How To Look After Terrapins & Turtles

Let's get our first fun fact cleared up right at the beginning - turtles are reptiles, not amphibians. Sure they're equally happy in both land and water - except for tortoises that will drown if put in deep water - but this does not make them amphibians. In fact, turtles are pretty unique as reptiles as the only ones to actually grow an external shell made of bone! And it seems all that calcium goes right into that shell because turtles don't have teeth. They've got a pretty sharp beak that will take your finger right off if you're not fast enough but then, you are faster than a turtle right?

All living turtles belong to the crown group Chelonia and there about 300 species existing today, although a fair few are on the endangered list. Turtles are local to every continent, except Antarctica, and every ocean, except the Arctic. Wondering why they don't live in the coldest regions? You guessed it! As reptiles, turtles are cold-blooded and hence cannot generate their own body heat. But literally everywhere else you look you're likely to find turtles and this is probably because they're one of the oldest living species of reptile, having been around for about 215 million years.

The turtle's shell is called its 'exoskeleton' which basically means the 'outer skeleton' made of bone. The turtle exoskeleton, or shell, grows out from its ribs to fuse with the backbone and is formed of large plates called scutes. The upper part of the shell is called the carapace and the lower part is called the plastron. This lower belly is how you tell the males and females apart. In males, the plastron is concave while in the females it is flat. Not all turtle shells are hard. In fact, some are downright 'soft' earning some turtles the name 'leatherback.' (The leatherback sea turtle, by the way, grows to be one of the largest turtles in existence at around two meters long.)

Another little known fact about turtles is their well-developed sense of sight and smell. This, second to their shells, is their greatest defense against predators. If they can see or smell an attack far away enough they can drag themselves into safety under mud, water or a large rock before the predator gets close enough to do some real damage. The pancake tortoise, for instance, has a soft-shell but this helps it much more than a hard shell would by allowing it to squeeze into rock crevices to escape attack.

All turtles and tortoises breathe water and although they can go for extended periods of time underwater eventually they all must resurface. This includes the Australian freshwater turtle which has a most fascinating feature near its cloacal cavity. These are the blood-rich papillae that are able to absorb dissolved oxygen straight from water, similarly to fish gills, allowing it to stay underwater much longer than many of its counterparts.

Turtles are extremely fascinating creatures and the more information you find out about them, the more you want to know. Keeping one as a pet entails knowing a lot more than you would need to know about other animals but it is definitely well worth the effort. Look up turtles and turtle facts online, in books, at pet-shops - find out everything you can before getting one as a pet but do get one if you've been thinking about it. They make great pets!

When it comes to the care of your pet turtle or terrapin are you sure you know what you're doing? Or perhaps you've read up on it a little but find you keep forgetting important things, like changing its water every three days or so? Turtles actually need a pretty well thought-out environment to live happily in, as well as a lot more care and attention than people realize.

Probably one of the best ways to keep reminding yourself of how to care for your pet is to pin a 'care sheet' somewhere really obvious, like above the turtle's tank for instance. This care sheet can be one you print out from a good website (like www.wnyherp.org/care-sheets/turtles or www.popularpets.net/turtles/care-sheets.php) or one you create yourself using information from different sources. In any case, the more research you do, the better.

One of the most important aspects to turtle care is, obviously enough, what you feed them. What are less obvious are the subtle differences between turtle types in terms of what to feed them and at what age. A general rule of thumb is if it's a baby turtle you feed it meat (cooked or fat-free) and as it gets older you start adding more and more leafy greens to its diet. Older turtles will be almost entirely herbivorous but a balanced diet is still essential.

But does a slider eat the same thing as a painted turtle? And what precisely does a terrapin eat? (A terrapin, by the way, is usually just the term used for pet turtle in the United Kingdom so you need to figure out what kind of 'terrapin' you have before finding the right care sheet for it.) Further, what on earth is the right environment for a box turtle? (Also known as a tortoise, the box turtle is a fully terrestrial reptile so do not put it in water, it will drown. And die.)

Then again, you've got details like nutrition supplements and ambient temperature to think about. There are mineral and vitamin supplements you can add to your turtle's diet about once a week or so but how much is right for your pet? What kind of turtle needs what kind of supplement? It is generally advisable to put a calcium block in the turtle's dry habitat for them to snack on occasionally. That helps to ensure good shell health, as do daily doses of unfiltered, natural sunlight.

In any case, a turtle care sheet that you create and keep updating regularly as you learn more about your turtle can make all the difference. If you are away on a trip, for instance, or your turtle out-lives you (some grow to be a hundred years old!), then the care sheet will ensure that your pet continues to be cared for in the best possible way.