and i don't approve stupid people who have to experiment on creatures, when they can just pick up a book and READ about them!

EDIT: no you can not keep a turtle in a 30 gallon if you plan on keeping it, you need at least a 50 gallon, and then later upgrade to a 75 gallon. Just in case you didnt know turtles GROW and none can be kept in less then a 50 gallon, and turtles are not simple pets and require $300 worth of supplies, and additional costs like replacement basking and uvb bulbs, replacement filter compartments, you would need to get a canister filter, they are $200 and replacement media every single month! And then you would have to clean the tank and filter EVERY week, they are a lifelong commitment, not a 6 month commitment!!!!!!!!!

Answer 2

Learning purposes for six months?  Tell mommy/teacher that it is inhumane to acquire an animal for a short period of time and then deem it useless.  You can observe an animal in the outdoors or observe a neighbor's pet.  The artificial surroundings you create for this poor turtle would hardly suffice for a proper assessment of a living animal and its surroundings.

Answer 3

go check the aquarian or the place who sell fish or search internet and see who sells it.  

Answer 4

Well you best pick something else for school project kid. Unless you wish to grow old with these guys!!!

Cause I have had TWO  red eared slider girls for 36 yrs!!! I got them formyself on my 18th b-day. Do the math and see how many yrs I have carted these guys around. The $$$$ I have spent.  I could have owned  a  small island by now.

(Plus an 8 and 5 yr old and now a 2 yr old adopted from this site, and in a pond for almost 7 yrs now)

The bigger the environment the bigger the healthier the turtle. Remember 10 gallons for every inch of turtle. I have used kiddy pools and plastic pond liners from most nurseries and worked great.

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. These turtles in captivity do not hibernate their eating may slow down some but they will not hibernate.

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, snails, crickets, flies, crayfish small frogs, dragon flies and  anything that moves only as a treat.

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.

Contact the “www.anapsid.org/societies, for a turtle vet /  rescue in your city and state.

I wish you luck.

Answer 5

First real trick is finding a turtle that can survive and thrive in a 30 gallon tank. A box turtle, which stays fairly small, needs a 40 gallon tank, or at least 36" x 12" enclosure of some sort. Turtles and tortoises require a lot of room to roam and grow. I would suggest a box turtle or Red Eared Slider since the Slider is super easy to care for, but the box turtle doesn't require water like the Slider does so it isn't as high maintenance when if comes to cleaning time (think big smelly fish tank). Now you said that we have to realize that you have to get a turtle. No, you don't. You have a 12 page report due on a living animal. Not a turtle, not even a reptile or amphibian. You could get a fish. Or a cat. Or a mouse. Or a ferret. Or a spider. Or a small snake. Or a dog. Or a bird. You WANT to get a turtle. And I don't blame you!  They are great pets, if you can handle a pet that doesn't want/need affection or attention all the time, if you can handle basically being ignored. I have a tortoise, the only time she wants to see me is when I feed her. Other than that she just lives her own life and I don't exist besides at dinner time. If there is any way you can get a 40-50 gallon tank set up in your house let me know. I will help you out. Turtles/Tortoises are very interesting to watch (at least I think so). Do you want one that requires water and swims or do you want to skip the water and do a land turtle? The Slider can grow to be 12" (females) and need a lot of room. Email me at [e-mail] and I can help you out some more. They need a lot of stuff...lights, hides, docks, sand, water, foods, etc...the start up can get pricey...

Answer 6

A lot of turtles will grow or not based on the size of their living space.  

My box turtle is only about as large as my hand (an adult sized hand) and I've had him for 8 years. So, if you need smaller than that, I would recommend a map turtle.

A lot of places aren't selling turtles anymore. You are more likely to find a water turtle, like a red-eared slider, which is very common, but they can get rather large. Ours was able to stand taller than the top of a 20 gallon tank when we put her in my father-in-laws pond. Just so you know.

Because I don't know what's in your area, I don't know where exactly to tell you to find one. I would say any store that sells fish and reptiles will probably carry turtles.

Good luck with your project.