Goldie Posted July 29, 2002 Report Share Posted July 29, 2002 Interesting informative thread. Moved from Beginners Corner. Mod Bill. H.... a student vet nurse requires information on the red eared terrapin:- 1) How does one transport them across town. 2) What are their feeding requirements. 3) How do you distinguish between male and female 4) How long do they live for - on average (BARRING accidents) 5) What routine health checks need to be done. 6) How would she know if it had diarrhoea or ecto parasites. Now a word from H... herself. She is going to register here once at home for she thinks the site is fantastic. Helen here. If anyone can answer these questions it would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted July 29, 2002 Report Share Posted July 29, 2002 1. Carry them in a container 2. Must be kept warm enough to digest food. All food must be chopped small enough to swallow readily. 3/4 meat to 1/4 veges. Diced beef, chopped fish, canned dog food, chopped beef or chicken liver, beef heart, beef kidneys, earthworms. Tomato, mashed berries, green lettuce, shredded spinach, oxygen weed. Add lots of calcium to their diet. 3. Males have long tapering tails and longer claws. Females have shorter stubby tails and shorter claws. 4. Most aquatic turtles will live in captivity around 50 years 5. Examine regularly for anything that looks injured or infected. 6. Turtles should not get sick. If they do it is usually because of poor feeding, improper housing, or both. Turtles can get worms but parasites do not seem to be a problem. All this information (except No.1) was gleaned from the book Turtles by John M Mehrtens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajbroome Posted July 29, 2002 Report Share Posted July 29, 2002 Caryl said... > All this information (except No.1) was gleaned from the book > Turtles by John M Mehrtens... As someone who has had turtles for many years and bred a few at various times, I can say Caryls answers are pretty much on the nose. If anyone needs any specific info, feel free to contact. Andrew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted July 30, 2002 Report Share Posted July 30, 2002 Hi, Saw a nice huge turtle in Pets & Aquatics in Northland just recently. About the size of a dinner plate. Kept Terrapins for many years, but they loved my guppy stock too much, so I had to decide which to keep. The answer is obvious BTW Andrew. Came across a discussion on Killies on another site overseas, so I posted your link. Hope You don't mind. Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajbroome Posted July 30, 2002 Report Share Posted July 30, 2002 Bill said... > Saw a nice huge turtle in Pets & Aquatics in Northland > just recently. About the size of a dinner plate. Big females get up to about that size, males are generally much smaller. I might just get back into red-ears again now that I've got more space. At the moment all I've got is snakenecks but all going well they might breed this year... Got to do something with the swimming pool... ;-) > Came across a discussion on Killies on another site overseas, > so I posted your link. Hope You don't mind. Sure, no problem. From the NZKA site you can get to many other sites around the world. Later, Andrew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fee Posted July 30, 2002 Report Share Posted July 30, 2002 Just to add to point 1: We use and recommend transporting the turtle in Vermiculite if it is transit for a period of time. Vermiculite keeps the turtle dry yet moist as it can hold 100% or 1:1 of its volume with water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldie Posted November 25, 2002 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2002 Hi there guys n gals, a workmates Mum is shortly going to be suffering from the 'empty nest syndrom", and plans to replace her daughter with 2 turtles (probably the most common). She has been asking me what sort are best for a first time turtle owner, what does she need tankwise, lightwise - like do they need a heat lamp? etc etc Please all the information that a beginner may need to know. She has an offer of a tank - old fish tank. What do they eat etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajbroome Posted November 25, 2002 Report Share Posted November 25, 2002 Goldie said... >... a workmates Mum is shortly going to be suffering from > the 'empty nest syndrom", and plans to replace her daughter > with 2 turtles (probably the most common). > She has been asking me what sort are best for a first time > turtle owner, what does she need tankwise, lightwise - like > do they need a heat lamp? etc etc Please all the information > that a beginner may need to know. She has an offer of a tank > - old fish tank. What do they eat etc. There is some good info on the web. Have a look at: http://www.redearslider.com/ http://www.allturtles.com/ http://www.gctts.org/care_sheets/red_ea ... tle-3.html http://www.turtletimes.com/Forums/default.asp http://www.hothouseturtles.co.nz There are some good books available. I recommend: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... 70-9511921 and others at: http://www.turtlebytes.com/shop/books.htm and, for NZ conditions, http://www.hothouseturtles.co.nz/page4.html If you have any specific questions, feel free to contact me offline. Be warned, there's a bit of work involved in keeping turtles healthy and happy. Most of the above info applies to any freshwater turtle you're likely to come across in NZ. The 'red ear' is by far the most common, followed by 'snakenecks' and occasionally 'Reeves'. Andrew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennis Posted November 26, 2002 Report Share Posted November 26, 2002 andrew do u keep turtles at the mo and what kind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajbroome Posted November 26, 2002 Report Share Posted November 26, 2002 Dennis said... >... do u keep turtles at the mo and what kind I've got snakenecks at the moment. Used to have (and breed) red-ears. Have also had Reeves and softshells (Trionyx spp). Am thinking about getting some red-ears again, if I come across a nice pair at the right price (ie *very* cheap ). I sold my last breeders for $1000 but that was 5 years ago or more, when there was much more demand than there is now. Andrew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldie Posted November 26, 2002 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2002 Thanks Andrew for the links much appreciated I will hand them on and also give her daughter the link to this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennis Posted November 26, 2002 Report Share Posted November 26, 2002 thanks andrew i got one red ear at the mo that i had for a year but he was5 years old when i got him i been thinking about geting some more i wood be keen to get so other types Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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