I want to get a couple of softshells and was wondering what everyone thought I should get. I think they both look cool and I am sure they would both be interesting but I thought i'd get the opinions of people that had one/both species. They will live in a 20 gallon for a while then I will move them to a 50 or larger if needed.
Thanks,
Brady
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Florida vs Spiny
Brady
Jul 09, 2004 12:59 PM
Replies (3)
HerperHelmz
Jul 09, 2004 03:37 PM
Let me just say something here, I'd go with only the Spiny Softshell. Florida sfties get really large, babies may look awesome with their shell pattern but they loose it very quickly and grow big. I wouldn't go with the Florida if I was you.
Michael
Michael's Place
Wyndham
Jul 14, 2004 12:13 PM
I have no idea about a Spiny, but I had a Florida Softshell for five years. I bought two of them at a Pet Store and had them in a 75 gallon tank. One grew so big and so fast that it crushed the other one's shell. We had to get rid of the smaller one. My husband built the larger one a 150 gallon pond in our basement. It was the coolest turtle ever! Everybody loved it and I loved my turtle. When we decided to build a house, we knew we couldn't keep it. It was 17 inches at that point and very heavy (I never actually weighed him) He had gotten out twice in the five years we had him so make sure you always keep it enclosed no matter how much you think he doesn't need it-I thought we lost him for good one time.
We gave him to a friend who had a large pond with lots of fish. It was perfect and he even survided through the winter which I thought was a miracle, but a couple of months ago they found him dead. I didn't know much about Florida and I think that I could have taken better care of him-
Moral of the story is that they are very neat animals, but everyone is right. They get huge!!!!! When Chloe died (that's my turtle) he/she was 20 inches. I don't know how much bigger he/she would have gotten.
HerperHelmz
Jul 14, 2004 03:41 PM
I'm pretty sure "Chloe" was a female. Males don't tend to get that large.
Michael
Michael's Place
