Turtles are one of the most popular creatures in the pet store. Many people, at some point or another, can remember owning pet turtles or knowing someone who owned pet turtles. If you are thinking of getting a pet turtle, then here is some of what you need to know to make sure that your turtle gets the best pet turtle care.
Pet turtles do best when they are kept outside. These are animals that like to hibernate during the winter months, and if they are kept inside, they won't hibernate because they won't be able to tell what time of year it is. If they fail to hibernate, they might develop liver problems. Another reason to keep pet turtles outside is that doing so enables you to create an entirely natural environment for them to live in. The more natural the environment the better pet turtle care you are giving.
If you do decide to keep your pet turtles indoors, make sure they have at least a forty gallon tank in which to move around. This is because there needs to be room for a dry land area as well as a water only area and enough room between the two for the turtle to travel comfortably. At least one third of the tank needs to be devoted to land. Some of this dry land should have direct access to rays offered by a UV light. The best way to do this is to place large and flat rocks under the lamp, to give the turtles an area on which to sun themselves. The tank needs to be kept at about eighty degrees during the day and at about seventy degrees at night.
Unfortunately, turtles are not pets that were meant to be played with. Pet turtles are more like fish and best watched through the walls of the tank. Turtles are cold blooded pets and it takes them a long time to adjust to changes in the temperature. Taking the turtle out of its nice warm tank causes quite a shock to the turtle's system, and could cause damage to the pet turtle's immune system. Proper pet turtle care dictates that your turtle's environment be as unchanging (with the exception of getting slightly colder in the winter) as possible.
If you do handle your pet turtles, make sure that you wash your hands afterwards because some turtles are carriers of salmonella. You also need to make sure to keep the turtle's environment as clean as possible. The water needs to stay as fresh as possible and all waste must be removed immediately. You might even want to invest in a water filtration system to make sure the water in the tank stays clean.
In order to give your pet turtles proper pet turtle care, make sure the turtles get twelve hours of sunlight. Get a UV lamp for your turtle tank with a timer and keep the tank a room that doesn't experience much change in its light.
Pet Turtle Care Tip #1
Turtles are members of the Reptile family and they are some of the oldest living creatures on the planet. They have been around for more than two hundred million years. This makes them as old as the dinosaurs. There are hundreds of different kinds of turtles all over the planet.
Pet Turtle Care Tip #2
Sea turtles are the most popular of all of the turtles. These are also some of the largest creatures—some sea turtles can grow to more than six feet in length and weigh hundreds of pounds. Scientists think that sea turtles are actually land creatures that went back into the water and never came out. Over time their limbs evolved to make them stronger swimmers and to keep them in the water: their front appendages are actually flippers.
Pet Turtle Care Tip #3
All turtles, even sea turtles, are air breathing creatures. While some turtles can stay under the water for hours at a time, they all must surface at least once a day to stay alive. There is one turtle, the giant turtle that only has to surface once a day to take in air. There are some studies being done to see if some species of turtle might be able to draw oxygen from their cells much like some fish use their gills to breathe.
