Where to buy Turtles or Terrapins?

miss_penny

Hey...

Just wondering if anyone has any advice on where to buy a Turtle or Terrapins..in Dublin city if possible?

Thanks :-)

Demonique

Reptile Haven on Fishamble Street

Have you kept terrapins before? If not, be advised that they are dirty and smelly little blighters, to be honest you're better off shelling out more money and buying a tortoise, they're easier to keep and they won't make the room hum

Shelli

They're only smelly if the water is not changed enough and you don't have a proper filtration system. They are an awful lot of work though and not an easy pet to keep well. The set up is very exspensive and they get much bigger than you'd imagine. I'm not going to lecture you on the care of them becuase for all I know you've already done your homework and still want to go for it. If you do then fair play to you, and I would look around the net for people looking to rehome, most people give up on them in a very short space of time when they find out what is required.

If you have your heart set on a baby reptile haven on fishamble street sometimes have some, not all the time though. Apart from there most pet shops will carry them from time to time, it's just a matter of keeping your eye out for one.......and don't believe a word of what the store person tells you, they will say anything to make a sale, just do your research and you'll be fine!

Good luck, and if you need any advice on care i'd be glad to help, i've been keeping turtles for nearly 15 years now.

cowzerp

`when terrapins are smelly its because there kept in shallow water and not cleaned-mine are in deep water and dont smell at all-i used to keep terrapins like most people in shallow water and they stunk quick, now i clean half the water 1 time a week and its fine-plus a good filter!

Glowing

What they don't tell you is that terrapins grow to be absolutely huge. ... you're going to have to upgrade your tank every year - we got to a 6 foot (very expensive) tank before we decided to rehome her. The filtration system only worked so well, and it was a big job to clean out a tank of that size.

miss_penny, if you haven't done your research, then I advise you think long and hard about getting one of these, if you think you might not have the space in 5 years time, then forget about it. They're not going to stay the size of your hand for long!

tallus

I'm in agreement with Demonique on this one, tortoises are easier to look after, cheap to feed, no filters/ or having to change water constantly. Tabletops are easy to build and cheap and if you get the right species of tortoise you wont need tooooooo big an enclosure. My Hermanns are outside sunning themselves now.

Dub_Gunner

Hey miss_penny i have just bought one myself and i think they make a great pet the one i got is a red eared slider and its an adult one which is about 8-9 inches and only cost me 20 euros for that but then of course you have to get all the other stuff to go with it like tank filter UV light and so on. If your still interested in getting one the pet shop in Coolock village has them in stock for 30 euros Or you can go were i got mine kinsealy pet store they are very reasonable

Demonique

I clean my terrapin's filter daily and he's still a smelly little bugger!

He's also not one bit friendly! He's cute to watch swimming around, but he's not a pet you can really interact with.

When I have the cash and the space I'm going to buy a tortoise, they're friendlier than terrapins and will take food from your hand. I've hand fed the ones in the Reptile Haven on a number of occasions.

They can be very funny as well when they start being all territorial in 'their' garden like this link shows:

http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=23288

Yellow Snow

Hey guys and girls,

Like the OP i'm hopefully going to buy one soon too... My girlfriend has wanted a turtle for ages so I'm going to get her one, as soon as I know what the hell i'm looking for that is

I'm a total newb in this area so any advice you can give will be really appreciated. Is there a difference between Tortoise and Terrapin?

Basically she wants one that will live inside.

Whats the best breed and set-up I should be looking for?

I can stretch to around €300 - €400 for the turtle / tank / filters etc...

I really don't have a clue. Is there any type I should avoid or anything I should know??

Thanks gang

tallus

I'd go here as a starting point Yellow: http://www.tortoisetrust.org/

Yellow Snow

Thanks a million Tallus, will try to educate myself a bit

Yellow Snow

Ok so i've read a few bits and pieces so I think i'm getting closer to knowing what to look for

A terrapin sounds like an awful lot of work...

I had a look at the Hermann's Tortoise, they look great. Do you know if they do ok inside (If they have the right UV light and stuff?) or should they be kept outside?

Ideally she wanted it to be kept indoors because we have very little space outside AND a dog too... Do they sell indoor enclosures suitable in petstores or is it something you have to build yourself?

Demonique

Yellow Snow wrote:

I had a look at the Hermann's Tortoise, they look great. Do you know if they do ok inside (If they have the right UV light and stuff?) or should they be kept outside?

Hermann's should be kept indoors year round. They can go outside supervised on a warm sunny day, but the weather we're having lately is certainly not suitable for them to be outside

Yellow Snow

Thanks Demonique,

Any idea of the size of enclosure I should be looking at?

And silly question maybe but would it be better to get two? Just so they have company when nobodys home?

I've read that Hermanns are a good for first time owners but what do you guys think?

tallus

Yellow Snow wrote:

Thanks Demonique,

Any idea of the size of enclosure I should be looking at?

And silly question maybe but would it be better to get two? Just so they have company when nobodys home?

I've read that Hermanns are a good for first time owners but what do you guys think?

I have a pair of Hermanns myself Yellow, no tortoises are easy to look after tbh, but with the right bit of research you should be fine. Be aware that you should get C.i.t.i.e.s. papers with any Hermanns you buy as they are an appendix II species.
To house mine I bought a wooden workbench in Woodies and got wood cut to size to put onto the sides to pen them in. Check out the attached photos: The outdoor setup one is a plant propagator. I cut holes in the top and put mesh on top and held the mesh in place with cable ties. Was using hemp as a substrate but changed my mind after it got wet and clumpy so gravel is the order of the day now.
Can't find a decent indoor setup photo but hopefully you'll get a general idea from the one attached. I use towels as a substrate now as they are way way cleaner than the sandy substrate I was using. It's easier to monitor.
The third photo is one of them coming out of hibernation last year or the year before.
Any questions just ask.
G

Yellow Snow

Thank you Tallus, that really helps!! They are soo cute by the way

So do you think getting two is a good idea?

I've heard that certain ones can be very dominant too?

tallus

One is perfectly fine tbh, but if you do get two make sure you seperate them when you feed them. They can be quite expensive, so one might be better heh.

Yellow Snow

when you say quite expensive what are we talking about? Like i said in an earlier post I cant really stretch more than 400 for tort and supplies.... cant be much more than that can it

tallus

I got mine around 4 years back and at the time the price was €370 each but I got a discount for buying 2. Go into either Reptile Haven or Boardwalk pets and enquire. It's not costly to house or feed them but the uvb lamps can be expensive, I use a combined heat/uvb lamp when mine are inside. As far as I know Horsefields were going for around €250 in the Aquarium place up near brittas. Just be aware that they will need to be hibernated. I bought a drinks cabinet type of fridge for mine, they usually go in around late november and come out some time in February. Of course if you buy one at this time of year, over wintering might be a good idea as you wont know what kind of care he/she has gotten so far this year.

Yellow Snow

I was hoping to get one for her birthday maybe (late september) but is that such a good idea seeing as they should be hibernating soon after? Is it safe to miss a years hib? Or would it be better left until march / april time?

Wibbs

Demonique wrote:

I clean my terrapin's filter daily and he's still a smelly little bugger!

Basically you need a bigger filter. That's why you have that problem. As I said in the other thread here, get an external cannister filter. Big as you can afford. Makes a hell of a diff.

He's also not one bit friendly! He's cute to watch swimming around, but he's not a pet you can really interact with.

It depends on the turtle. they do vary a lot. The sliders tend to be more agressive though. As tortoises are veggies they're naturally less aggressive in pursuing food. That said I hand feed my turtles quite a bit. The more you do it the more they'll get used to it. One of mine will even follow me around looking for food. One will always try to slink around the food and aim for my finger though. Little bugger. Sly at it too. The most aggressive tend to be the soft shelled variety. Then again they do vary, as one I had you could hand feed her no problem. She was a complete dote(except with other turtles). Never even attempted to bite me.

Intelligence wise, in various studies they've found that water turtles are more intelligent than most reptiles. Chicken turtles are even faster than rats negotiating a maze. Mine recognise me. If anyone else walks by the tanks no reaction, but if I do they go ballistic. One even won't eat if I go away on holidays(which is a pain).

I've had turtles and tortoises(got a bit bored with the latter TBH) and I found turtles to be more interactive and just generally active. I think because they're aquatic the interaction is perceived to be less. That barrier is there.

miss_penny

hey hey

thanks for the advice all!

i am getting two yellow belly turtles on thursday yay

anyways thanks again!

fionna

tallus

Best of luck with them.

Demonique

If you're going for a tortoise then get a book on them

Generally, tortoises under two years of age don't need to be hibernated, that is, of course, if you get a species that actually hibernates in its natural habitat

Animals_only

Shelli wrote:

and don't believe a word of what the store person tells you, they will say anything to make a sale

Completly true!!!!

I got my terripin from Cork and they were badly mistreated in there, poor things.My first one died-He had already been there too long. They had no sunlight, a disgracfully minute amount of food and they never had enough enough energy to even move, let alone swim. The one I have now was from a new batch, and with a change of lifstyle is now happy and healthy!:)

tallus

Demonique wrote:

If you're going for a tortoise then get a book on them

Generally, tortoises under two years of age don't need to be hibernated, that is, of course, if you get a species that actually hibernates in its natural habitat

I didn't hibernate mine the first year I had them, but I did the second, and third years.
It's not that hard to do. The Tortoise trust site has great tips. Of course you can ask on here too. I had help from one of the posters here for two years in a row and believe me it helped a hell of a lot to have someone with practical knowledge to lean on for tips/help.
Mine are still eating like shelled piglets at the moment. I gave them a 14 week hibernation this time around and they came out of it in fine shape. I used a drinks cabinet type fridge as a hibernation chamber and it has worked fine so far.

Demonique

tallus wrote:

I gave them a 14 week hibernation this time around and they came out of it in fine shape. I used a drinks cabinet type fridge as a hibernation chamber and it has worked fine so far.

I'm curious how do you hibernate them? Do you gradually reduce the temperature on the tortoise table/enclosure before you put them in the hibernation cabinet?

I have to cool my corn snakes if I want to breed them. I used a timer on their heat mats and every two days I reduced by four hours the number of hours per day the heat mat is on until its off 24/7. After two months I reverse it. They aren't really hibernating, they aren't asleep for the two months, they move around the tank and when I open the tank to change the water they lift their heads and turn and look at me.

tallus

I start by not feeding them for a minumum of 3 weeks, and gradually cut down the amount of time the uv heat lamp is on during the day. I soak them in the sink every single day too just to make sure their intestinal tract/gut is empty of food matter.
I usually give them about 4 hours of heat each day when cooling them down. On the day they go into the fridge, I give them their last bath, and then put them into a cardboard carton with shredded paper, inside another carton and wrapped in cloth and put them outside and monitor the temp until it reaches around 8c It usually takes about 3 hours to drop down. Doing it slowly is the key. After about an hour at 8c I put them into the fridge in their individual hibernation tubs.
I then weigh them in the tubs and place them into the fridge with lids on the tubs.
See the attached pics, and sorry about the size of them.

bambigara

Animals_only wrote:

Shelli wrote:

and don't believe a word of what the store person tells you, they will say anything to make a sale

Completly true!!!!

I got my terripin from Cork and they were badly mistreated in there, poor things.My first one died-He had already been there too long. They had no sunlight, a disgracfully minute amount of food and they never had enough enough energy to even move, let alone swim. The one I have now was from a new batch, and with a change of lifstyle is now happy and healthy!:)

im thinking of purchasing terripins in cork at the mo. where abouts did u pick yours up ..where can i find out as much as possible about keeping them before i get them, is there any truth to the claim that they stay the size of their enviornment?

Shelli

bambigara wrote:

Animals_only wrote:

is there any truth to the claim that they stay the size of their enviornment?

No, they will keep growing no matter what size tank you have them in.

muttzer

hi there,

im trying to re-home my two terripans.
there about 1 1/2- 2inches in lenght.
i've have them nearly 2 years now.
i agree with ine of the guys on the threads, each terripans has it own personality. these two are very lively and interactive espesiacly at feeding time.

here is the link im selling them and theres some pics too.
www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/otheranimals/787964

im not trying to get band. but im desparate at the stage. as they need to be gone by this sat-monday!
if there is a problom with this ill be happy to delete it. and i know i cant put it on the adverts site.

cheers
muttzer