reptilecare.com - Water Turtles

Turtles!

I currently keep three different kinds of water turtles, Spotted Turtles (Clemmys guttata, Diamondback Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) and Pink Belly Sidenecks (Emydura subglubosa).

Come here looking for Box Turtle Info?

I do not have much here except a really good diet. For Box Turtle Info please go see Tess' Box Turtle Pages.

Caring for turtles is not as simple as some people think. It involves a lot more than just putting a turtle in a bowl or 10-gallon tank. If set up properly turtles can be very easy to care for. I will not go into great detail here as there are plenty of really good care sheets elsewhere on the web. You will find some of them below.

Properly set-up aquatic tank

In general most water turtles need these things:

A large enough tank so that they are not crowded (obviously this depends on the species you are caring for).
UVB lighting in the form of a ZooMed Reptisun 5.0 or similar Fluorescent tube
A basking light can be any kind of light bulb that gives off heat. (I use regular old light bulbs you put in your lamps around the house from 40-100 watts usually.) The wattage will depend on the size of your tank and the ambient room temperature.
Proper filtration - depends on size of tank and size of species being kept. I have had good luck with good cannister filters such as the Magnum 350 and the Fluval 404. You want to get a filter that treats at least 3x the amount of water you are actually filtering. Filtration gph are based on fish needs and don't take into account the larger amounts of waste that turtles produce. For example, if you want to filter 20 gallons of water you want a filter that will do at least 60 gph.
Some species will require a water heater. These are inexpensively purchased at a pet shop or online.
A proper diet. While the pelleted foods are very good these days (I use Reptomin and Mazuri myself) it is always good to supplement with real food items such as fish, krill, bloodworms, greens etc. depending on the species.

NEW! Turtle Movie!

Click here for the Quicktime .mov

Please refer to the links below for more specific information.

My Spotted Turtles

My Diamondback Terrapins - Not up yet. Sorry.

Photo Album

General Water Turtle Care Links

CTTC General Water Turtle Care

Felice Rood's Turtle Care

Austin's Turtle Page

Great Turtle Articles by David Kirkpatrick

Pond Ideas

Tortoise Trust's Surface-mount Pond Page

Janice's Ponds

Rescue Organizations

Turtle Homes
American Tortoise Rescue

Great Books! Keep reading and learning!

I have put links to Amazon.com here for your convenience.

Turtle & Tortoise Encycl...	Tortoise Trust Guide...
Turtles of the US & Canada	Turtles of the World
Turtles & Tortoises of the World...	Turtles & Tortoises for Dummies...