Overview on Taking Care of a Turtle

Turtles are crawling invertebrates, their body protects from the outside a strong skeleton in the form of a shell, the house where it protects from any danger, its skin is covered by strong sheets, has no teeth but its mouth has strong muscles, helps it to bite and catch food, is cold-blooded and enters hibernation in winter.

The age of turtles can be determined by counting the rings on their shells just as in the trees, turtles from perennial animals that live about 100 years or more, breed with eggs, their brain is small compared to the size of their body and shell, but nevertheless studies have shown that turtles have the ability to play, the ability to memorize the paths of mazes with a memory of seven months, as well as the ability to distinguish colors and the movement of their head is fast compared to the nature of their body movement.

Turtles can be reared at home because they are thin, harmless and quiet creatures that do not make disturbing noises, and breeding is inexpensive.

Turtle species

Water turtles: that is, those who live in water, their body adapts to live there, their feet are shaped like fins to help them swim, their shell is flat to suit movement in the water, and they feed on aquatic creatures such as jellyfish, crabs and snails, usually living in salt water, and a few species adapted to live in fresh water.

Wild turtles: Those who live on land, scattered in mountainous and forest areas, where they feed mainly on vegetables, herbs and fruits, have four feet short and are characterized by their slow movement.


How to take care of Water turtles?

Turtle House
Water turtles are multiple species, all of which need a water medium to live, and some species also need an area of land, and in case of wanting to make them multiply, we must provide them with a little area of land to lay eggs in them, where they cannot put their eggs in the water to become easy prey for aquatic animals, to make a house for them we need to:

• A water basin of the size suitable for the turtle.
• In case of need, we can put an island in the middle of the basin, or on its side to climb on the turtle and rest.
• We put a filter to purify and sterilize water, and a water heating system to adjust its temperature to a certain extent that fits the type of turtle we have chosen.
• We bring fresh or salty water to suit the medium in which the turtles live.
• Put stones to brush the floor of the sink.

Food
Water turtles are generally meatless and feed on shrimp, lobster, jellyfish, grasshoppers, snails and other aquatic creatures that can be introduced to them. If we provide her with ready-made food, we must take care that it is non-creamy, non-fried, for example, burgers are not served to her, we add less vegetables and fruits to her food, to help her get nutrients that are not available in meat, and there is a nutritional balance. Cut the vegetables into small pieces and serve them at intervals. You can eat cat, dog or separated food, but in a small amount of one or two pieces per meal.

Cleanliness
We should keep the sink clean and wash it at least once every two weeks, and replace the mattresses of the sink or wash it well, including washing tools, wiping the entire surface of the basin from the inside and cleaning the filter, but about changing the water we should change the water of the basin once every two months and reduce the duration if it is observed to increase the rate of waste in it or change its color.


How to take care of Wild Turtles?

Turtle House
There is no specific specification for the wild turtle house, or where you live, but certain features can be described for an environment suitable for living:

• A place where direct sunlight arrives.
• A place with trees and a vegetation cover where you can move and hide.
• Some turtles dig into the ground to cover their heads (pits are not too deep) and sleep, making this place a night haven for them, or they may hide under leaves and grasses. Turtles enter hibernation in winter, staying hidden out of sight and light, and don't like being disturbed by them at that time.
• The gardens of the houses are suitable for living if they meet these conditions, to add a water basin to drink from, and also to allow them to have the water bath that they like, if the garden of the house is surrounded by a fence prefers to extend the fence to the ground to a depth of half a meter so as not to dig under it and exit from the opposite side.

Food
Wild turtles feed on all kinds of vegetables, foliage, herbs, melons, strawberries, apples, pears, peaches and many more, but we must be aware that feeding them a large amount of fruits harms their health, so as to contain fruits on sugars that raise their body temperature, just serve them once or twice a month, we must provide water for them, and change them every day so that they are not topped by algae, or become smelly.

Cleanliness
Remove turtle dirt and old food so it does not become a nuisance or a source of insects.


General tips for raising turtles

• When you bring a new turtle to our house, we take care not to bother it at first, because it takes two weeks to a month to adapt to the new environment and get used to it.

• When we feel sick, we take care not to touch it so that we don't cause infection.

• If we are bitten by a turtle, we wash our hands well, drink alcohol, and if we get hurt, we should go straight to see a doctor.

• We don't raise expensive fish next to turtles so they don't eat them, we raise cheap fish that can feed on them, and we don't put carnivorous fish next to them so they don't hurt them.

• We remove sugar-rich foods and fruits from them, and serve them only once or twice a month so we don't harm them.

• We remove fish and turtle food from the hands of children so that they do not throw it in the basin in large quantities, and provide it to turtles in the required quantities so that the water does not heat up to no avail and increase waste.

• Do not eat turtles on a daily basis, we can serve them day after day.

• Do not offer her spinach, lettuce and bananas at all.