Style

how to take care of a turtle baby

Posted on by exotictortoisesaFF
Buy turtle for pet online.
11
Aug

Step-by-step Guide to Caring for Your Baby Turtle

Caring for your new baby turtle: Do’s and don’ts

Your baby turtle will add a small and (relatively) easy pet to your household. While no animal should be adopted without careful consideration, turtles can be fun, affectionate, and engaging with their human owners. Even though they don’t take as much daily commitment as a dog or cat, you’ll need to learn how to care for a baby turtle so he thrives in his new home.

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

1 hour

What You Need

  • Turtle housing
  • Heating lamp
  • Filtration system
  • Substrate

Child looking at baby turtle on counter

Find a space for your baby turtle

The first step in baby turtle before you even bring your new pet home is to have his turtle home ready. When buying a new turtle, your first key decision is whether to get a terrestrial animal or an aquatic one. They require slightly different habitats, but both will need access to water and land, which means you will fully equip your terrarium for them to enjoy both environments.

Turtles like space, so find a large designated area in your home. Even small turtles get bigger — be sure the new home provides enough room for the turtle when he grows up. You may also decide to use a starter habitat and upgrade as he gets older. 

Pet turtle swimming in a tank

Set up his habitat

When designing baby turtle habitats, it’s important to get the setup just right. You’ll need the correct temperature, water-to-land ratio, and proper basking areas all in one medium-sized tank.

Step 1: Get the right tank! Don’t use a fishbowl, too-small housing, or any tank without a lid. Your turtle needs at least 20 gallons or much larger if you don’t intend to upgrade in the future.

Step 2: Fill up with water, but not too much water. Plan to have at least 50% land (for a terrestrial turtle) or a large basking area (for an aquatic turtle) when your pet is fully grown.

For a hatchling, the depth of the water must be greater than the width of his shell, but not so deep that the turtle has trouble getting out. You can measure this with a ruler in advance, but you should be able to see if he’s having an easy time swimming around. Install a ramp if it looks like your turtle is struggling to get in and out.

Step 3: Once you have the water situation set, you get to the fun part: decorating your turtle’s new home. Add a mix of rocks, plants, and structures to your design for him to explore. Think about where you will leave extra food, like plants, for him to nibble on during the day and keep it away from the water.

Step 4: Turn up the heat. Turtles need to stay warm, and you will have to install a heating lamp in the enclosure to keep the temperature around 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Situate the basking rock so it gets direct “sunlight” and put his cave at the other end for him to have a cooldown.

Step 5: Lastly, keep the tank clean. Invest in a filtration system and poop scoop but still do a partial water change every couple of days. You want to deep clean his tank about once per month, so set aside those tools for later.

Pet turtle eating lettuce

Feed your turtle on a schedule

Feeding your turtle can be one of the most fun parts of interacting with him on a daily basis. In the wild, turtles eat a diet of worms, snails, and plants along with a few other things they might find around their waterholes. Food from the pet store will keep his diet balanced and is designed to mimic the vitamins and nutrients he would seek out if he were free to roam.

Step 1: Invest in a feeding tank. While not strictly necessary, it can cut down on the mess substantially. Instead of painstakingly pulling out bits of lettuce, you just dump the water or extra substrate when he’s done.

Step 2: Feed every day. Baby turtles need a daily meal, but you may taper that as he gets older. An older turtle might only eat every three days.

Step 3: Try a live feeding. Even though you might not enjoy watching it, turtles like to catch their food. Give him the opportunity to try it out as a baby by feeding him live prey and see if he takes to it. For a terrestrial reptile, this means crickets or worms on land, and for an aquatic species, it’s fish in the water.

Turtle exploring a yard

Keep him engaged

Turtles don’t like to be handled much and can carry diseases that are bad for humans. Properly wash your hands whenever you come into contact with him. In addition to playing at mealtimes, your turtle may enjoy exploring the outside world. Be mindful of predators and escape routes, and take him out (weather permitting) to walk around in the yard and bask in the sunshine. Inside his home, he’ll play with toys like shells or plants and will enjoy digging in the gravel.

We all know turtles famously live a long time. When you bring home a baby turtle, you’re signing up to take care of him for possibly 40 to 50 years. Ensure you know who will take him when your kid moves out or moves on from caring for him. With the right plan in place, though, you’ll have a fun and not too demanding pet for your home for years to come.

baby turtle care and feeding, baby turtle habitat, how to take care of a baby alligator snapping turtle, how to take care of a baby box turtle, how to take care of a baby land turtle, how to take care of a baby painted turtle, how to take care of a baby red eared slider turtle, how to take care of a baby snapping turtle, how to take care of a baby turtle at home, how to take care of a baby turtle red eared slider, how to take care of a baby water turtle, how to take care of a turtle at home, how to take care of a turtle found outside, how to take care of a wild baby turtle, types of baby turtles, what do baby turtles eat, what kind of baby turtle do i have.

exotictortoisesaFF

2,611 thoughts on “how to take care of a turtle baby”

  164. ToriHIc says:

    Hey there! I know this is kind of off-topic however I had to ask. Does managing a well-established blog like yours require a lot of work? I am brand new to operating a blog however I do write in my diary on a daily basis. I’d like to start a blog so I can easily share my personal experience and views online. Please let me know if you have any kind of recommendations or tips for brand new aspiring bloggers. Thankyou!
    If you have any recommendations or techniques for my new blog https://indigorosee.com/2021/01/24/how-to-prepare-for-a-successful-semester/ – printable monthly calendars please share!

    Reply
  446. Mackenzie says:

    Fantastic items from you, man. I’ve consider your
    stuff prior to and you’re just extremely fantastic. I actually like what you’ve acquired here, certainly like what
    you are stating and the best way in which you assert it.
    You are making it entertaining and you continue to care for to stay it
    sensible. I cant wait to learn far more from you.
    That is really a terrific website.

    Reply
  448. uspharmacymsn.com says:

    Excellent items from you, man. I’ve consider your stuff prior to and you’re
    simply too fantastic. I actually like what you’ve got right here, certainly like what you are saying and
    the best way wherein you assert it. You’re making it entertaining and
    you continue to take care of to stay it sensible.
    I cant wait to learn much more from you.
    This is actually a tremendous web site.

    Reply
  451. northwestpharmacy says:

    My partner and I stumbled over here from a different web
    page and thought I may as well check things out. I like
    what I see so i am just following you. Look forward to looking over your web page repeatedly.

    Reply
  461. online pharmacy says:

    Yesterday, while I was at work, my cousin stole my iPad and tested to see if it can survive a thirty foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My iPad is now broken and
    she has 83 views. I know this is completely off topic but
    I had to share it with someone!

    Reply
  467. most reliable canadian pharmacies says:

    My programmer is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP.
    I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses.
    But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on a number of websites for about a year and am concerned about
    switching to another platform. I have heard fantastic things about blogengine.net.
    Is there a way I can import all my wordpress content into it?
    Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!

    Reply
  476. canadian viagra says:

    We absolutely love your blog and find almost all of your post’s to be what
    precisely I’m looking for. Do you offer guest writers to write content
    for you? I wouldn’t mind creating a post or elaborating on some of the subjects you write related to here.
    Again, awesome weblog!

    Reply