Michelle Help Part II

[PrincessFiona]

My turn

Alex wants a turtle for his bday. We were all set to buy a kind of a box turtle called an ornate wood turtle but the people at the pet store told us we need a minimum of a 40 gallon aquarium plus heating pad, heating lamp and a special night lamp (or something). By the time we added up the cost it was ~$350 (so Alex is NOT getting it right now!). Does this all sound right to you? What do people with turtles DO when they go out of town for a week? Do people have to...board their turtles with the vet?

Can you make a diff. turtle suggestion? DH doesn't want to do a water turtle because of Salmonella...........

kris

Michele needs her own forum.

[Michele]

Turtles/tortoises can be expensive if you do it right. Of course there are a lot of turtles out there overfed, under enriched and they do ok for their purpose. I don't know a whole lot about non-dogs/cats, but one of my best friends in vet school had a leopard tortoise and she had a heat lamp (not a light), a UV light, a decent sized aquarium for when he was little....as he grew she upgraded...and two temp monitors to make sure the cold half of the tank was correct and the warm half was correct (plus the water bowl and plants and such). He also got daily sun exposure and grass time to walk around and munch. She researched the natural habitat and tried to mimic it as much as she could. And yes when she was on vacation, I tortoise sat. One of the techs from the hospital had one that was overfed and his scoots were all jacked up. On my wildlife rotation, they tried to get me to keep the Russian tortoise that I took care of...(illegal by the way)....they told me I could just keep him outside in my backyard! Once they get big, you actually can do that if you don't have anything poisonous out there and the dogs won't get him. They can live a really really long time if you do it right...I think leopard tortoises can live over 100 years.

Get him a fish!

[PrincessFiona]

:thud:

Bummer....I was soo looking forward to our little turtle. We've visited him so many times and we named him....Link He is such a cutie..... But...that's too much work for now and when we get one, I want to do a whole..natural habitat thing that is right for him/her.

bummer, bummer, bummer. I was hoping you'd tell me it wasn't that much work

kris

[Michele]

Sorry!

[Meenah]

Kris don't do it!!! In a few years he will be off to college and you will spend the rest of your life taking care of a turtle who will live 100 years . Trust me everyone, only get your kids animals that you also want because the kids will leave and you will still have the animals. I KNOW OF WHAT I SPEAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My parents gave me a parakeet when I was 8. It survived most of my college years. Listen to Luanne!

[Vishenka69]

I had turtle when I was little. My mom lasted less than a year and gave him away at the first opportunity. It was a land turtle, so we didn't him in an aquarium, as a result his favorite place to poop was on the rug under the couch. Needless to say that was the last pet I had while living with my parents.

[spotty_dog]

Kudos doing your research before you bought him. Some of the cutest most benign little critters have unusual needs and habits that catch new owners by surprise and it's so disappointing when the animal gets abandoned or treated sub-par because of the lack of a little investigation!

And yeah, I totally agree that when you adopt an animal for the kids, you'd better be sure you want it too because sooner or later it will probably be your responsibility primarily!

[DCJenn]

OMG- our former next door neighbor here in SA has her turtles from her childhood. Yes they are 50 year old turtles.
Jenn

[Gwendolyn]

DH's mom accidentally cooked his turtle when he was a kid. The lived in military housing with radiators and while she was cleaning his room, she just placed the aquarium on the radiator...

[MissCrabette]

:! Poor turtle. I'd feel guilty for eternity if I did that.

[alison]

DH's mom accidentally cooked his turtle when he was a kid. The lived in military housing with radiators and while she was cleaning his room, she just placed the aquarium on the radiator...

My mom cooked her brother's birds - the same way! She put the birdcage onto of the radiator when they were little!