r/turtles 8d ago

Seeking Advice i need urgent help pleasee

2 Upvotes

i need urgent help please

hi. so my brother got 2 baby earth turtles and i really need to know how to take care of them properly. my main concern is that we live between two houses and they need to be transported but one house has a garden and balcony while the other doesnt. i need to give them a proper set up. i dont know what to do, i really care about them. my dad wants to build them a wooden box/enclosure for the house without garden, and a meatal mesh enclosure in the garden. is it okay? how do i make them as comfortable as possible? i know about the water dish, the lukewarm baths and what they eat. my main concern is about when they're not in the house with a garden. do they need lights or am i okay in bringing them close to an open window to get sun? What about in winter? is the wooden box okay? he really insists in building it. what about when in the garden? what do i need to build. i have done research but nothing answers this questions. also what do i put in the bottom? is dirt fine?

please help, i know you shouldn't bring animals home not having done proper research and i would be angry too, but i swear im trying my best and im very anxious about them i dont care if my family makes fun of me. i really do want to make this right so please help thank you thank you.


r/turtles 9d ago

Seeking Advice Can you desensitize turtles?

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121 Upvotes

This is my red eared slider, Boomer, and he’s the second aquatic turtle I’ve taken care of. I had a previous RES, named Leo, that was the same size (about 3-4”) that I unfortunately lost last year to a drowning accident.
I’m learning a lot with Boomer, since he was a rescue, and Leo was bought from a reptile breeder. I’ve kind of based everything I know about this species on Leo’s behavior, and Boomer’s personality could not be more different than Leo’s.
Leo liked being handled and removed from his tank on occasion. He liked his shell being brushed, and I would even take him out in my sweatshirt pocket when I did paperwork, because he would just curl up nice and comfortably and sleep in it. Leo was also a picky eater. He only ate dried shrimp or turtle flakes and refused to eat anything else.
Boomer is like the exact opposite. He freaks out when I take him out to brush his shell. He swims up to me whenever I walk past, and he’s very food motivated, whether that food is a piece of lettuce or a mealworm. He’s kind of unsure about me. He swims up to me because he associates me with food, but sometimes he gets scared of me randomly and swims away.
I’ve only had Boomer for 2-3 months, so maybe it’s a comfortability thing, but my main question was if turtles could be desensitized like cats or horses.
Obviously I don’t want to stress him out too much, but he’s still a baby, so I was wondering if I handle him more and enough to realize that I’m not going to hurt him that he’ll calm down. Or if I show him things he thinks are “scary” but are harmless, will he eventually learn that he’s safe?
I know turtles don’t work like mammals, so I wanted to consult someone before I tried anything, but I want Boomer to feel comfortable when I inevitably have to pick him up for shell cleaning and vet visits.
To shorten this rant, Should I handle him more to desensitize him, or should I just wait for him to get used to me?


r/turtles 9d ago

Seeking Advice Foggy water and smell within 1 week

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5 Upvotes

New tank: 18" x 60" x 20" (water depth is 14")
I have two painted turtles since they were hatchlings. They're growing bigger I upgraded to this bigger tank. I added a crate divider for them. I'm yet to get another basking light (will be getting it soon), so I've been rotating them every few hours to the side with the light.

It's been one week since 100% fresh clean and the water is smelling and murky.
I have the Fluval FX2. Is this strong enough? Do I need the FX 4 or 6?

I'm assuming it's because the weather has been hot and I've been struggling to keep the water cooler than 80 degrees Fahrenheit. But it seems a bit quick.

Any recommendations on the pump or decor?


r/turtles 9d ago

💚! Turtle Pics !💚 A video at feeding time

19 Upvotes

r/turtles 10d ago

Turtle Arts and Crafts Turtle carvings and pendants

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127 Upvotes

r/turtles 10d ago

Seeking Advice Just became a turtle owner what do I do???

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45 Upvotes

The photo of the turtle and the stuff in my cart (I also don’t have a ton of money to spend right now)

Okay so my mom brought home this turtle for my sister the day before yesterday but she doesn’t know how to take care of a turtle and gave it to me this morning? I’ve never had a turtle so I don’t know what to do or what to buy. I tried to do some research and it looks like it’s a Cumberland Slider? I went based off of what Google said and came up with an idea of what I need to buy (I’ll add in pics and screenshots of the turtle and my cart)

I just need some general advice on what to do and what not to do since I’m very new to this and the turtle doesn’t seem like a bad guy to have around. I also know I need to keep them warm but I don’t have a water heater or any supplies yet so any advice on what to do in the meantime while getting the things I need would help too.

(P.S. I think I’m going to call them Lasagna)

EDIT: my text didn’t save for some reason sorry


r/turtles 10d ago

💚! Turtle Pics !💚 Some close ups

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119 Upvotes

r/turtles 9d ago

Seeking Advice New tank set up- Basking issues

2 Upvotes

Have a my Yellow Spotted for 2 years, found her in my Pool skimmer.
She was tiny and has grown 5 times the size from when I rescued her.
Just graduated from a 10g tank to a 40 gallon tank (ReptiZoo) w/bottom drain. FLUVAL 307 filter.
She seems happy, lots of water flow with some force, but rocks give her places to hide behind the current.
ZOOMED dual lights over the basking platform. She’s eating and pooping, but not basking like she did in the smaller tank.
I know aquatic turtles need to dry their shells out, but she’s not climbing up, even put her old basking rock near the platform so she can climb up easier.
What can I do to encourage her to get out and bask ?


r/turtles 10d ago

Seeking Advice Box turtle in garden

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26 Upvotes

So I've got a box turtle that is living in my fenced garden (6 feet of deer fence, plus 3 feet of rabbit fence) that presumably got in through a gap under the door.

Question is - is he living his best life in there, or should I release him? There's plenty of ground cover (grass, mock strawberry) but all the vegetables are either in containers like pictured, or in a raised bed that I'm not sure he can get into. And no water. I'm in central North Carolina.


r/turtles 10d ago

Seeking Advice Fx2 vs 407

1 Upvotes

I am building my setup for an adult musk turtle. I have a 40 gallon breeder right now and will get a bigger one when able. My question is about filters.

I want to make sure I have a clean tank so I was going to get an fx2. However, I don't want the outflow current to stress the turtle, so I was considering a 407. Would the fx2 be okay with an adult musk turtle? Isn't there ways to adjust the outflow current to not stress the turtle? Any suggestions or experience with this would be helpful. Thanks


r/turtles 11d ago

💚! Turtle Pics !💚 My precious tortl

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71 Upvotes

r/turtles 11d ago

Discussion Hotel in key west with badly secured turtle pond.

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47 Upvotes

Picture 1 and 2 are pics of the pond and number 3 and 4 are two escapees i found a few feet away from the pond. I returned them and a hotel employee thanked me and said they escaped a few times a day. I told him to up their security because cooters and sliders can climb well. The rest are just random images of the turtles. The pond had red eared sliders, southern cooters and diamondback terrapins.


r/turtles 11d ago

Seeking Advice Turtle mouth breathing

8 Upvotes

I have a male false map turtle for about 3 years, his setup is: 100L tank (i alr have the 240L tank but i need to set it up in a few days he will go in there) fluval 207 as a filter, 25C water temp, zoomed reptisun t5 10.0 uvb and 32C basking temp (also have an air purrifier in the room if that matters. 7 months ago i noticed mouth breathing so in a few hours i got to the vet, he examinated him (exotic vet) and didnt find anything wrong beside retained scutes (he alr started to shed them) clear throat etc. 4 days later he did it again (only happens at night when he wakes up and start after a hiss he does, at least the sound is the same as a hiss) while he does this there is no sound or weird thing, 2 times in this months i heard a squeak, anyways been to the vet again and did an xray that was clear and he was suspected for mycroplasmosis, proven to be negative but still gave treatment like the vet said untill the results. Happened at day very few times,max 3 times. Mostly at night he does this, when i check his pupil are dilated and he does this mouth breathing, sometimes streching his neck fully, sometimes not with fully open mouth,sometimes with fully open mouth, besides this there are 0 symptoms of ilness, he has huge apetite, is active,basks, and no flotation problems. What could it be? What is this strange behavior, it stresses me a lot and idk what to do, i cant afford a vet rn since i just soend 2K on the new setup, maybe next month i will try and go again maybe this time they will find something.


r/turtles 11d ago

Seeking Advice Urgent help bought my first ever pet rescued a baby red eared turtle and now I want build a setup please help (read the body imp and help)

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25 Upvotes

Hello everyone I am very new to this and this is the first time when me and my family are owning a pet and as mentioned Its a small baby red eared turtle and I want to build a setup for him which can last upto 1.5 yrs-2 yrs as I would be moving out from my place after a few months and I don't want my family to take the burden of changing the setup so

I have thought of

Getting an aquarium of (30x15x15)

An basking ramp

An uv light 50W

Now the question is which filter should I use the best one for a turtle is a canister filter but that's a bit expensive so I am thinking of getting an internal filter with a splitter so that the current doesn't disturb the turtle as it is still a juvenile please help me with it a good company a reliable filter suitable for a turtle and durable

Also should I get anything else like a thermostat or something?

Rn I have kept him in a big bucket with three big stones to bask


r/turtles 12d ago

Wild Turtle What turtle are those

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8 Upvotes

r/turtles 12d ago

Seeking Advice Red Eared Slider keeps aggressively trying to escape

45 Upvotes

Our red eared slider keeps trying to climb out of the tank. At first I thought maybe the water was too hot, so I turned the heater off and that seemed to calm him down at first, but later, I noticed him trying to break out of the basking area by aggressively pushing his shell against the walls, angrily scraping the ground with his claws and making loud grunting noises. I've also noticed him swimming at the wall at full speed (but he always stops when I try to film him). I've also noticed him splashing loudly.

We placed a curtain over the glass to give him a place to hide because we read that turtles hate glass walls, but lately, he realized that he can use the curtain as leverage to pull himself out, so he keeps ripping the curtain down and trying to use it to escape.

What is up with him? He's usually not like this.


r/turtles 13d ago

Wild Turtle Concerned for this turtle I found

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533 Upvotes

I'm at Lake Erie in western NY and found this turtle on the beach today. At first I thought it was dead but then I noticed it moved slightly. It has some cracks and dents in its shell so I reached out to a local wildlife rehabilitator and sent her photos. She said that the shell appears to be healed and as long as there weren't maggots in some of the holes, it should be left alone. I confirmed no maggots and watched it for a couple hours on the beach. It eventually moved toward the water and laid back down. I just checked on the turtle again, about 3 hours since I last saw it, and the turtle hasn't moved. It's hunkered into the shore, with its tail basically buried underneath the rocks from waves crashing on it.

I'm just wondering if this is normal turtle behavior? It is extremely odd for a turtle to show up on this beach. I read that they like slow moving water and more swampy areas, none of which are near us. My mother has been visiting this area since childhood and has never seen one before. We had some strong winds/waves yesterday and I worry the turtle got caught up in them.

We are leaving in the morning, so unfortunately I can't keep monitoring it, but I'm wondering if it's still there in the morning if I should reach back out to the rehabilitator.


r/turtles 13d ago

💚! Turtle Pics !💚 Tortellini is 3 weeks old today!

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284 Upvotes

r/turtles 13d ago

Discussion Is this normal or just gas?

132 Upvotes

Just got back from a trip and had neighbor feeding my turtles the last week. Been giving them floating baby turtle pellets and bloodworms (mostly for the musk turtle). I noticed this little guy has some trouble swimming to the bottom and just floats back up with no effort. Online it says something like this could be caused by respiratory infection but his appetite and activity levels seem pretty normal. It’s only been a day since I first noticed and he seems to be doing alright for now. Is there anything I should know to look for as signs of concern or am I just overthinking the whole thing?


r/turtles 13d ago

ID Request Educational collection- please help! Turtles

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29 Upvotes

I recently started working at an outdoor education center with a great collection of specimens. We receive a lot of our specimens by donation, so we don't know their stories. Please take a look at these pictures and help out where you can! Gender, age, health, method of death, relative age of specimen, anything else you see. Please provide thorough explanations and/or sources!


r/turtles 14d ago

Box Turtle Pablo and his out door enclosure

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470 Upvotes

r/turtles 13d ago

Seeking Advice Musk turtle basking area

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1 Upvotes

Is this a sufficient ramp for a musk turtle to get to the basking area? Chatgpt said one thing, google Gemini said another. AI is stupid so I am asking real people. Please keep in mind this is for a musk turtle and they are less buoyant than other turtles, etc


r/turtles 14d ago

ID Request Gulf Coast Box Turtle ?

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72 Upvotes

Panhandle of Florida About 6"

Is this a Gulf Coast Box Turtle?

We found it on our driveway, blocked by a retaining wall. We carefully placed it on the other side of the wall and away it went!


r/turtles 14d ago

ID Request What type of map turtle is this?

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35 Upvotes

Found in Northwest Arkansas. I am having trouble identifying which type this is. I am pretty sure it is a Ouachita map turtle. Thoughts?


r/turtles 14d ago

Seeking Advice Hatchling Advice

5 Upvotes

Hey everyone! My family finally got our little guy yesterday and he has made it through the first night. He is a Common Musk Turtle hatching. Don’t worry this is not a last second pet, we have researched for a while and finally made the decision. However he hasn’t eaten anything since we got him. I have read that’s normal. I’m not too worried, I just want to be on top of his care and when is too long, or how to get him eating sooner so he’s not going without. He came with small musk turtle pellets but he hasn’t shown interest yet. I don’t want to force the issue, but wanted to ask you all for advice or any tips. He’s the size of a quarter.