Buying a Pet Turtle
There are a few things to consider when buying a turtle. First of all turtles carry the salmonella bacteria. You should avoid buying a turtle for small children and/or your family is expecting a baby on the way. Additionally, you should keep turtles away from people that have a weak immune system. You should never buy a turtle as a novelty gift. Turtles can live up to 40 years old, and the average life of a pet turtle is 20 years. Taking this into consideration, expect to have your turtle pet for a long time.
When you are ready to purchase your pet turtle you should only consider buying a turtle from a reputable pet store. When looking for a store to purchase from check the turtles living environment. Are the living areas clean? Are there too many turtles in one tank? Sometimes overpopulation can lead to health problems among reptiles. The next thing you will want to do is carefully examine the turtle. Check to see if the turtle resists you touching it. The turtle should withdraw his head if you make an attempt towards it. Caution: do not attempt to stick your finger in front of the turtles face, then can bite very easily.
If the turtle does not make any attempts to avoid you this could be signs that the turtle may be sick. You will also want to examine the turtle’s skin. If it is dry and cracked sometimes it can be a sign a shedding, but if you examine a little more closely you may be able to determine if the turtle may have a fungus. At times the cause of a fungus could be from a cut on the skin. Avoid purchasing a turtle if the shell is soft. Turtles can develop a condition called shell rot, and should be examined by a vet or reptile specialist.
You may also find turtles at your local animal or reptile rescue center. Because of the long life of turtles, some owners decide that caring for a turtle is too much responsibility and may take them to an animal shelter or reptile rescue center. Although at first thought it may sound like adopting a turtle from one of these places may sound a little out of the ordinary, however the care that these turtles can receive from such a center will usually be better than that of a pet store. At an animal shelter or rescue center all animals are carefully examined by a vet or specialist before letting someone adopt them. You may also receive better help for questions you may have about the pet’s health.
Last but certainly not least, you should have a home set up for the turtle before you bring it home. Often times a turtles new home may be an extensive project so you will want to take your time with it. Avoid bringing your turtle home and leaving it in the container from the pet store while you work on its new home. The turtle has probably endured some trauma in the past couple of weeks and will want a place to come home to and relax. With this being said, you should also avoid constant handling and attention at first. Let the turtle get used to his new home for a while and drop by only a few times a day.
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