Turtle Care - Tips for Raising Healthy Baby Turtles ( turtle cages )

Tips for Raising Healthy Baby Turtles ( turtle cages ) - The turtle is very cute and appealing to people, as are many baby animals. Nevertheless, it is illegal to purchase a turtle throughout the United States of America. (See U.S. Food and Drug Administration Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, Subpart D, Sec. 1240.62--Turtles intrastate and interstate requirements) There are a few exceptions to this law however, for bona fide scientific, educational. The primary reason for this is because the hatchling turtle is deemed to be a greater risk for Salmonella compared to adult turtles. Turtle baby are most likely to be handled by children who do not necessarily practice good personal hygiene; therefore the turtles' care must be properly and strictly observed.

To begin, you must be committed to caring for your turtle for a long time, as their lifespan is close to that of humans. If you take excellent care of them, they may even outlive you!

Interested turtle keepers must first find out the species of turtle they want to keep. Not only must you provide suitable housing and the right kind of food to your pet; you must also know which species of turtle best suits your lifestyle and living conditions. There are some classes of turtle that grow extremely large, and cannot be kept as domesticated animals. Fortunately, there are a good number of turtle species that have docile personalities and grow to a manageable size as adults, making them suitable for captivity. Once you have purchased the turtle most suitable to your needs, you can move on to providing a good habitat for your pet.

Be sure to provide the turtles with a place to bask, swim, and hide, as these are the primary daily activities of your new pet. Not only do turtles enjoy these activities, they are essential to the turtles' overall good health. Turtle hatchlings can be best kept in plastic tubs or aquariums so you can monitor them more closely. Hatchling care requires constant temperature regulation. It is advisable to use a heater to maintain a controlled and sustained warm temperature within the area. If there are no heat or temperature-regulating devices available, place your pet's housing in a location where they can receive abundant natural lighting.

Feeding baby turtlr may be the most challenging part of your hatchlings' care. At first, they may not even eat at all, no matter what type of food you offer them! This is just their normal behavior at this stage, so you need not worry too much. Although turtles are omnivorous, the young ones are most likely to behave as largely carnivorous animals. Hatchlings are very picky in the food that they approve of eating. Start off by feeding them small, live insects and worms. As they mature, you may find that their range of food preference also broadens. They then can be fed fruits and vegetables, or even the processed food intended for the mature turtle's diet.

If you are keeping more than one turtle, pay extra attention to your pets, in order to be certain that each one of them maintains optimum health.

If there are children in your household, teach them that observing good personal hygiene is a vital part of their pet hatchlings' care. Turtles have proven to be one of the best animals to keep, and once you get into the rhythm of excellent, responsible care for your hatchlings, you'll be a happy and satisfied turtle owner for years!

Locate A Snapping Turtle Nest ( Turtle Cages )

Locate A Snapping Turtle Nest ( Turtle Cages ) - Snapping Turtles are powerful, enduring and beautiful creatures that have been around for millions of years. Their evolution occurred earlier than most other turtles and their rugged design has not changed since. While the common snapping turtle has a wide distribution and strong numbers, in northern regions of the United States there can be as few as 1-5 snappers per hectacre. Numbers in the southern United States can be more promising and have as many as 65 snapping turtles per hectacre. The alligator snapping turtle, on the other hand, is considered threatened and is protected by law in many states. The snapping turtle in fact, can lay clutches of 20-50 eggs, but only about 133 of every 1,300 eggs survive to leave the nest. Out of those 133 hatchlings, just 1 will survive to adulthood. Most eggs and hatchlings fall victim to predation within the first 3 years of life, if not before they even hatch. What some groups do is protect the nests and capture hatchlings as they climb out. These hatchlings can then be raised for about 3 years and released to the wild or just transported to the nearest body of water safely.

The hardest part of conserving and studying snapping turtle nests is, by far, finding a nest. Snapping turtles lay eggs on dry land, away from flood planes. Often this is about 100-500 meters away from the female's usual habitat, but sometimes it can be up to a mile away. Quite often we see these turtle nests in odd places such as front lawns, man-made mulch hiking trails, gravel on the shoulder of roads, and even loose gravel driveways. Between lawn mowers, foot traffic, and car tires, these turtles are not stacking the odds of survival in their favor. I personally have raised snapping turtlehatchlings that I have found trying to cross 3 or 4 roads to get to a water source that would seem to be a 2 day marathon for the little guy.

Locating a snapping turtle nest

Knowing when: Snapping turtles dig their nest and lay eggs in May and June. If you are stalking for a nest, you should start in early May. (We'll explain in a bit) If you are scouting for a nest, you can do this through July and August.

Scouting for a nest: This is the hardest and most unsuccessful method of finding a nest. This involves pacing the perimeter of a section of a pond or lake, starting at about 40 yards out and incrementally moving farther away from the water. Doing a thorough sweep of a section of land, be on the lookout for a circle, about 10 inches in diameter, of loose, tilled up dirt. This can be on high ground in grassy spots, leafy spots, mulch, sometimes slightly recessed. See how this can be difficult? It can be anywhere up to a mile away from water.

Stalking for a nest: This is time consuming, but can be relaxing and highly effective. Right as the snapping turtles are getting ready to begin nesting, simply sit back in your lawn chair and your binoculars and observe turtle behavior at a pond or lake. Spending your evenings observing turtles leaving the water to go on land, you can stay a good distance away and watch the turtle dig the nest. If you can, stick around and see if she begins laying the eggs because sometimes they just dig nests to test out the spot. If it is a backyard pond, ideally you can even get some cameras pointing out the back porch for some of the time you can't be there observing.

Once you know the nesting location, do not dig up the nest unless you are highly skilled at taking care of turtle eggs. The embryos attach to the top side of the egg shell and rolling them over will kill them. Not to mention having to incubate the eggs even if you do successfully transport them. The safest way to capture the hatchlings is to make a fine mesh box that you can set over the nest without disturbing it. Starting in mid August, begin checking the mesh cage once or twice a day, everyday. If a few hatchlings emerge, remove them and place the mesh box back over the nest until you are certain that all viable eggs have hatched.

by James

Pet Turtle Types- Quick Guide of the Many Types of Turtles

When considering getting a new pet your options are limitless. In one pet group alone, lets say dogs, the number of breeds with their own individual characteristics and personality traits is endless. However finding a pet thet suits you, as far as your family situation and living conditions is a whole different story.

Do you have the time and resources to walk a dog, clean a cats litter box or maybe even train a horse? Or do you live in an apartment or condo where your pet options are much more limited? If this is the case you may want to learn about pet turtle types.

Have you had pets for years, or are you looking more for a low maintenance or "starter" pet? Maybe even your child's first test drive for the responsibilties of pet ownership. Regardless of your situation a pet turtle could be a great addition to your family. A little information on the different turtle types will help you choose the right turtle.

There are four basic types of turtles: Turtles, terrapins, tortoises and sea turtles. These are all turtles, but with their own unique lifestyles and manuerisms.

First off theres the turtle. Two prime examples of turtles are the red eared slider and the painted turtle. These are considered turtles because they're amphibious, meaning they live partially on land and in water.

This is far different from the terrestrial, or land dwelling tortoise. A box turtle is a good example of a tortoise. If you thought turtles and tortoises were one in the same you need to read on. If you put a box turtle in a painted turtles amphibious habitat with a swimming area, your little tortoise could drown! Tortoises have been known to wade in shallow waters, but can get fatigued and drown if they can't easily escape deep waters.

The terrapin is actually what a pet turtle/tortoise is refered to in the UK. If you ever visit england and start bragging about your pet turtle be prepared for some funny looks. When people in the UK discuss turtles they're refering to sea turtles, which can grow to a whopping 2 meters and are certainly not considered pets. Therefore, pet turtles are dubbed terrapins.

Sea turtles inhabit every ocean in the world except for the arctic ocean. It is far too cold to support a sea turtle. As beautiful and magestic as they are, most sea turtles are not considered pets. However there are fully aquatic turtles that you can keep in their fish tanks. To avoid confusion these are simply labeled "aquatic" turtles in pet stores.

Depending on whether you have a turtle, tortoise or terrapin the animals diet will vary. Some turtles like minnows and other feeder fish while others prefer pellet foods and maybe the occasional insect snack. Most all types of turtle/tortoises enjoy leafy greens as a healthy nutrient rich staple of their diet.

All turtle diets are not created equal, but with a little know how, pinpointing the best food for your turtle can be a painless experience. You could talk to the people at pet stores for ideas or check the internet. There's a whole lot to be learned. If you don't find what your looking for, there are several different books to teach you the ins and outs of caring for pet turtles.

Whether you're interested in a turtle, tortoise, terrapin or sea turtle you can be a satisfied turtle owner in a very short time. There is a bit to learn due to the fact that people underestimate turtles as a no brainer pet. It definitely can be easy with just a little know how and routine maintenance you would give any other pet. These types of turtles all have their own unique needs and care, so adjust accordingly.

Pet turtles have a high fatality rate due to ignorance of how to care for turtles. Turtles are oftenviewed as something like a pet rock. This no maintenance neglectful attitude will cause illness and unnecessary death. No matter what your choice, make sure you educate yourself on the matter. That leaves less room for error and your pet turtle will thank you for it.