get a turtle

How I did it: It's illegal to purchase turtles in NC as a pet, so I bought my turtle and supplies online. Setup the tank, put the turtle in the tank, fed it, watched the tank get dirtier and dirtier, bought necessary cleaning supplies and whatnot, etc...

Lessons & tips: Do not plan on purchasing a pet turtle unless you're pretty financially well off and are willing to devote plenty of time to the animal!

(Also note that this is referring to a turtle, not a tortoise... turtles are aquatic animals and require water and certain conditions related to it; if I had thought my purchase through, I would have probably got a tortoise instead. Dealing with turtles is like dealing with fish... there will be water to clean up and it can be messy!)

I had been curious about trying to keep a "different" sort of pet for awhile, and turtles had always crossed my mind as an animal I wouldn't mind having a pet, so I decided to go for it.

If you're mindset on purchasing a turtle too, first check the laws in your state! If it's common to see turtles available as a pet shop animal, then they should be legal to buy (or at least certain breeds). In NC, all turtles are illegal to buy and sell, unless you get them from out of state (which I had to do). Websites like turtlesale.com have them available for purchase, but be warned... the shipping will be rather pricey, since there are certain standards on shipping a live animal. I paid more in shipping than I did for the animal itself, because you can only have it shipped via extra special air mail shipping that arrives the next day.

You will also need the following supplies:

• Some manner of tank that allows you to have areas of water where it can swim, and an equivalent dry area where it can "bask" (aka dry off), and big enough so that it plenty of room to move around. I got a generic glass-walled reptile tank that I filled with abit of water and setup ramps that came up above the water. It'll do but this method is more susceptible to collecting algae (particularly a ramp that can shift below the water with the turtle's weight). There's also add-ons for standard ten gallon and up tanks that consist of an enclosed area that the turtle can go in to climb out of the main tank completely to dry off, you might want to go for this instead. Look into any available tank starter kits, these might come with similarly good ideas for the required wet/dry balance.

• A UV light source. The tank you choose should have a hood that allows you to setup your light, and you should know whether it uses the bulb type or bar type (different sizes). I'm pointing this out because I bought a bar light when I didn't realize that my tank needed a bulb light, and wasted a bit of money doing so. The light is necessary for assisting the turtle in drying off, and emulating the sun's rays. It should be positioned over the basking area.

• (COMPLETELY OPTIONAL) Tank decorations that don't assist in keeping the turtle wet or dry. If you really want to add in something just for looks, just keep in mind not to add in anything that has plastic or silk plants that resemble real plants, because the turtle might try to eat it. Putting real water plants in the tank is an option, but make sure that it's something the turtle can digest easily and preferably is a healthy, standard type of food for it (research it). Anything that's safe to put in a fish tank is generally also safe to put in a turtle tank. Putting sand/gravel in the tank is not necessary, and can contribute to the mess of cleaning it up (not to mention the turtle can accidentally eat some and depending on the shape of it, it can hurt the turtle's insides). If you decide you still want to select some sort of decoration, just consider what the turtle may find delicious and be able to put in its mouth.

• FOOD. Of course the turtle has to eat, and it can eat a variety of things. This is probably the least expensive aspect of turtle care because I've had my turtle for several months now and had bought a 13 oz size jar of pellets and they aren't even halfway gone yet. You probably shouldn't feed it just pellet all the time though; there's plenty of fruits, veggies, and plants they can munch on, as well as live prey (aka bugs and small fish). Look up some care sheets to see which is ok for your turtle. A word of caution though, while turtles will eat any sort of live creature that they can catch and fit in their mouth, even insects are capable of carrying parasites (as my turtle got parasites once, likely from me giving it bugs I caught in my yard). If this happens, you'll need a special medicated food to get rid of the parasites.

• You should expect to buy a water filter, water treatment chemicals and cleaning supplies, as well as health supplements (depending on what situations may arise). A water filter is a must, because turtles are very messy in both bathroom and eating habits. I bought a filter called Tetra Repto Filter, that uses three filtering mechanisms. Biotize and similar waste biodegrader chemicals are a good idea too, to reduce waste buildup. Other than that, you may want some type of water conditioning chemical (to keep the water as healthy as possible for the turtle) and an algae control chemical like Jungle No More Algae (for fishtanks, but works for turtle tanks too). You should also throw in a sulfa block (a common product name is Dr. Turtle), as it's recommended for keeping up turtles' health, especially when they're introduced to the new environment or are experiencing some sort of health issue. That's another thing, turtles can get sick easily, I've personally dealt with my turtle having SCUD (a fungal or bacterial infection that developed around when my turtle started shedding - yes, turtles shed too, just like any other reptile). If this happens, or while they're shedding anyway, you may want to get sulfa dip, which is just some stuff you mix up in water and let the turtle soak in it for a couple of hours. Also, if you need to do the sulfa treatment... what I did to solve the problem of my turtle possibly not wanting to stay in the sulfa dip for the time being was place him in a plastic container with a hole cut in the lid for him to stick his head out to look and get fresh air. All in all, it's best that you keep your tank cleaned out regularly for both your turtle and you (because it will smell really bad after letting it go for too long). To make it easier on your tank cleaning experience, you may want to get a water vacuum to suck out the water into a bucket, and there's also various turtle safe chemicals that you can use to wipe down the tank without having harmful effects on the turtle after you put it back in. Also when you're doing the cleanup, you should give the turtle a bath; it's common to use a toothbrush to scrub off their shell.

One more tip, and this one is for humans... wash your hands well every time you've finished handling your turtle! Reptiles are known carriers of salmonella!

If this all sounds like too much trouble for you, it probably is. Keep in mind that turtles can often live for at least twice as long as a dog or cat, if their health is maintained properly.

(I should have got a hamster or something instead...)

Resources: Aside from my own personal experience...

Austin's Turtle Page - Tells you everything you've ever wanted to know about turtles, and more... has care sheets for just about every breed (I have a false map turtle myself).

Turtle Forum - Do you have any specific questions that you'd like to ask an actual turtle expert? Many of them hang around the turtle forum.

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Oct 05, 04:56AM PDT | 0 comments