How to take care of a pet turtle / pet tortoise?

[blackie007]

great info there, vivien & freewilly!

and i agree 100% with freewilly about not restricting a pet's food amount just to maintain a preferred size. that's inhumane....imagine your parents restricting your food because they prefer a small-sized, cute girl/boy.

[vivienlpl]

yeah dont have to follow exactly....
i dont feed my terrapins.... what fish....er... bugs...e.r....

mine is vegetarian hahaa

[blackie007]

oh, you didn't feed your shrimps to your terrapins? aww, are u reserving your shrimps for blackie?

Originally Posted by vivienlpl

yeah dont have to follow exactly....
i dont feed my terrapins.... what fish....er... bugs...e.r....

mine is vegetarian hahaa

[vivienlpl]

Originally Posted by blackie007

oh, you didn't feed your shrimps to your terrapins? aww, are u reserving your shrimps for blackie?

what.....feed my shrimps to terrapins - no way man!!!!!

not for blackie as well.....

[blackie007]

aww, none for blackie?

Originally Posted by vivienlpl

what.....feed my shrimps to terrapins - no way man!!!!!

not for blackie as well.....

[vivienlpl]

Originally Posted by blackie007

aww, none for blackie?

blackie go eat kirby biscuits

[blackie007]

kirby biscuits??? is that a new food, vivien?

Originally Posted by vivienlpl

blackie go eat kirby biscuits

[freewilly85]

Originally Posted by kimimaro84

not long after that the black one got killed by the aggressive one, so ganas go bite the head off...i am sure i feed them everyday...was so kinda scary to dig it out from the container...then next was the small turtle. He also kena makan. The head was completely eaten part of the shell was shred to pieces...huhu

when they grow big dun put finger into the tub, they will bite n never release. need kill to release i seen in a clinic b4.

That's why I say terrapins are carnivorous... They will release if they didn't mean to bite you. I have my terrapins for 11-12 years, a pair, but both were bought few years apart. If you want to mix a big terrapin with a small terrapin, make sure that the small terrapin's shell is hard enough to protect itself.

Why I say they will release if they didn't mean to bite you? Because I used to hand feed my big terrapin. I would hold the food on my hand & put in front of her. She ate happily. But sometimes she would like "aimed wrongly", the mouth went straight into my finger instead of the food. But once she bit my finger & felt not right, she would let go. Cause she knew she bit something wrong. No cut, no blood. Maybe because she is my pet for 11-12 years, that's why she didn't bite hard when taking food from my hand.

But, when I am hand feeding my boyfriend's painted terrapin (a local species), he also accidentally bit me & straight away let go. Trust me, it is not a good experience being biten by an adult painted terrapin. That time my finger got a deep cut & bleed. It was an accident though. It didn't mean to bite me that's why it released straight away.

These are just my experiences, just thought of sharing. Don't purposely make the terrapin mad & to bite you, then come running to me with the terrapin still hanging on your hand with its mouth & said that I lied by saying they will release their bites. BECAUSE THIS TIME THEY MEANT TO BITE YOU...

FreeWilly

[blackie007]

OMG, terrapins sound more dangerous than cats. at least, if stray cats bite you with the intention of biting you, they will let go and won't hang onto your hand.

[vivienlpl]

Originally Posted by blackie007

OMG, terrapins sound more dangerous than cats. at least, if stray cats bite you with the intention of biting you, they will let go and won't hang onto your hand.

send terrapin go bite blackie hahaha

[blackie007]

Blackie the cat: *munch* *munch* *munch* meowmmmmm.......yum-yum. What was that delicious biscuit? it was the biggest and crunchiest i had ever sank my fangs into.

Originally Posted by vivienlpl

send terrapin go bite blackie hahaha

[vivienlpl]

Originally Posted by blackie007

Blackie the cat: *munch* *munch* *munch* meowmmmmm.......yum-yum. What was that delicious biscuit? it was the biggest and crunchiest i had ever sank my fangs into.

eeeeeee your blackie eat what???

[kimimaro84]

Originally Posted by freewilly85

That's why I say terrapins are carnivorous... They will release if they didn't mean to bite you. I have my terrapins for 11-12 years, a pair, but both were bought few years apart. If you want to mix a big terrapin with a small terrapin, make sure that the small terrapin's shell is hard enough to protect itself.

FreeWilly

but both the 2 turtles were like brothers since the day i bought them, why wud he eat the other one? I feed daily samore...but that big one was really aggressive, when i come oni he so excited...when throw food he always rampas from the others...

[blackie007]

oops, so, so sorry, vivien. my blackie just ate one of your terrapins.

Originally Posted by vivienlpl

eeeeeee your blackie eat what???

[vivienlpl]

Originally Posted by kimimaro84

but both the 2 turtles were like brothers since the day i bought them, why wud he eat the other one? I feed daily samore...but that big one was really aggressive, when i come oni he so excited...when throw food he always rampas from the others...

every terrapins individual has their own unique characteristic too...
mine out of the 3... one is more aggressive ..
one more humble..can tell........

[abelardlim]

recent my pet (terrapin) has got some pieces of "transparent skins" at its legs and neck, may i know what kind of disease /problem it has ? if it is a skin problem, how to solve it ?

pls HELP !! urgent

[abelardlim]

Originally Posted by freewilly85

If the animals you bought are those you can easily found in pet shops or aquarium shops, selling for Rm6-8 each, they are red ear sliders. Why they are called red ear sliders? cause they have 2 red slides on their ears. They are originated from Missisipi River if I am not mistaken, thus their other name, Missisipi red ear terrapin.

They are not tortoises nor turtles. They are in a different sub group. They are terrapins. Tortoises live on lands, turtles live in waters, terrapins can live on lands & waters. So, for setup of their living place, I would suggest at least 50% water 50 % land. Lots of people keep them in 100% water, but then when they grow older, they will suffer skin diseases. They like to sun as well. Can bring them out to sun. & they are fast growing, so be sure that their tank is big enough for them. You might read or taken advises from others that if you wanna restrict an animal from growing, feed them less or starve them. I AM REALLY AGAINST THIS.

Tortoises are herbivours, turtles & terrapins are carnivours. but the captive bred terrapins now eat both plants & meat. If wanna compare, tortoises move slow where turtles & terrapins move fast. Cause tortoises wouldn't have to "chase" for their prey where turtles & terrapins have to. In the wild, terrapins can even catch birds & drag them to water to drown them before consuming them. Watch more discovery or science channels.

You can feed whatever and whenever to your terrapins. The most easiest way is buy a botol of terrapin food form aquarium shops or supermarkets. Or, can feed kangkung like other suggested. I will advise give them meat (eg, live fish, live shrimp, etc) too & not trying to turn them into 100% herbivours because it is their natural diet to consume meat. If you say the other one isn't eating, try seperating them & feed again, cause one might have taken all the food alone, leaving the other one with no food.

You can change the water as frequent as you like. Or the laziest way, change only when it is dirty enough...

FreeWilly

From Abelardlim

Recently one of my small terrapins has got some "transparent skins" at its neck and legs, may i know is it some kinds of "skin problem" ? if yes, how to resolve it and how does it happens ?

PLS HELP !! URGENT

[abelardlim]

Originally Posted by freewilly85

If the animals you bought are those you can easily found in pet shops or aquarium shops, selling for Rm6-8 each, they are red ear sliders. Why they are called red ear sliders? cause they have 2 red slides on their ears. They are originated from Missisipi River if I am not mistaken, thus their other name, Missisipi red ear terrapin.

They are not tortoises nor turtles. They are in a different sub group. They are terrapins. Tortoises live on lands, turtles live in waters, terrapins can live on lands & waters. So, for setup of their living place, I would suggest at least 50% water 50 % land. Lots of people keep them in 100% water, but then when they grow older, they will suffer skin diseases. They like to sun as well. Can bring them out to sun. & they are fast growing, so be sure that their tank is big enough for them. You might read or taken advises from others that if you wanna restrict an animal from growing, feed them less or starve them. I AM REALLY AGAINST THIS.

Tortoises are herbivours, turtles & terrapins are carnivours. but the captive bred terrapins now eat both plants & meat. If wanna compare, tortoises move slow where turtles & terrapins move fast. Cause tortoises wouldn't have to "chase" for their prey where turtles & terrapins have to. In the wild, terrapins can even catch birds & drag them to water to drown them before consuming them. Watch more discovery or science channels.

You can feed whatever and whenever to your terrapins. The most easiest way is buy a botol of terrapin food form aquarium shops or supermarkets. Or, can feed kangkung like other suggested. I will advise give them meat (eg, live fish, live shrimp, etc) too & not trying to turn them into 100% herbivours because it is their natural diet to consume meat. If you say the other one isn't eating, try seperating them & feed again, cause one might have taken all the food alone, leaving the other one with no food.

You can change the water as frequent as you like. Or the laziest way, change only when it is dirty enough...

FreeWilly

From Abelard

Recently one of my small terrapin has got some "transparent skins" at its neck and legs, does it some kind of "skins problems" ? if yes, how to resolve it ? and how it happens ?

would "skins problems" being transferred to other terrapins if they stay together ?

[abelardlim]

Recently one of my small terrapin has got some "transparent skins" at its neck and legs, does it some kind of "skins problems" ? if yes, how to resolve it ? and how it happens ?

would "skins problems" being transferred to other terrapins if they stay together

[kairul]

Hye everyone...

It's been two months since I last posted here... Very busy with assignments, exams, whatnot...

Here's a lil' update of my pets..

1-They are doing very well now
2-I've changed the aquarium coz the one I bought at the monorail was small, and the bigger one fall and crashed. Got my parents bought for me at Jalan Pasar, KL.
3-Since I bought them, three bottles of turtles' pellets had been consumed by them...

Here are the photos of the food & terrapins... =)


The third food..