Other pets (pics and discussions)

[snakehill]

water turtles are high maintenance.

VERY high maintenance!!!!

[RedSidedSPR]

So what about ground turtles? I could go catch a box turtle right now!

Not that I would. I coulnt keep a turtle now anyway.

[Floof]

OH yes, aquatic turtles are not for the faint of heart. I knew how high maintenance they are when I got my first RES, and I'm still finding it just incredibly daunting some days. WOW. Definitely a change from tortoises and snakes. :P

So what about ground turtles? I could go catch a box turtle right now!

Not that I would. I coulnt keep a turtle now anyway.

I'm pretty sure that's extremely illegal in most states...

Box turtles are some of the more high maintenance of the more "common" land-dwelling species. If you ever do decide to get a turtle/tortoise, look into the Russian tortoises and similar species. They still need big space (you're looking minimum 4 feet for an adult male--larger for females) for their small size, but they're sooo much lower maintenance than the turtles. But I'm in love with Russians, so I may be a little biased... lol. If you just plain like Boxies better, they aren't too bad. Still high-maintenance, but not nearly as bad as an aquatic turtle!

Which reminds me. I still don't have a garter snake (but the expo is coming up, and I'm making a bee-line for Don's table... Fingers crossed he has some concinnus available!!!), so they aren't really the "other" pets, lol, but here's some pics of my shelled pets since we're on the subject... These were taken earlier this afternoon.

Here's my little Leopard tortoise rescue. He has a broken beak, and hasn't been eating terribly well, so I was super thrilled to notice new growth lines when going over the pics from today. WOOHOO! He's gained 14 grams since I got him in July, weighing in at 57 grams this evening. By no means a lot, but pretty good if the previous owner was at all serious about him being 2 years old! :P

(Back in July, for comparison...)


And the RES. He bugs me big time. These guys are supposed to be stupidly hardy, but this one refuses to thrive. I don't know what the deal is. If I'm doing something wrong, or if he was just cared for really poorly at some point and it's starting to catch up... I wish I could just dump him in the pond and let him have-at, but I kind of need to put a turtle-proof barrier up first so he can't escape... :P Oh, right, pics--nearly forgot the whole point.


Now let's see if I can remember to actually get pics of the snakes and beardies up here in the next day or two this time! For now it's bed time... Mmm, sleep...

[guidofatherof5]

Nice to see you on the forum. Hope you get that garter soon. Don has some very nice snakes.
Might your RES be a female? I don't see the very long front nails I usually see on the males.

[RedSidedSPR]

Awesome turtles!!! Thanks for that long reply.

You make it seem quite difficult. I think I'll hold off on the turtles....

Good luck with the garters!

[Floof]

Steve - I hope so too! I've been wanting a garter for a long time now... I even have a little cup of nightcrawlers in my fridge waiting, lol! I'll be so bummed if Don is short on the ones I've been wanting. I just found out yesterday that Tortoise Supply, a great breeder out of Vegas, is skipping the show up here this year... So sad, I was dying to get my hands on one of his Russians! (I kind of have a running list for the expo... That's what happens when they only come once a year--it's like Christmas... LOL)

He may be female, I'm really not sure. He's only about 4" right now, so a bit small to tell just yet. If he doesn't die from whatever the heck is going on, I definitely have my fingers crossed for male. Those female RES can get humongous! :P

RedSidedSPR - From what I've been told very often, once you have them set up, they aren't too bad. Especially RES... They're almost bullet-proof. I pet-sat an 8" female for a couple months earlier this summer who was being kept in a 20 gallon tank with 2 map turtles and a filter that had stopped working a long, long time ago, yet was the picture of health (good news is, I talked the owner into upgrading them to a 75.. Still too small for the 3 of them, but a million times better than a 20 gallon!!). I can't help but think there's something wrong with mine, or something seriously wrong with my care regiment that I just haven't been able to hash out, because for a RES to fail to thrive is almost unheard of. If you like turtles, don't be too discouraged... They're fantastic animals to own, and definitely worth the effort; you just have to prepare yourself for what you're getting into.

[RedSidedSPR]

Yeah I DO want some. I just don't even have the room. Someday....

[d_virginiana]

I run into the 'no room or money' problem too... If I didn't, the entire house would be overrun with various scaly, slimy, shelled critters. Not that that's a bad thing

[RedSidedSPR]

Yup. Me too. I'd have the T.everything Ranch! Mostly garters, of course...

[Mrs N1ntndo]

I think the little turtle is a cutie.