Turtle Keepers?

[Joe L.]

Howdy! I'm a proud dad of three turtles, but I was wondering, are there any fellow turtle keepers here? I know that @Cory has some musks, and @Sol also has a diamondback terrapin along with her group of musks. I would love to hear how others keep their turtles!

Edited January 28, 2022 by Joe L.

[Fish Folk]

On 11/26/2021 at 9:10 PM, Joe L. said:

howdy! i’m a proud dad of three turtles, but i was wondering, are there any fellow turtle keepers here? know that @Cory some musks, and @Sol also has a diamondback terrapin on top of her musks. would like to hear how others keep their turtles! 

Here are some older threads form the Forum. If you have specific questions, you can reach out to contributors from these (and other) threads. 

 

 

 

[Joe L.]

On 11/26/2021 at 7:02 PM, Fish Folk said:

Here are some older threads form the Forum. If you have specific questions, you can reach out to contributors from these (and other) threads. 

 

 

 

@Fish Folk Thank you so much! I know that you have a Youtube channel, but have you consider keeping turtles?

Edited January 28, 2022 by Joe L.

[Fish Folk]

On 11/26/2021 at 10:06 PM, Joe L. said:

@Fish Folk ohh thanks! know that you have a youtube channel, but have you consider keeping turtles? 

Not really. My middle son would adore a turtle tank someday. But for now, I'm all in on fish! If I had limitless resources, I'd love to keep a Panther Chameleon...

[Joe L.]

On 11/26/2021 at 7:39 PM, Fish Folk said:

Not really. My middle son would adore a turtle tank someday. But for now, I'm all in on fish! If I had limitless resources, I'd love to keep a Panther Chameleon...

@Fish Folk Aww that’s a bummer! Although to be fair, turtles require a lot of room and commitment, but the panther chameleons look gorgeous.

Edited January 28, 2022 by Joe L.

[WhitecloudDynasty]

Red ear silder

[Joe L.]

On 11/26/2021 at 11:51 PM, WhitecloudDynasty said:

Red ear silder

@WhitecloudDynasty Aww he looks so cute! I'm not too sure how big the tank is from the pic, but it seems like either a 20 gallon or a 40 gallon tank, which for the size of the turtle, should be fine.

Edited January 28, 2022 by Joe L.

[Torrey]

On 11/26/2021 at 7:10 PM, Joe L. said:

howdy! i’m a proud dad of three turtles, but i was wondering, are there any fellow turtle keepers here? know that @Cory some musks, and @Sol also has a diamondback terrapin on top of her musks. would like to hear how others keep their turtles! 

I used to volunteer with the NC Museum of Natural History, and fostered YES, RES, alligator snappers, and a Russian Tortoise (briefly). My kids kept RES & YES, and in 2012 Karma (ornate ornata) claimed us.

Turtles are fun🥰

[Joe L.]

On 11/27/2021 at 8:33 PM, Torrey said:

I used to volunteer with the NC Museum of Natural History, and fostered YES, RES, alligator snappers, and a Russian Tortoise (briefly). My kids kept RES & YES, and in 2012 Karma (ornate ornata) claimed us.

Turtles are fun🥰

@Torrey Wow that sounds awesome! I would agree with you for the most part that turtles are fun, but I also wish that fish could be around in the same tank with them.

Edited January 28, 2022 by Joe L.

[WhitecloudDynasty]

On 11/27/2021 at 2:24 PM, Joe L. said:

@WhitecloudDynasty aww he looks so cute! i’m not too sure how big the tank is from the pic, but it seems like either a 20 gallon or a 40 gallon tank, which for the size of the turtle, should be fine.

It's just a 20l, in the winter time he comes back inside from his 300gallon stock tank.

 

[Joe L.]

On 11/27/2021 at 9:27 PM, WhitecloudDynasty said:

It's just a 20l, in the winter time he comes back inside from his 300gallon stock tank.

 

@WhitecloudDynasty Wow that sounds like a mansion for a red-eared slider! I currently don't have space for such a big enclosure, but I plan to keep my turtles outside in the future. Any ideas or suggestions about what fish might possibly be fine with them?

Edited January 28, 2022 by Joe L.

[Torrey]

On 11/27/2021 at 9:35 PM, Joe L. said:

@Torrey aww that sounds so cute! would agree with you for the most part that turtles are fun, but wished fish could be tank mates when them.

I have endlers in my ornate ornata's pond.

All of our turtles had fish with them, that's how I learned alternatives to using chemicals as chloramine neutralizers, because turtles lungs, shells, and kidneys don't appreciate Prime or any of the other water conditioners, and fish don't appreciate chloramine at all😬

The most important thing I learned, is cold water fish have thiaminase, so I don't keep cool water fish (minnows, goldfish, etc) with the turtles. 

[WhitecloudDynasty]

On 11/28/2021 at 12:58 AM, Joe L. said:

@WhitecloudDynasty ohh that sounds so cool! haven't had my turtles outside before, planning to in the near future. any ideas or suggestions about what fish might possibly be fine with them?

After a few year, they like to eat more veggies over meat. So any fish will do, but turtle are dirty 

[Joe L.]

On 11/28/2021 at 5:33 AM, WhitecloudDynasty said:

After a few year, they like to eat more veggies over meat. So any fish will do, but turtle are dirty 

@WhitecloudDynasty Well it looks like I'm going to have to wait a while before I try any fish with my turtles, who chase down any fish that enter their tank.

Edited January 28, 2022 by Joe L.

[Okesa]

The elementary school where I work has a red eared slider named Jimmy that I take care of. He had been kind of neglected, so I gave him a life upgrade. He loves snacks and harassing the nerite snails. 

[Flumpweesel]

great pic

[Helan]

On 11/29/2021 at 5:09 PM, Okesa said:

The elementary school where I work has a red eared slider named Jimmy that I take care of. He had been kind of neglected, so I gave him a life upgrade. He loves snacks and harassing the nerite snails. 

This brings back memories,red ear sliders where my childhood pets 🥰

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

I have a loggerhead musk, a common musk, and a mud turtle. They all live in a couple large 300 gal tubs outside. The musks have plants, but not the mud. She like to eat plants, so she gets no plants....

Edited November 30, 2021 by Expectorating_Aubergine

[Streetwise]

@Okesa, I also help with a school turtle. What were your upgrades?

[Okesa]

@Streetwise Jimmy had been living in a plastic storage box with two plastic rock hides, no heating or UV of any kind, and only a few inches of water that didn't even completely cover his shell.

The school had a massive aquarium (around 120 gallons) that had a bunch of overgrown water plants and a single fish that one of the teachers caught in the local river.

The fish got relocated to a new tank and I got the school to buy a filter, UV light, heat lamp, water heater (the school has no central heat, so in winter the water temp would get down to under 15°c without it), and an automatic feeder so that he would get fed consistently. I also made him a basking platform with stuff from the hardware store. 

[Streetwise]

Thanks @Okesa! This is the school turtle:

I want to upgrade the filtration.