Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone!!! I have kept several herps in the past but never turtles and they are next on my list. I have narrowed my list down to 3 species: a male spiny soft shelled turtle, the red eared slider, and an eastern box turtle. Which species would you recommend??? My deepest gratitude in advance for any help I recieve.

hey i don't know that much about soft shell turtles but from what i found out about em that they can get big and their shells can get damaged easily. i have a bunch of RES. very common. the females get big. i breed them and my smallest female is about 7 inches. my males about about 4-6 inches. the baby turtles have a low survival rate because of all the stress of being sold and moved and stuff.and for eastern box turtles you would have a good chance of buying a wild caught one. and if you get a wild caught one you would have to hibernate it or else you have a good chance of it dying. and don't support wild collecting of turtles. keep wild turtles wild!!
good luck and let me know what you get
nathan

Well, how big of an enclosure are you willing to provide? Will you be able to build an outdoor, screened-in enclosure for a box turtle? As stated, most adult box turtles for sale are wild-caught. Sliders, particularly the females, get large and do best in ponds (fenced-in, though, as sliders don't always stay put). I highly recommend adoption if you are considering a slider or box turtle, or any other common chelonian for that matter. A male slider would stay smaller, and there are lots for adoption.

In which state do you live? Turtles do best in climates that are similar to that from which they came, and it's illegal to own some species in certain states.

Katrina

FYI, you don't have to hibernate all box turtles. Some do just fine without hibernation. You need to observe your turtle carefully and see if it will keep up normal activity during the winter. Sometimes increasing the time the UVB light is on during the witner will increase winter activity.

Katrina

I would go with a RES for your first turtle. They are hardy and relatively easy to care for. Plus they are cheap. I definitely would not suggest the softshell. These turtles get rather large and often times are mean. Also, they cannot be kept with other types of turtles because their soft shell can be damaged.

Painted, maps, and cooters are great starting turtles too.
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Mike
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2 Painted
1 Musk
1 Common Snapper
1 Cooter
1 Map
1 RES
1 Corn Snake
1.1 Water Dragons
2 African Frogs
1 Toad
1.0 Degu
1.2 Chihuahuas
0.1 Cat