If you are an animal lover, you may certainly wish to have a turtle as a pet. This cute-looking animal with an incredibly innocent face will win your heart the moment you see him. What’s more, he is quite easy to care for if you do your homework well.
Thus, if you research and prepare well, you’ll come to know that turtles spend most of their time in the water and so, you’ll have to provide them water to swim in and they should be able to climb out if they want.
While shopping for a terrarium for your turtle, you should not skimp on size because turtles need plenty of room to explore and they need both water and land for that.
You should also take care of the water and keep it clean for which you should install a strong filtration system and should regularly change the water. Temperature of water doesn’t matter much if the enclosure is kept indoors and has an area where the turtle can bask under a heat lamp.
You may wonder what do turtles eat; but that depends on the kind of turtle you have. However, in general, turtles eat fish, insects, dark, leafy greens and so on. You can even give your turtle pelleted or canned turtle food and freeze-dried mealworms.
You don’t have to feed your turtle every day, unlike you do to your other pets if you have any. Barring a young water turtle which needs to eat every day, other turtles need food only four to five times a week. When these animals live in the wild, their chances of getting food are limited. So, you can simulate nature while caring for them.
Another thing to remember about turtles’ food is that you’ll have to add calcium to their diet. Thus, you can “dust” their food with a calcium supplement twice a year.
Usually, health problems in turtles arise only when they are not fed properly or their terrarium is not cleaned regularly or they are not offered the right temperature for basking in.
Some common health problems occurring in captive reptiles like turtles are deficiencies of vitamin A and calcium. There may also be shell infections, respiratory disease, parasites, abscesses and shell fractures. All these health conditions will need a veterinary care.
Turtles most commonly suffer from salmonella; so, good hygiene is extremely essential.
Follow these tips and you’ll enjoy the company of your cute turtle friend.