The tortoise is a tortoise. Whether it’s a child looking for a pet or an adult looking to adopt, the love of animals is universal and it can be difficult to know which pets are best for your family.
If you have considered having a pet tortoise, you should know its basic needs before adopting it to ensure that you are able to provide it with adequate living conditions. Remember that these are living things that would depend on you.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF TURTLES:
Turtles are also known as turtles and are characterized by having a shell that protects the internal organs and from which the head, legs and tail stick out. As it is a reptile, it is an ectothermic animal, it depends on the external temperature or the environment. ALs turtles, like all reptiles, shed their skin, but they shed parts of their shell, not all together.
The reproduction of the turtles is oviparous and the incubation is by solar irradiation. They have a very slow metabolism and water turtles can be without breathing for a long time.
Turtles are generally considered patient, tolerant, wise, and are symbols of environmentalism and marine biology. Many myths and legends perch on its shell! As for example in Hindu mythology that ensures that the world rests on the backs of elephants standing on turtles.
IS MY HOUSE A SUITABLE PLACE TO HAVE A PET TURTLE?
It is usual to see turtles as very simple pets. After all, they are calm, and require little care as opposed to a dog, right? Let us see to what extent this is true.
A reptile requires care beyond food and water. That is why many turtles end up suffering premature deaths by neglecting aspects such as lighting, temperature or the water filtration system.
First of all, we have to ask ourselves if a house is a good place for a turtle as a pet. The answer is a depends. It depends on the needs of the type of turtle you choose.
A gopher tortoise can keep a terrarium and even live happily in a well-supervised garden. However, water turtles require more care.
As with all pets, a human house is not part of their natural habitat. But that does not mean that we can adapt it so that it has a good life.
Moreover, we would like to emphasize that if you are not willing to make the changes required to have a turtle as a pet or any animal, it is preferable not to have it.
To do this, let’s see what types of domestic turtles exist and their care.
CHILDREN’S FAVORITE TURTLES:
Small land turtles are preferred by children because of their size. They are easy to feed and care for and the good thing about having tortoises when there are children is that they can be given the responsibility of their care, which boils down to feeding them and giving them fresh, clean water every day.
If you do not want your tortoise to be free in the garden or if you are afraid of running over it with the lawnmower, you can set up a space to leave it for a few hours a day. For this, an aquarium, stones, sand, grass, sticks and leaves are enough. Surely you will be comfortable and protected… although the ideal is that you spend a few hours free in the garden.
Keep in mind that turtles are long-lived, if you buy one, it will probably be with you for the rest of your life. That is why before buying one, this detail should be taken into account.
IS IT TRUE THAT HAVING PETS LIKE TURTLES IS RISKY?
According to reports in the United States, the sale of turtles has been banned for three months because they can infect young children with salmonella, which can lead to their hospitalization, as well as the elderly and people with low defenses.
If you have turtles, be sure to thoroughly wash and sanitize your hands after touching them and never allow small children to put them in their mouths.
Salmonella can give symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhoea, it is a bacterium that remains in the body for a few days and that can in certain cases cause serious symptoms that require hospitalization. The ideal is not to have this type of pet when there are children under the age of five at home, since they tend to put their hands in their mouths without washing them and they will not understand the need to do so every time a turtle is touched.
IS IT BETTER TO HAVE MORE THAN ONE PET TURTLE TO KEEP THEM COMPANY?
First of all, it is essential to ask ourselves a much more important question, do we have enough space to have more than one turtle?
Turtles are usually solitary animals, so it is usually preferable that they do not have tank or terrarium companions. The reason is that most fights are over territory.
Although they are perceived as calm and defenseless animals, we cannot forget that they only think about surviving. If they perceive that resources are scarce, they will start fighting for them.
These fights are not limited to food, but the turtles can fight for enough water, space and light. And sometimes, despite making sure they have enough of everything, it is quite likely that clashes will occur.