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Taking care of turtles Anonymous
Okay anon, I have a question for you.

How does one own a turtle and not make it's life miserable? I mean, other than staying in their tank, I don't know what else you do with it. (other than feeding and washing)

I can't imagine what you can do with it to make it happy. They must live miserable lives just sitting there all day long...

So enlighten me /an/, how do I entertain a turtle?
>> Anonymous
Aquatic or land?
>> Anonymous
Let it crawl around the house, supervised, if it's a land turtle. Mine loved doing that.
>> Anonymous
Actually i think either way, you dont really need to "entertain" them, just make sure they are fed, watered, live in a spacious habitat, and regular interaction, i.e. taking out of the tank, cleaning it, petting it a little, making sure it knows you you are, ect., then putting it back in the tank is good.
>> Anonymous
>>131797

do they actually like human contact? i thought they always try to bite you if you try pet them
>> Anonymous
>>131807
yeah they do, just don't poke them repeatedly or aggravate them; be gentle, especially if they are big enough to do damage do you.

Snapping turtles are known to bite badly, but aren't a common pet species.
>> INVALID
they had 3 of the types in OP's pics for sale at the pet store I went to yesterday..

I stood there for several minutes staring one down... without looking away.. as his buddy lumbered behind him.. he flipped him over, and kept his foot directly in it's path so it couldn't right itself.

...I moved on to the bunnies at that point.
That lil bugger had attitude.
>> Anonymous
Enjoy your salmonella.
>> anonymous
turtles just sit around in nature too, i dont think they're smart enough to pine for freedom except maybe sea species which aren't pets
>> Anonymous
>>131834
only water turtles have samonella fgt
>> Anonymous
let them go outside to frolic
my boxturtle loves to go outside.
>> Anonymous
i want a tortoise. but its illegal to sell and buy here, but not own, so i have to go out of state to get one.
>> Anonymous
Aquatic turtles are better, since having them chase and kill fish is the most interesting thing a turtle can offer you. They need a basking area outside of the water that has a UVB light pointed at it, that they can access whenever they want without help.
>> parabolic000 !!HfL9M9xslOG
>>131898
wait, what? what fucked-up state do you live in? California?
>> Anonymous
Tiny turtle is confused.
>> Anonymous
>>131936
No, but close.
New Jersey.

Its like we can have anything else but turtles/tortoises.
>> Anonymous
>>131943

because thousands of people bought them while small and then let them out in the river when they became adult size?
>> Anonymous
>>131962
No.
Salmonella is their excuse. I don't really get it though because we can own and adopt them, just can't buy or sell.
>> parabolic000 !!HfL9M9xslOG
>>131972
but just turtles? weird. I know salmonella is a big problem with all reptiles, so why single out turtles?
>> Anonymous
>>131975
and tortoises. I don't think we have anything else banned. Possibly skunks without a permit.
>> Anonymous
That was always my issue with owning any kind of reptile. Keep in mind they're pretty goddamn stupid, even fish are smarter than they are, so it's not like they get bored easily. If you feel really guilty, you can take it outside with you. Just watch it and make sure it doesn't get in to anything or get lost.
>> Anonymous
Turtles suck.
>> Anonymous
>>131975

Turtles carry a higher concentration of salmonella than most other reptiles, and the smaller the turtle, the higher the concentration. In fact, in addition to the fact that most states ban the sale of turtles all together, there is a (most ignored) US federal law that bans the sale of an turtle with a shell under 4" in diameter... unless it is for "educational purposes." You know, classrooms and such. Another exploitable loophole in the system.
>> Anonymous
If you wash your hands after playing with the turtle, you will be fine.

I never got salmonella.
>> I like turtles Anonymous
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMNry4PE93Y
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
I have a pet red-eared slider, which is a type of aquatic turtle. He's definitely what I consider to be a very "happy" turtle. He's very active, watchs people and follows them when they walk past his tank, follows your fingers, and likes eating a lot. Aquatic turtles are much more active than land turtles. But we pay for his happiness. Like, he has a really big tank (thirty 40 gallons or something, but he's a big turtle), an underwater heater, a heat lamp, and an expensive filter. The cage itself is simple though, it's empty except for one nice log. (We used to have gravel and rocks but they're imposible to clean). We also have to pay for food and everything.

Most people don't bother setting up nice big tanks for their pet turtles, unfortunately. Some don't even buy basking lamps or heating lamps. Um, turtles are reptiles, and they need heat to survive, morons. One of my friends also had a red-eared slider turtle as a pet, but hers was only a few inches big (my turtle is roughly ten inches, but I havent bothered to measure) and she kept it in a plastic tank with less than an inch of cold water and gravel. Of course, the turtle froze/starved, was very unhappy, and died. If you're going to have a pet turtle, make sure you're ready to do it right...

Land turtles and tortoises I have much less experience, but I bet they are like something between my pet turtle and my pther pet Bearded Dragon (that's a spiky desert lizard.) Land turtles don't move much or fast, obviously, but they're cold-blooded reptiles which unless provoked, hardly ever do. But a tortoise can still have a nice warm and large tank and be fed real plants like chopped lettuce and carrots rather than just pellets. Maybe having a partner in it's tank would be nice too because I dont think turtles are aggressive or territorial. (Rather unrelated, but one time at the zoo I saw big tortoises actually having sex and grunting...) I guess this is what would make a tortoise happy.
>> Anonymous
>>131797

Yup.That's what you do.Result is a happy turtle.
>> FUCK THEM MOD FAGGOTS, I LIEK MUDKIPS
I WAS BANNED FROM /b/ FOR SO-CALLED "SPAM." THE MOD IS A FUCKING DUMBASS, YOU COULD POST ANYTHING IN /b/..
>> FUCK THEM MOD FAGGOTS, I LIEK MUDKIPS
.I WAS BANNED FROM /b/ FOR SO-CALLED "SPAM." THE MOD IS A FUCKING DUMBASS, YOU COULD POST ANYTHING IN /b/.
>> Anonymous
>>132158
Eh. I rather have a tortoise. My experience with turtles are that they are messy. I used to own red-eared sliders and a bunch of snapping turtles I caught when I was younger.

Plus, I enjoy big lazy pets. If I ever get a chance to get one, it'd be a sulcata tortoise.
>> Anonymous
Beat the turtle until his morale improves.