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Living
with a turtle
Turtles
live a long time. If you take care
of your Red-Eared Slider properly, it can live anywhere
from 20 to 40 years.
Children
and turtles
TURTLES
ARE NOT GOOD PETS FOR CHILDREN!!!
They
are not like goldfish who almost take of themselves.
They are not the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles".
They can bite and in some cases can cause salmonella
poisoning. Turtles are meant as pets for responsible
adults. Of course, children and turtles can co-exist,
just use common sense. A young child should never
handle a turtle under any circumstances, even when
supervised. Young children have a tendency to put
things in their mouth. This is bad news for both(the
turtle and the child). Older children, perhaps 10
years old and older can handle and feed the turtle
with supervision.
WATCH
CHILDREN AROUND THE TANK OR POOL!
Any
body of water has a potential to case drowning and
littles fingers may appear a tempting snack for turtle.
A good precaution is to put a grate or screen over
the top of the tank. Or, you can put the tank in an
area not easily accessible to children. Make sure
that your tank is on a stable surface, because of
a child. It can trie to look in the inside of the
tank, so anyway BE CAREFUL.
Turtles
and bacteria
Turtles
can carry bacteria which is know as salmonella and
several others icky bacteria. This is the bacteria
you can get from eating raw meat.
Please,
follow these hints
- Wash
your hands with anti-bacterial soap after handling
the turtle or anything that may come in contact
with the turtle or turtle water.
- Do
not let your turtle near the food preparation
surface and anything near kitchen table
- Be
careful where you dump your tank water. The best
way(and I am doing that) is flushing it down the
toilet.,
- Be
careful where you wash your filter and anything
from the tank. It is not the good idea to use
the kitchen sink. The bathroom sink or bathub
is good. Please, disinfect whatever sink or something
else you use with a good anti-bacterial cleaner.
Handling
your turtle
- Be
gentle with your turtle! Take your turtle out
of his tank and play with him.
- Do
not put your turtle on it’s back! Never
turn him on his back just for fun or poke at his
head to watch it retract. It is cruel. Take care
of him/her and you will enjoy your turtle for
many years.
- Remember
that turtles can do bite. Also watch out for claws.
- Do
not lift your turtle by any limb or tail!
- When
picking your turtle up make sure you lift it by
the side of its shell(avoiding the head) and place
your palm flat under the bottom of the shell.
Keep your other hand on top of the shell, holding
securely, so that it will not fall and if it tries
to escape, you have a firm grip.
Caring
for your turtle
- It
is very important to keep your turtle clean. That
is very easy. You can use your old toothbrush
and gently clean their shells with it.
- Commercial
pellet food, fresh food(crickets, feeder fish,
moths, spiders, bugs)
- If
not taken care properly, turtles stink!!! You
have be careful to keep the tank clean or it will
smell.
- Turtles
eat their own stool. This behavior seems disgusting,
but is quite natural for turtles.
- Skin
shedding:
Turtles shed skin. A little peeling occasionally
is fine. They shed their skin like other reptiles,
but more continuously. As long as the shed skin
is thin and tranlucent, and you don’t see
anything unusual on the skin, and the shedding
is not excessive, do not worry.
- Shell
shedding:
Turtles shed occasionally
the outermost layer of their scutes. They are
thin, translucent scutes.
- Turtles
are VERY
messy eaters. Most books I have read recommend
you fedd them outside of their tanks.
- They
can bite, and it hurts. Larger turtles can break
skin. Remember to be careful when handling your
turtles and be especially careful if someone unfamiliar
with turtles is caring or handling them.
- Take
your turtle out of tank and play with him. Remember
to be gently with him!
E-mail
the staff with questions, turtle pictures, etc.
TurtlePub Staff - Webmaster - E-mail
Site
Created: 1/8/2002, Last modified: 12/7/2003 by Petra Grujic
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