terrapins

ktd84 · 19-09-2011 7:39pm #1

I'm thinking of buying a terrapin for my boyfriend but I know nothing about them! He loves them and loves visiting the petshop to look at them! Is there much work involved in keeping them? Also, are they vicious animals? All information greatly appreciated! Thanks!

douglashyde · 19-09-2011 7:45pm

ktd84 wrote: »

I'm thinking of buying a terrapin for my boyfriend but I know nothing about them! He loves them and loves visiting the petshop to look at them! Is there much work involved in keeping them? Also, are they vicious animals? All information greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Sorry to be the one to break this to you but I went in to buy one of these the other day and seemly they are illegal to buy in Ireland now.

ktd84 · 19-09-2011 7:47pm

No way! haha! Thats mad! Obviously not a good pet then! Thanks for that!

Cameron Poe · 19-09-2011 11:27pm

Where did you hear that? Highly unlikely that it's true.

antocann · 21-09-2011 1:14pm

douglashyde wrote: »

Sorry to be the one to break this to you but I went in to buy one of these the other day and seemly they are illegal to buy in Ireland now.

hahaha that made me laugh , you read it off the back of a penguin bar?

terrapins aint illegal in ireland , but i would suggest gething a few books as pet shops keep them in the rong conditions , and please consider maybe taking one in as a rehome ? too many people gethin rid of them as they dont think they grow , when they get them small , they grow to the size of a dinner plate so big setup is needed

21-09-2011 1:40pm

Its not illegal but the problem is , they grow so fast , people cant keep them and then need to find homes for them. There are not many homes out there so now they are turning up in Lakes around Dublin. I personally like them but its not fair to have them.

One of the better turtles is a musk turtle which grows to the size of your hand. so you dont have to worry about space .

ktd84 · 21-09-2011 6:20pm

Great, thanks for all the info! Dont think Ill go with a terrapin so, I dont want to be cruel and probably wouldnt have a very large amount of space for them! Googled musk turtles and they seems like much nicer pets! An idea where I could buy these?
Thanks so much again!

antocann · 22-09-2011 12:24am

ktd84 wrote: »

Great, thanks for all the info! Dont think Ill go with a terrapin so, I dont want to be cruel and probably wouldnt have a very large amount of space for them! Googled musk turtles and they seems like much nicer pets! An idea where I could buy these?
Thanks so much again!

op not meaning to sound rude but if you aint gona have the space dont bother ,
what size setup are you gething /have for it ?

ktd84 · 22-09-2011 7:51am

Like I said, I'm not gonna be cruel to an animal! I have space for an average size tank but I dont want something that will take over my house!

Karma25 · 22-09-2011 11:37am

Basic shopping list for a terrapin
Calcium dusting powder / Cuttle Bone
Food
Tank
Plants for hiding
Dock for the turtles to bask
UVA/UVB Light bulbs
Heat Bulb
Clamp
Water Heater
Water conditioner

Now that is a basic shopping list for basic care. Its expensive to set up as you can see. If you leave out any of the items on this list, your turtle will suffer massively. Plus you may want decoration,

A few tips, instead of a glass tank maybe you can go for a plastic storage tank, much cheaper. You can get these on china wholesalers sites I won't link them in case it is against the forums rules.

Turtles water gets dirty very fast no matter how good the filtration is. I used a water conditioner that was especially for turtles to help slime the skin unfortunately the water would have a grimmy appearance as a result. I use to get a two weeks of clear crystal water before it become murky. If you have a plastic tank you dont see the dirt as much cause you can only look from the top. Turtles won't suffer from ammonia in the water as much as fish because they get breath from the air.

Wibbs · 22-09-2011 11:15pm

Great advice from Karma there.

On the filtration front, I struggled for many years with this(decades I'm afraid to say

. My very first post on Boards.ie was about turtles

). In tank filters were as much use as a chocolate teapot. In the end a big, biggest you can get (and afford), external canister filter like the Eheim or similar* makes a huge difference to water quality IME. The issue comes with charging them for the much lower water levels you get with a turtle setup. Drilling the tank to get a lower feed worked for me, but take advice and time doing that one. They certainly made a big diff for me. Word of caution though, they're not so suitable for juvenile turtles. Too high a flow.

On the subject of species to go for, I'd avoid the slider types. Red ears etc. They do grow big and grow big fast. I'd avoid softshells like the very plague. Very cute when young but grow big and have to be isolated as they'll attack or even eat any other tank mates. Plus most of the time they stay buried. My tip would be a mud turtle. They stay small and are great characters and are very hardy once they go beyond the juvenile stage. Much more forgiving. A Reeves turtle would be another one if you can source one.

On the subject of gravel substrate. There is much talk about turtles ingesting gravel and impacting on them and dying. I've never had that happen, but just in case larger gravel is safer. Some folks don't have gravel at all, going for the clean look. IMHO gravel is a good thing if you get the environment halfway right as the bacteria etc that grow on the huge surface area do act like a biological filter. I'd avoid sand as it goes sour very quickly and is only indicated for softshells anyway(which like I say avoid).

Another tip is to add a small amount of aquarium sea salt. It seriously reduces fungal growth, infections and the like.

Yet another consideration is the need for full spectrum light for basking. They need the UV to make vitamin D3. In the summer it's a good bet to let them walk about on the grass in the sunshine, supervised of course.

*there are lots of makes out there today and quality has really ramped up with the more economic models.

yugimon121 · 25-09-2011 7:02pm

Karma25 wrote: »

Basic shopping list for a terrapin
Calcium dusting powder / Cuttle Bone
Food
Tank
Plants for hiding
Dock for the turtles to bask
UVA/UVB Light bulbs
Heat Bulb
Clamp
Water Heater
Water conditioner

Now that is a basic shopping list for basic care. Its expensive to set up as you can see. If you leave out any of the items on this list, your turtle will suffer massively. Plus you may want decoration,

A few tips, instead of a glass tank maybe you can go for a plastic storage tank, much cheaper. You can get these on china wholesalers sites I won't link them in case it is against the forums rules.

Turtles water gets dirty very fast no matter how good the filtration is. I used a water conditioner that was especially for turtles to help slime the skin unfortunately the water would have a grimmy appearance as a result. I use to get a two weeks of clear crystal water before it become murky. If you have a plastic tank you dont see the dirt as much cause you can only look from the top. Turtles won't suffer from ammonia in the water as much as fish because they get breath from the air.

And a tank size for an adult male is 50+ gallons, while a female is 80+!

Demonique · 29-09-2011 11:23am

Reptile Haven in Fishamble Street has musk turtles

Wibbs · 04-10-2011 4:19pm

musk/mud turtles are a very good species to try. Great characters(yep really) and are very hardy when adults. They rarely get beyond 4inch/10cm in shell length which is a major advantage compared to any of the slider family, some of whom will hit 15 inches in size.

Reptile Haven couldn't come recommended highly enough either. Very knowledgeable people, who won't BS you just to make a sale. Quite the opposite in fact. Ben really knows his stuff. Like I say couldn't praise them highly enough, which is a sadly rare state of affairs these days.

terrapins

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