I will not discuss transactions with you here as per forum rules and since i'd sooner sell my wife and children into slavery that sell you my Blanding's turtles. : ) But you can expect to pay (or look for trade value of) 75 - 200 dollars depending upon from whom you buy. as tyou probbaly know its always cheaper to buy directly from the breeder than througha broker, wholesaler or retail store. But in the classifieds from the last two wweks i have seen Blandings'a hatchlings ranging in price from about 100 - 175. You almost never see sub adult or adult blandings.
The are actually very hardy captives.
As you would expect from the studies of their natural history, they don't like the heat.
I have only had mine a few years (and have acquired a few since) and had to struggle with the worry that i was keeping hatchlings too cool. (in general, of course we want to keep hatchers a little warmer to keep them safe the first year and then cool them to the preffered adult temperatures)
But they stressed for me above 85 degrees.
i use no water heater and a wimpy basking light. I have also experimented with mercury vapor bulbs at a distance.
They go outside on any sunny days that are above 60. Never outside ehen its 90 or warmer.
They eat insane amounts of food.
I have not seen obseity in mine or any other captive Blandings but i have seen them choke when they literaly bite off more then they can chew (a problem espccailly with egg white and earthworm segments which are somewhat gelatinous and harder to shred for turtles). Its really amazing how much these guys eat (they compare to their cousins the euro ponds in this respect but surpass every hard shelled turtle i have kept except snappers in the amount they can eat pound for pound).
Some people say they take pellets right away. i have not had this experience. They remain almost completely carnivorous as well. So some ingenuity is needed to get extra calcium and vitamins and minerals into them.
They are very shy as babies but eventually become more used to people though i think they never tame down like sliders or wood turtles, swimming over to see what you are doing and showing no fear of people.
I would definitely use lots of water plants (for decoration not for food) for youngsters and keep the water shallow.
They seem to stress in deep water when they are young (though they become excellent swimmers as adults) so shallow water and many floating objects are a good idea.
They utilize non heated basking areas as well, more so than most turtles I have kept.
Adults needs lots of room. When they are 8 - 10 inches only a very very large aquarium is going to work if you have no pond. I think its better if they have some deep water, some shallows and some land area so a sunk-in pond in a pen is the best situation. I think they utilize much more space thna say a 10 inch slider.
They are pretty difficult to sex and so if you get an adult you will need to really be sure you know what's going on to see which sex you have.
They are among my personal favorites but i would not recommend them to a beginner because of the space requirements as they grow.
