Turtle experts - help please | ExpatWoman.com
 

Turtle experts - help please

13
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 17 January 2012 - 23:04

Dear ladies,
we have adopted a turtle last week without much planning or prior knowledge. Our maid's friend has been moving families and not allowed to take her turtle to a new apartment and so was looking for a new home for it. I was told the turtle lived in a garden so assumed it was a land tortoise and easy to keep but it turned out to be a water turtle: red eared slider as i found out by now by googling it. It came with a plastic bucket which is way too small and doesn't allow any space for a poor creature to swim and the previous owner said that she used to keep it in a garden, would let it out to roam around for sometime and then would put her back in the bucket to "rest". The more I read about this type of turtle the wronger it sounds. Would much appreciate some tips from experts as to what can we do to make sure this guy has a decent life with us - is it better to keep him indoors/ outdoors; what to feed him, where to buy a decent size tank. It tried a few shops for a big tank but no luck. He is about 10-12 cm long . Would be grateful for any help!

2340
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 February 2012 - 07:49
Have you had any luck finding a home for it? We have a similar problem, a RES appeared in our garden about a year ago. We bought a tank for him but he was clearly unhappy and got ill so he's now back outside in a large plastic tub where he seems much healthier. We are in a rented property though and the landlord is not allowing us to build a pond so we have no idea what to do with him and he can't stay in a plastic tub permanently. Would love to know if you are successful finding a home. Poor fella! Thank goodness he found you though...someone prepared to at least try for him. :) You could try contacting DARC or Posh Paws. Both will do whatever they can to help animals of any kind. DARC - https://www.facebook.com/darcuae Posh Paws - http://poshpawsdubai.com/
1042
Posts
EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 01 February 2012 - 01:41
Have you had any luck finding a home for it? We have a similar problem, a RES appeared in our garden about a year ago. We bought a tank for him but he was clearly unhappy and got ill so he's now back outside in a large plastic tub where he seems much healthier. We are in a rented property though and the landlord is not allowing us to build a pond so we have no idea what to do with him and he can't stay in a plastic tub permanently. Would love to know if you are successful finding a home.
13
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 23 January 2012 - 21:54
Thank you ladies! Have read all the info and more and slept on it a few nights and think I'd better look for another home for Rozie (this is how the kids call it)). Husband is not enthusiastic about investment into proper tank/ equipment etc, says he doesn't like an idea of a turtle in an acquarium and the whole reason he initially agreed to it was that it can live in the garden. If we want to keep her in the garden in good conditions, we probably need to make a reasonable size pond and find a way to keep our dog out. all in all probably too much for us at this stage.. I will put an add on Dubizzle but if anyone knows of any turtle enthusiasts who may be interested and are well set up to keep a RES please put me in touch with them.
2340
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 18 January 2012 - 12:59
Hi Kesha...we had two red-eared sliders while we were in Dubai. Once you're set up properly, they are not hard work, but they are work. They are gorgeous, lively, friendly, fun little pets but they are smelly, dirty litle critters. ;) I was surprised just how often I needed to clean their tank (and I never fed them in there). roxdv is right...they are very sensitive so it's important to get their diet and climate right. Ours used to appear to 'play' together. I don't know if they like to have others of their kind but it would be worth checking if they are 'happy' as solitary pets. They are moody too! I know ours used to sulk if we fed them too late. :D They need a surprisingly large tank...at least 10gal per inch of shell per turtle. They can reach 9" across so that's at least a 90gal tank per turtle plus 10-15% more for basking space. In AC you'll need: - large, covered tank - UVB light - heat lamp - basking platform - water heater - GOOD filter - pellet food, fresh veg & water plants; live or dried shrimp Turtles can carry salmonella so good hygeine practices are vital when handling them. I used to let the children feed them (it's fun!) but watched closely that they never put their hands near their mouths until they had been thoroughly washed. Assume yours has salmonella then you'll be more careful. ;) Once you've done the research, if you think it just too much for you, you could always advertise it on dubizzle for adoption to a knowledgeable home that is already set up for them. (just be careful to thoroughly check out any applicants!)
13
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 17 January 2012 - 23:28
Thank you so much Roxdv! Does sound pretty complex but we'd give it a try.
65
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 17 January 2012 - 23:11
Hi Kesha, I had 2 red eared slider.. First of all - they are very sensitive things, that are prone to all sorts of illnesses.. have a look here http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/caresheet-red_ear_slider.htm You can get all you need to care for them at Dragon Mart at a decent price. You need a UV light and a rock (for basking) the water mustn't be too cold and also get a filter. The site i have suggested is great! We eventually had to get rid of ours as we could not care for them correctly plus my cat just LOOOVED them! PS - They suffer depression.. NO WORD OF A LIE! Best of luck xx
 
 

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