I often happen to buy and keep Turtles at Home, at very early days when I started keeping turtles I had a horrible experience as most of them die in about a month from the purchase. If you, like me, are willing to keep Turtles at Home as long-term friendly pets, then I want to convey to you tips of keeping Turtles at Home and some strange and surprising facts about the turtles and their species.

First of all turtles are very friendly pets and like calm and peaceful environment. Turtles that are most commonly sold in pet markets are the red eared slider turtle that lives in all continents except Antarctica. They can live up to 30 to 40 years while the sea turtles and other large species can easily live 100 years or more. Galapagos giant tortoise are believed to live up to 190 years and beyond. Mostly turtles feed on natural and healthy food which is one of the reason for their longevity. There has been surprising fact about turtles that says that they can leave without oxygen for about a month. Turtle’s 61% species are endangered and there are only 331 species of turtles left in the world.

Some precautions about keeping turtles at Home are

Galapagos giant tortoise

Buying Turtle from Pet Shops

Though Turtles are quite expensive but they are great pet to keep in houses. You can purchase them from nearest pet shop. Young Turtles are cheaper than bigger turtles. Also ask for suitable tank for the Turtle based on your interest. You can also keep turtles in Garden Ponds but such ponds are not recommended for young turtles as they may be prone to predators attacks.

Proper Environment

 Keep the water of your turtle tank in good condition and place the turtle tank in good and calm place possibly away from much sunlight. The lighting of  and temperature of the tank should be good otherwise various microbes like Diatoms and Fungi will start to grow. Install some filter which can filter the dirt from the tank also. Silent filters are good for turtle tanks. If you are keeping turtle in your aquarium then have a separate docking stand for turtle to relax sometime outside the water. Various turtle stand are available in pet shops.

Feeding Turtle

 If your turtle is young feed them with turtle pellets, bloodworm pellets and/or other stuffs like little green cabbage leave, strawberries, tomatoes etc. Young turtles need feeding twice a day until they are grown enough to about one or two years. Feed the turtles mostly outside the tank possibly in open or in water container to avoid uneaten food collection in the tank.

Maintaining Hygiene

Treat the Turtle Tank Water with proper Fungal removing solutions. Check weekly or monthly whether Turtles are out of any problems like diseases or infections. After playing with turtles wash your hands to avoid any bacterial infections. Remove turtle dirt and other things from the turtle tank and remove about 25% of the water every time in 7 days.

Keeping Tankmates

Consider some tank mates for turtle like Cichlid, Goldfish etc so that turtle don’t get bored very such. Don’t overcrowd the tank with too much fishes but one or two fishes are enough to keep as mates for the turtle. If you keep more turtles consider a bigger tank so that there is sufficient space in the tank.

It is very necessary to take care young turtles until they are grown up to one year or two year old. Turtles are indeed good pets to keep at home and there very little problems caused by them as pets. If you have any comments or suggestion please drop it down in the comment section below or try our forums to start any discussion about the turtles. If you are also interested in making similar blogs and want to get noticed as a blogger then you can join us as a blogger and make your articles about any topic of your interest.

You can also refer these videos on building a proper housing place for turtles. Also know the feeding and taking care tips for turtles you keep as pets. This will help you and your turtle lead a happy and long term life together.

Sinto Joseph
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