How Do You Keep a Turtle? Beginners Must Pay Attention to These 9 Details So It Won't Die

Many people nowadays like to keep turtles as pets. First they buy a pet turtle from the market and bring it home, but because they are beginners, they then have no idea how to keep it. All they know is to put food in for the turtle, and sometimes when they are busy they even forget to give it food. If you are a beginner, you must pay attention to these 9 details when keeping one so it won't die!

1. Choosing the size of the turtle

Whether it is better to buy a big turtle or a small one has always been a problem that troubles many friends. Expert keepers have told me that for turtle keeping you generally buy small ones, not big ones. There are mainly two reasons for this. One is that the health of a big turtle cannot be well guaranteed, and the other is that a big turtle cannot adapt very well to the environment at home. When buying, you must pay attention to whether the turtle has injuries on its limbs; do not buy one with injuries. Do not buy one whose eyes are not very clear and bright. Do not buy one with mucus at the corners of its mouth. Do not buy one whose nostrils are not clean and not clear. Do not buy one with weak limbs. On the other hand, if none of the above situations occur, you can buy it with confidence.

2. When is the best time to buy a turtle and bring it home to keep?

Turtles also need to be bought and brought home to keep at a good time. For example, winter is too cold and it is very hard for you to keep them well, so if you plan to keep a turtle, you can choose to buy it and keep it from April to September each year, which is best. If you feel that one turtle is rather lonely, you can buy two of the same size to keep at home. Do not buy one big and one small, otherwise the big one will bully the small one.

3. How to choose a turtle tank?

It is best to buy a larger turtle tank with higher walls, so that they can be prevented from climbing out. The water depth is generally best at 3 times the thickness of the turtle shell. You can put some small stones and fine sand in the water, and also add a few easy-to-keep aquatic plants. If conditions allow, you can place an ultraviolet lamp beside the turtle tank and shine it for just 20 minutes a day. When it is cold, you can buy a heating rod, which can raise the temperature in the tank and help the turtle pass the winter warmly.

4. Does the turtle tank need a water change every day?

If you are a rather diligent person, you can change the water every day. Changing the water can provide the turtle with plenty of nourishment. If you are rather lazy, you can buy a filtration system and change the water once a week. Only with frequent water changes will the turtle not die. It is best to add a little salt to the newly changed water to disinfect it. The water must not be too cold, otherwise it will get sick.

5. What food do turtles like to eat?

Turtles eat a fairly varied diet, but they rather like eating meat. You can feed them some small fish, small shrimp, cockroaches, aquatic plants, and so on. Usually there will be some vegetables at home, and these can also be used to feed a small turtle. If you find it too troublesome, you can directly buy some turtle food online to feed it, and just feed it twice a day. One thing to note: you must not go two or three days without feeding the turtle, otherwise it will starve to death.

6. Take the turtle out in the sun more often

Especially in spring and winter, when the sun comes out, you can move it to the balcony to bask in the sun. It does not need to bask for very long, one hour is enough, but note that it must never be exposed to scorching sun. For turtles, basking in the sun is the same as it is for us people: it helps with calcium supplementation and can also kill some bacteria inside the shell. A turtle that does not bask in the sun all year round will develop diseases, and in the end it may die.

7. Safety precautions in turtle keeping

Safety in turtle keeping is something you must pay attention to. Especially if you have cats and dogs at home, you need to take some protective measures for the turtle, otherwise it will be scratched by the claws of the cats and dogs, and then it will die. If you put it in a very high place, you must never let the turtle fall down; once it falls, it will also die. This requires all turtle-loving owners to take extra care.

8. When do turtles hibernate?

Turtles generally begin hibernating when the temperature is below 12 degrees, that is, from November to February of the following year is the turtle's hibernation period. However, it is best that a newly bought turtle does not hibernate in its first year, and a weak one should not hibernate either, otherwise after one hibernation your turtle may very well die. So these are things we must pay great attention to.

9. Prevention and treatment of turtle diseases

If a turtle develops a disease, failing to deal with it in time will speed up its death. Turtles generally develop white eye disease, skin rot, pneumonia, shell rot, gastroenteritis, septicemia, and so on. If any one of these appears, take it to a pet hospital for treatment in time, so that it will not die from the disease!

Summary: The above are some experiences summarized from keeping turtles, and I hope they can help you. This article is compiled from the internet.