How to take care of my pet turtles?

turtles
Palahniuk asked:

I received two turtles as a b-day gift: a black one with yellow belly, and a green one with black dots on the back. They gave them to me in a fish tank, food (little kind-of shrimps) and anti-chlorine; but they never said how often do I have to feed them, if I have to grind the little shrimps before I feed them, how often do I have to change the water, etc. Any tips?



Comments (4)    Posted in Reptiles    

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4 Responses to 'How to take care of my pet turtles?'

  1. madsnakeman - October 19th, 2009 at 6:07 am

    I would feed them every other day. I personally use turtle pellets. But if you use the shrimp, break it into small pieces. Watch how much they eat. Too much will just dirty the water. Change out the water weekly, or get a good filter. Turtles are pretty easy to care for. Also, I’ve raised several dozen turtles and have never bothered with the anti-chlorine. Regular tap water doesn’t bother them like it would fish, and can actually help keep the bacteria level down. Good luck!

  2. ♪♫ Steph ♫♪ - October 19th, 2009 at 7:30 pm

    call the petstore you got them from. it wont ost anything. they will help.

  3. hermielove* - October 21st, 2009 at 5:56 pm

    put your turtle in a diff tank to feed them, so the water won’t get so dirty, feed each of them about 3 pellets, and one shrimp each, and maybe if you cut the shrimp in half, it will be easier for the turtle to eat

  4. Adodoo N - October 23rd, 2009 at 7:07 am

    Feeding

    • Tetra Reptomin
    • Zoo Med’s Aquatic Turtle Food
    • Exo Terra
    • Wardley’s Reptile Premium Sticks
    • HBH Turtle Bites

    Frozen/Canned (For treats)
    • Spirulina-enriched Brine Shrimp
    • Bloodworms
    • Plankton
    • Krill
    • Zoo Med’s Can O’Crickets, Grasshoppers, or Meal Worms

    Live Foods (Carnivorous)
    • Aquatic Snails/Apple Snails/Water Snails
    • Crickets (Gut-Loaded)
    • Earthworms, Night Crawlers
    • Ghost Shrimp
    • Guppies or Rosey (no goldfish they are too fatty and have very little nutritional value)
    • Mealworms
    • Pinhead Crickets (for smaller turtles)
    • Slugs
    • Wax Worms, Super Worms

    **be careful about Wild-Caught foods, they can carry parasites that can be transferred to your turtle. Freezing Wild-Caught foods for a month will help to kill off some parasites.

    Fruits (small amounts for treats only)
    • Apples
    • Bananas
    • Cantaloupe/Common Melon
    • Figs
    • Grapes (remove skin so it’s easier for them to pick at)
    • Mango
    • Melon
    • Papaya
    • Pear
    • Tomato
    • Strawberries
    • Water Melon (Feed rarely)

    **should be cut up in small, bite-size or match-like sticks that will be easy for the turtle to bite into and not choke on.

    Vegetables
    • Beans
    • Beetroot
    • Carrots
    • Squash
    • Sweet Potato [cooked - boiled/ steamed/baked]
    • Peas
    • Pumpkin
    • Zucchini

    Greens & Other Leafy Products
    • Collards Greens
    • Dandelion Greens
    • Kale
    • Mustard leaves
    • Radish leaves
    • Red Leaf Lettuce
    • Romaine Lettuce
    • Turnip Greens

    **Stay away from Spinach. Make sure to cut the veggies in bite-size or match-like sticks so your turtle can eat them easily. Iceberg lettuce is good filler, but contains little/no nutritional value!

    Aquatic Plants
    • Anacharis
    • Duckweed
    • Hornwort
    • Water Hyacinth
    • Water Lettuce
    • Water Lily

    This is for one

    Eggshells are high in calcium and my guys and gals love them rather then cuttlebone

    Hatchlings up to 3-4 inches
    once a day
    1-2 pellets, treat of protein, offering of plant matter, small 2 cm block of cuttlebone every 3 days

    Sub Adults 4-8 inches
    Feed every 1-2 days
    2- 3 pellets, protein
    large plant section
    cuttlebone 3-4 cm every 3-4 days

    Adult 8 inches or larger
    feed every 2-3 days
    3-4 pellets, protein- medium amount ex….couple of greens dandelion leaves
    whole cuttlebone.

    Tank Setup
    you will need a thermostat which is a heater that turns itself off when the water reaches the right temp. and turns itself back on when the water gets colder. dont get a heater without the self turn off and on thing you might forget it and cook the turtles! you will also need a basking area were you turtle may sleep and that area should have a 10.0 uv lamp. you may buy a filter if u need 1 to help cleaning and an air stone which releases bubbles not because they breathe underwater but to refresh the oxygen of the water.

    Hope this has been useful!


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