Cheap Pet Insurance

April 5th, 2009 by Lucille Green

Turtles are fascinating pets to own, but many people get them not knowing how to look after them. Their fundamental needs are space, the right amount of light and shade as well as moisture to survive, so you ought to be familiar with their basic needs before you acquire one. The open-air is the best place for holding a turtle since in winter the would go to sleep and remain inactive, but once kept indoors, they are unable to do this, which results in liver ailments. Their normal cycle should not be messed with so keeping a pen open-air means you can create a entirely normal habitat for them.

During their hide and sleep period, some individuals keep their pet indoor turtles in the icebox. This action is not wise as there could be a power outage and the temperature inside the icebox could rise, this would come in the way of their regular hibernation. This can be fatal for them so if you plan on keeping your pets inside, don’t let them hibernate. In case you are very particular about holding the turtle indoors, make sure that you build a tank with 40 gallon capability where there are sufficient areas for land and water.

If you really decide to keep the turtle indoors, you need a tank of forty gallon capacity, with clearly demarcated areas for land and water. Sixty six percent of the aquarium should be water and one-third should be land because you need a place where they can lay in the heat of a lamp. The most ideal temperature of the aquarium are about eighty degrees and seventy degrees during daytime and night respectively. Because they are cold-blooded animals, they would need more time to acclimatize to temperature fluctuations.

Some turtles carry salmonella so be sure to wash your hands after handling them, but, their environment also needs to be kept clean too. Keep the water clean and free from waste matter, so it could be a good idea to invest in a water filtration system to make this happen. You should not use water from the faucet for the tank, because it contains chlorine and fluoride which can really spoil the ph balance. Use filtered out water for drinking purposes and de-chlorinated water for their swimming needs.

There are many commercial diets available for turtles but dietary demands differ depending on the species, still, you should not feed your pet more than 2 to 3 times a week. Make sure that the water is kept free from wood chips or tree barks as these contaminants can create problems for the turtle, and to top it, these also act as pollutants giving way to the growth of fungus and molds. It is a fact that turtles need 12 hours of sunshine to remain healthy, so in case you are thinking of holding the creature indoors, make sure that you have a UV lamp for the tank, which offers the necessary vitamin D3.

This is why you see these creatures basking in the sunlight for hours, so when inside keep the tank at a place where there is not much temperature variation and some shady area for them to unwind. Although available at most pet stores, you could also make them at home with wood and stones but if you keep aquatic plants in the tank, make sure that they are not harmful to the creatures. The behavioral pattern of a turtle is very absorbing and then can provide good entertainment for the whole family.