keeping turtle or tortoise at home

 keeping turtle or tortoise at home 

 keeping turtle or tortoise at home 

Many owners do not pay much attention to this aspect of keeping turtles, but it is very important in bad weather conditions in order to maintain good animal appetite, in a room near the territory reserved for turtles, there should be an electrical outlet to turn on the lamp. Turtles should be gathered together in a fenced area, the floor of which is covered with a thick layer of newspapers, possibly with a sheet of plastic underneath.

Of course, hygiene is very important; children and animals (dogs, for example) should not have contact with the secretions of turtles.

The lamp should be suspended above the corral to light and warm the turtles in the daytime, which increases their appetite. For those who winter in the house, a daytime snow lamp is an important piece of paddock equipment.

Nutritional supplements. 

Calcium is especially important for the shell and bones of the turtle, and since its content in plants is relatively low, it is useful to add this vital mineral to food. You can buy ready-made vitamin-mineral supplements in a pet store and mix them with moistened food. The dose should be very small, it is indicated on the package, an overdose can be dangerous.

Water

Water should always be at the disposal of the turtle, even if apparently she drinks a little. A bowl of water should not be too deep, otherwise the turtle may fall into it and, failing to get out, will choke. Very convenient for this purpose are plastic pallets for flower pots. Water needs to be changed daily.

Overnight stay. At night, it is advisable to take turtles into the house and place them in a box covered with paper and stuffed with newspapers, cut into strips.

Thus, you will protect them from unexpected weather changes and from predators in the face of stray foxes, dogs and cats. The next morning, the turtles should again be brought out as soon as the sun begins to dry the dew that fell at night. On rainy days or if the temperature does not rise above 15 ° C, turtles should be kept in the house until the weather improves.

Shell care. In the summer months, tortoise shell can be rubbed with olive oil using cotton wool or a cloth. In addition to improving the condition and appearance of the shield, the oil allows the turtle to remain dry if it is caught in heavy rain. Most turtles do not like rain, but some sit with pleasure in shallow vessels with water in the summer heat. But this is most likely not a love of bathing, but a way to cool.

Maintaining a good appetite.

 It is important to monitor the regular diet of the turtle. A healthy medium-sized turtle should eat half a cup of salad or an equivalent amount of other food daily. Those who barely touch their food and eat two leaves of dandelion for several days should pay special attention. Some newly arrived turtles refuse wet food, but eagerly eat unwashed greens.

A caring owner will not be too lazy to weigh the turtle at regular intervals after the purchase and will start a journal where it will record changes in its condition and, preferably, weight gain. For weighing, it is better to put the turtle in a sturdy bag.

Hibernation. In the wild, turtles hibernate when the temperature drops below a certain level and it becomes difficult to get food. This behavior is characteristic not only for turtles, but also for many other animals, from snakes to squirrels. All vital processes of the animal slow down to almost zero, and it becomes completely inert.

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For an American ground squirrel, for example, the pulse drops from three hundred beats per minute to five. Hibernation time varies in different years depending on the weather. If it is very warm, the turtle can remain active until mid-October, and in other years it hibernates at the beginning of September. They lose interest in food, become less mobile, except for attempts to dig into the ground in their pen. In the wild, the turtles bury themselves completely in the ground and remain there until the spring sun warms them.

The container for wintering. When the turtle looks ready for hibernation

When the turtle looks ready for hibernation

provided that it is healthy and large enough in size and weight, it should be placed in a cardboard box with thinly cut paper shavings into which it could be buried. Then this box is placed in another, larger box or box and the gaps between the walls are filled with peat, newspapers or pieces of polystyrene foam for the purpose of thermal insulation.

Storage in the winter. Tightening the top of the container with a net, it is cleaned for the winter in a cool place where there is no subzero temperature. It is important that the temperature is as constant as possible, as sudden warming can wake the turtle and create new problems. A non-heated room with no central heating batteries is very suitable for this purpose.

The ideal temperature for a sleeping turtle is 5-10 C. After the turtle falls asleep, it should be left alone, once a week it is enough to look into the box to make sure that the turtle has not woken up from a short-term increase in temperature. When spring comes, turtles usually wake up and can be taken out to the garden for a short while when the sun is shining and the weather is warm.

After hibernation.

 Within a few weeks after leaving hibernation, turtles need careful care. As always, they are contraindicated in cold and rain. You should offer them a choice of varied foods to tease their appetite. Immediately after waking up, the turtle looks lethargic and may not eat for several days. Many willingly drink at this time to compensate for the loss of fluid during their hibernation, and water should always be easily accessible to them.

 A soluble multivitamin preparation can be mixed into drinking water to stimulate the appetite of a weakened animal. If the tortoise has difficulty opening its eyes, they should be carefully wiped with a damp cotton wool. Another way to immerse the turtle in a shallow vessel, where it will probably wash itself both eyes and nose.