Turtles water how to care for them. Land turtle. House for land tortoise

Busy people often prefer reptiles. Keeping a land tortoise in an apartment with children will not cause unnecessary worries: it does not create noise and has virtually no smell. Unlike the red-eared turtle, it does not need a constant change of water. When creating the necessary conditions, keeping a land tortoise will bring a lot of pleasure to the owners.

The content of land turtles does not cause much trouble

Characteristics and varieties of turtles

The name of the reptile comes from the Latin word Testudinidae, which means tiles or bricks. The carapace is a hard shell covering the back. The tissue covering the abdominal region is called the plastron.

The protective properties of the shell allow it to withstand a load exceeding the animal's own weight by 200 times. The sizes of adult turtles depend on belonging to certain kind. In the wild, there are reptiles up to 10 cm long and giant representatives up to 900 kg.

A tortoise's shell can support 200 times the weight of the tortoise itself.

When choosing pet the conditions of detention and the size of the reptile should be taken into account. Among all known land representatives of this genus, several types of turtles can be distinguished:

1. Leopard. It is characterized by a spotted coloring of the shell and a body weight of 50 kg.
2. Central Asian (steppe). Representatives of this species rarely grow more than 20 cm. This domestic tortoise is distinguished by a rounded yellow-brown shell. Unpretentiousness in care has made her the most accessible reptile among her own kind for home breeding.
3. Asian. It has two subspecies: brown and depressed.
4. Mediterranean. Reaches 35 cm in length. It gained particular popularity in European countries.
5. Radiant. Is an a rare species living in the Madagascar Islands. It owes its name to the correct yellow lines on the shell.

Lifespan and habitat

AT vivo representatives of this species can be found in desert, semi-desert and steppe regions. Most often, such areas include the lands of Africa, America (North and South), Greece, Russia, Uzbekistan, Australia and others.

Life expectancy depends on the type of reptile and the conditions of detention. AT wild nature live for about 50 years, and home maintenance reduces the life span, which usually does not exceed 15 years. When saving motor activity pet and proper diet, life expectancy increases to 30 years.

The steppe land turtles listed in the Red Book need comfortable conditions while living in an apartment. Content in the terrarium of pets land turtles comes down to observing the specifics of their lifestyle in natural conditions:

1. The ability to molt. The old skin gradually peels off in small patches.
2. susceptibility to suspended animation. With a lack of food and a decrease in temperature, animals hibernate.
3. Fear of drafts. Content in the apartment should exclude cross-ventilation of the room. From severe hypothermia, the reptile can die.

The diet of a land tortoise should be varied, containing a lot of plant foods.

Feeding and care

Vegetable food, which makes up the bulk of the diet, is eaten by land turtles in the wild. A reptile receives protein by eating slugs, snails or worms. The housing maintenance is reduced to the device of a terrarium. At home, the land tortoise should be fed with products that are close to the natural menu.

The feeding and maintenance of the land tortoise should be different in the warm and cold seasons. In summer, it is better to focus on green plant foods:

• dandelions;
• clover;
• cucumbers;
• pumpkin;
• sorrel;
• berries;
• zucchini;
• mushrooms.

In winter, the most affordable are: carrots, cabbage and beets. Some fruits are added to the diet to saturate the animal's body with vitamins.

Periodically, ground eggshells or bone meal are added to food to enrich the body with calcium. To avoid dehydration, reptiles are allowed to eat juicy greens. Turtles are fed once a day.

Caring for a turtle is very simple, and even a child can handle it. school age. It is not recommended to keep it in the limited space of the terrarium all the time. To meet the motor needs, it is released on the floor. The turtle moves slowly, so you need to keep an eye on it at the time of the walk.

At home, care requires periodic bathing of the animal. At the moment of molting, the reptile is bathed in a weak solution of soda (1 teaspoon of the substance is put into 1 liter of water). Keeping a turtle in a terrarium makes it impossible for her to sharpen her claws. When they grow strongly, they are removed with a special nail cutter. In winter, animals are irradiated with quartz lamps. while protecting your eyes. This is done to replenish the body with ultraviolet radiation.

Terrarium device

Permanent content on the floor in an apartment environment is unacceptable. If necessary, enclose a small area for walking next to the terrarium. The dimensions of the container for keeping the animal are determined based on the size adult which reaches 20 cm in length.

At home, the turtle needs a terrarium, the size of which is selected based on the size of an adult reptile

The turtle is allowed to be kept in an ordinary aquarium with litter. Gravel, sand or sawdust are poured at the bottom. Change bedding when dirty. It is allowed to install a small shallow container with water for bathing a pet. The temperature inside the enclosure should be between 25-35 degrees.

With a lack of natural light, a fluorescent lamp should be used. The animal is being sprayed warm water once a day. Humidity in the terrarium must match minimum performance. For a night stay, it is permissible to build a house from improvised materials (plastic or wood).

As a decoration, it is permissible to place in a terrarium houseplants : sansevier, aloe or climbing flowers. It is better to install them in small pots lined with stones on top. The turtle is able to eat a flower, so placing poisonous vegetation is prohibited.

Pet diseases

With proper maintenance at home, the land turtle practically does not get sick. Novice breeders are capable of making mistakes that require treatment for the reptile.:

Reptile breeding

Turtles can breed when keeping a house when creating special conditions. After wintering is over, mating is allowed. For this purpose, several females are bred for one male. Contain representatives of different sexes separately. To get offspring, the male is added to the female so that they get used to each other.

Breeding turtles should start after wintering

The offspring comes from the laid eggs. Depending on the species, the breeding period for turtles can be from two months to six months. There are up to six eggs in one clutch. Newborn turtles have an average length of about 3 cm.

You can determine the sex of the resulting offspring by characteristics. Males have an elongated shell shape and a peculiar notch on its upper part near the tail in the form of the letter V.

The lower part of the shell near the tail in males is concave. For females, it is straight. Such a structure of the plastron is necessary for mating and bearing offspring.

Watching a turtle can bring a lot of joy. When choosing a future pet attention should be paid to the appearance of the animal and its activity. A healthy reptile should not have damage to the shell and be active in the morning and evening hours.

This article will focus on caring for a land tortoise at home. It would seem that everyone knows what to do with these reptiles: bought, brought home, released on the floor. You can put cabbages, pour milk, it will warm up under the battery, and winter under the bath. “It’s possible, I know for sure, the neighbors’ turtle lived like this for 30 years, and nothing.”

Funny? But many people hold such views, without hesitation, how to take care of a turtle. As a result: in veterinary clinic animals get in a coma, they slowly died over the course of several years, walking on the floor of the apartment, suffering from dehydration, dust and low temperatures by getting food that their body can't process...

Turtles do not know how to speak and express emotions, so even in the event of a serious illness, they will crawl as usual, as long as they have at least some strength to move around.

To begin with, all the tortoises for sale are wild-caught, smuggled, and sold illegally. For the most part, these are Central Asian, or steppe, turtles. As a rule, such animals suffer from various diseases, including those that can infect humans. Therefore, it is desirable when acquiring an animal immediately, and not to the usual, but to a herpetologist, a specialist in reptiles.

If you decide to keep an animal at home, then it is important to remember a few rules in order to create suitable turtle conditions:

Caring for a land tortoise at home is a rather costly and complicated matter, you need to be prepared for this. It is not necessary to buy a terrarium, you can make it yourself, for example, from boards or an old aquarium of a suitable volume. It should be well ventilated, have no roof and be located no higher than 20 cm from the floor.

Soil is poured at the bottom, ideally rounded river pebbles, but it is quite difficult to keep clean, so you can choose something else that can be easily replaced, but not too fine and does not contain an increased amount of dust (for example, alder, beech chips or shavings) . The layer should be at least 5-6 cm.

At a distance of 30-50 cm from the bottom in one corner heat lamp installed(a 1 W incandescent lamp per 1 liter of terrarium is suitable). Heating mats and stones will not work. At the other end, you need to place a shelter.

The source of ultraviolet light should be a special lamp. ReptiGlo 5.0 or 10.0, widely available in pet stores, will do. We must not forget that after six months the radiation spectrum changes, and it needs to be replaced. It cannot be about proper care for a land tortoise at home, if it is not allowed to UV rays. To some extent, it is possible to replace the lamp with exposure to the sun throughout the summer, but this option is not suitable for young animals.

Proper feeding is the key to health when keeping tortoises. Food: mixture of greens ( most of diet), vegetables, fruits and mineral and vitamin supplements for reptiles. Cannot be given to large quantities cruciferous, spicy herbs, watery and starchy fruits and vegetables (cucumbers, banana, grapes).

Rickets due to vitamin deficiency

It is forbidden to offer reptiles poisonous plants, fruit seeds, any animal food(including cottage cheese, milk, eggs), prepared pet food, human food (porridge, bread). Special turtle food pellets usually do not meet the needs of the animal.

Calcium, phosphorus, vitamin D₃ and vitamin A must be present in top dressing. Vitamin D₂ is poison for these reptiles!

In summer, it is necessary to take the turtle out for a walk as often as possible if the temperature in the shade is above 20 ° C. The main thing is to make sure that the animal does not eat something poisonous, does not get injured, overheats and does not run away (when heated, they are able to develop decent speed, and their outstanding ability to disguise and dig into the ground makes it a real problem to find a lost reptile). Feeding is best organized by cutting fresh greens: dandelions, plantain, clover, gout and other plants, removing poisonous ones (such as buttercups and plants with milky juice).

If an aviary is being built for an animal, then the walls should be dug 30 cm into the ground. It is also important to exclude the presence of garden ants, as they can cause severe damage.

In winter, there is a natural decrease in the activity and appetite of the animal. You can shorten the daylight hours, but it is necessary to carry out a full wintering, otherwise it can be detrimental to the body. The usual care of a land tortoise at home does not require this event, it does not negative impact on the state of health.

After all contact with the animal, be sure to wash your hands, especially for children!

For any changes in appearance and behavior of the pet, it is better to remember that turtles are very hardy, and the most dangerous diseases can develop long time completely invisible to the owners. Treatment of advanced pathologies is not always possible and effective.

Pets are in almost every family. They become favorites of both adults and children. Today, many people prefer to have exotic animals that do not cause much trouble to their owners. Decorative reptiles have become popular because they do not need to collect wool and feathers throughout the house. They do not wake up in the morning and do not call for a walk, do not scream like exotic birds. In addition, they are hypoallergenic, which is quite important in our time. Therefore, those who want to have a pet prefer turtles. At the same time, for some reason, they are looking for small animals on the Internet, in pet stores. Dwarf turtles - what they are and where is the best place to buy them, as well as how to care for a pet, these are the points that you need to pay attention to before making a purchase.

Dwarf turtles - do they exist?

Dwarf means very small. Is there such a turtle in nature? It may be disappointing, but such reptiles do not exist. And even if you are offered to buy a pygmy turtle, the size of which does not exceed three centimeters, know this is an absolute deception, there is no such species in nature. Many unscrupulous sellers, and sadly, even in pet stores, give out baby red-eared turtles as pygmy ones. And under favorable conditions of detention and rational nutrition, the baby grows up to twenty centimeters. Therefore, calling them dwarfs is hardly appropriate.

The smallest turtle in the world is the Pennsylvania turtle, the maximum length of which does not exceed twelve centimeters. But it lives exclusively in the shallow rivers and lakes of eastern America. That is, it is a freedom-loving reptile that lives in natural conditions.

There are also small specimens among aquarium turtles. Their length varies from six to thirteen centimeters. Reptiles larger than the indicated limits are classified as large species and require slightly different conditions than small turtles. In total, there are several types of turtles of small sizes, which are great for aquarium maintenance- This:

• Flat turtles, their weight is only one hundred and seventy grams, the length is about eight centimeters. They do not require a lot of space, so a small aquarium will suffice for them. The main food is moisture-loving plants. They are very popular with lovers of exotic pets, because they are very easy to maintain;
• Trailing turtles grow up to a maximum of thirteen centimeters. their homeland North America and Africa. Represented by four subspecies;
• Muscovy turtles are also popular as pets. Their size varies between fourteen and fifteen centimeters. It's not hard at all to take care of them. This miniature tortoise is represented by four species;
• Spotted turtles are amphibious. For their home maintenance an aquaterrarium is required, since both water and land are required in equal proportions. The size of the turtles reaches thirteen centimeters;
• Chinese three-keel turtles are also miniature species, their size is about thirteen centimeters. They do great in small aquariums.

Here, perhaps, are all the little turtles that exist in the world and are suitable for home keeping in aquariums.

Therefore, if you are offered to buy a pygmy turtle without specifying its type, then most likely you will be disappointed in the future, since the reptile will grow up and you will have to radically revise the conditions for its maintenance.

As we have already said, for dwarf species most often give out babies of the red-eared turtle, which is also popular among breeders of decorative reptiles. And if the purchase has already taken place, then you should not be upset, since these turtles are also beautiful, therefore, it offers detailed information about how to properly care for a pet so that it fully develops and pleases its owners long years.

Care and maintenance

The red-eared turtle, although not a dwarf, is a fairly popular pet. The size of an adult reptile reaches twenty, in rare cases, twenty-five centimeters. With the right maintenance, the turtle will live in the family for about thirty years, and there are cases when the reptile lives up to fifty, but this is ideal conditions. In order for the pet to feel good and develop properly, he needs to create favorable conditions for keeping.

Turtles need a large aquarium to live. The optimal volume is one hundred and fifty to two hundred liters. And this despite the fact that childhood the red-eared turtle is only about three centimeters in size. Exist natural regularity The larger the space, the more fully the reptile develops and grows.

Despite the fact that the turtle belongs to aquatic reptiles, it requires dry land. Therefore, in the aquarium, it is necessary to provide a hill made of stone or other artificial objects that will act as land, where the turtle will go out to rest and warm up. At any time of the year, an ultraviolet lamp should always be near the aquarium, in the summer it can be replaced Fresh air and a light sun, but not direct rays, they are dangerous for reptiles. Ultraviolet is vital for the red turtle, without it they often get sick and die quickly.

The water in the aquarium should always be clean and warm. When changing it, only water that has been settled for two days is used. It is good if a pump filter is installed in the aquarium, which will help purify the water.

Let the land from the water to the island of land should have a rough surface, it will be easy for reptiles to climb it. The heat-loving red-eared turtle needs to bask in the sun. At home, this whim is quite simple to fulfill. You need to take an ordinary electric light bulb, with a power of not more than 40 watts, and install it at a distance of ten centimeters from where the turtle will rest on land.

Regarding the ultraviolet lamp. There are certain points that need to be taken into account. The fact is that its rays come in different lengths, so it is best to give preference to special lamps designed specifically for reptiles.

These lamps are necessary for the disinfection of aquariums and animals. You can't do without them in the cold season. Turn on the lamp three times a week for five minutes. The distance from it to the aquarium should be thirty centimeters.

Little red-eared turtles are great neighbors with aquarium fish, but as they grow older, they begin to hunt and eat them. Yes, do not be surprised, red-eared reptiles belong to predators, therefore, in adulthood, they are kept in a separate aquarium. By the way, these small predators they can bite a person’s finger, so you don’t need to tease them and substitute the phalanges to the animal’s mouth.

What to feed a turtle

Picking up a diet for the red-eared turtle is not at all difficult. Since she is a predator, she will eat raw meat, fish even with bones with great pleasure. The only thing in which it is necessary to limit the animal is in oily fish. Also, with great pleasure, the turtle eats bloodworms and granulated food. However, you should not feed the animal with only one type of food, the food should be varied and complete, otherwise the reptile develops rickets and the shell deforms. This happens from a lack of vitamin D. Therefore, certain feeding rules must be observed. Young reptiles are fed mainly on food of animal origin, gradually increasing plant nutrition. From birth to two years, the animal is fed once a day. After a day later.

Pet diseases

With improper maintenance and nutrition, domestic turtles often get sick. The most common disease that awaits reptiles in an aquarium is pneumonia. It occurs as a result of hypothermia. It is necessary to ensure that the water of the animal is not lower than twenty-eight degrees. The first signs of the disease are:

• loss of appetite;
• lethargy;
• impossibility of immersion under water.

Pet treatment should be to provide warmth. To do this, you need to monitor the temperature of the water in the aquarium, the lamp above the land should be constantly on, and the turtle itself should be kept two or three times a day with a warm steam of chamomile decoction.

They can also catch reptiles and infectious eye disease. The turtle's eyes become inflamed and the eyelids swell. With such symptoms, it is isolated from other animals and kept exclusively on land, lowered into the water only for an hour or two a day. Treat inflammation with antibiotics for the eyes, instilling them three times a day.

If the turtle's shell has become soft and has begun to lose its shape, then it is necessary to ensure proper balanced nutrition, including in the diet vitamin supplements. Plus, most likely the animal does not have enough ultraviolet radiation. Therefore, in the summer, the reptile should be taken out into the street, and at other times, do not forget about ultraviolet lamps. Also, with insufficiently nutritious food, the animal's skin may peel off.

If you follow the basic rules for keeping turtles in aquariums, reptiles will become your favorite pets for a long time.

There are over 335 species of turtles that inhabit various continents. Some species are very popular and easy to buy in pet stores, some are rarer, and some species are difficult to see even in zoos.
At home, animal lovers in Russia most often keep the following types of turtles: freshwater red-eared, freshwater marsh, freshwater turtle trionyx and the Central Asian land tortoise. In the south of Russia, the Mediterranean tortoise and the marsh turtle are found, in the east of Russia it is found far eastern trionyx, in Ukraine and Belarus there is a marsh turtle. Red-eared turtles in in large numbers they are brought from nurseries in Europe and Asia, and then bad people release American tortoises into Russian ponds, so we have a very high chance of meeting a red-eared turtle in a river or in a pond.

Here are the most popular types of turtles:

Land (lat. Agrionemys horsfieldii)

A yellow-beige turtle with darkening on the shell, usually up to 25 cm long. The turtle is listed in the Red Book and the CITES list and is prohibited for sale without documents, which is ignored by pet stores and, of course, by smugglers.

The Central Asian tortoise lives in the states Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan in the steppe and semi-desert regions.

It feeds, like all land turtles, on vegetation (field plants, dried forage grasses, indoor plants, occasionally allowed vegetables). Meat, milk, bread and White cabbage, fruits are strictly contraindicated for her. Once a week, the turtle should receive calcium and reptile vitamin powder.

For maintenance you need: a terrarium from 100 l + UV lamp 10-12% UVB + incandescent lamp + soil (sawdust / hay / wood chips + pebbles) + house. The temperature in the terrarium should be between 25 in a cold corner and up to 35 in a hot one (under a lamp).
Hibernation is optional for turtles, and harmful and dangerous if not done properly, so it's best to avoid it. It is recommended to bathe the turtle once a week.

freshwater Red-eared turtle(lat. Trachemys scripta)

This bright green (turns darker in adulthood) turtle with red "ears" on its head has become very popular all over the world in the last 25 years. The turtle can bite painfully, although it is not very aggressive.

This turtle is the most popular and most " aquarium turtle in our country and in many others.

The turtle lives in the USA, it is brought to Russia from turtle farms. It is strictly forbidden to release it into the reservoirs of Russia - this harms the ecosystem, and besides, the turtles themselves rarely survive the winter.

The turtle is freshwater and predatory (snails, forage insects, raw freshwater lean fish with bones and entrails, occasionally dry food), but it also needs land and plant foods (algae or lettuce, dandelions).

More information about feeding turtles, an aquarium and a terrarium, and caring for turtles can be found in the relevant sections.

It is important to know:

1. You can not plant new turtles to the existing ones without prior quarantine.
2. If you experience symptoms of illness or a long-term refusal to feed, you should contact your veterinarian-herpetologist.
3. If the turtles in the same aquarium/terrarium are fighting or too aggressive, they need to be seated.
4. Turtles should not be allowed to come into contact with other pets.
5. Land turtles (and sometimes water turtles) are kept on the floor like cats and dogs, as a result, the turtles are stepped on, injured by other pets, they catch colds, quickly develop rickets, beriberi, arthritis and kidney failure.
6. A turtle is bought a pair so that it does not get bored, and as a result of a fight, bitten off paws and tails. Turtles are lonely! And they need a pair only for reproduction.
7. Feeding turtles the wrong food leads to big problems with internal organs and even to death. The fact that a turtle eats something does not mean that it can.

WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THOSE WHO WERE TAMED!

When buying a turtle, you must first understand what it is creature and not just a fun toy for kids. Turtles are not very beautiful, they do not know how to caress or play, but this does not mean that they can be mistreated or not fed for many days. Turtles need to be cared for just like any other pet.

Most often, we have red-eared turtles in our house. Like any turtles, they live a long time: at least 30 years in good conditions. But an unprepared and irresponsible owner can shorten the life of a turtle to 2-3 years.
Red-eared turtles are merman turtles and should only be kept in spacious aquaterrariums. So, for one turtle you need an aquarium of 100-150 liters. Although red-eared turtles spend most of their time in the water, they need dry land where they can rest and walk. Some owners of turtles are limited to sticking a plastic island to the wall of the aquarium. But this is not the way out. It is difficult for a turtle to climb it; a gradually rising slope will be much more convenient for it. The sloping bank should be rough enough so that the turtle's claws easily cling to it. The stores sell special islands for turtles, they meet all necessary requirements(Inclined slope, rough surface, large area of ​​"land"). The land surface must be large enough - at least a quarter of total area aquarium. It will be easy for you to feed the turtle on the island where it will go out to bask.
Water in with a turtle needs to be changed completely 1 time per month. It is advisable to pre-defend water.
Turtles need warmth. Therefore, we install a lamp over the island. Since the lamp will be a source of heat for us, MirSovetov recommends buying an ordinary incandescent lamp - its heat dissipation is simply wonderful. Moreover, the light of an incandescent lamp is so similar to sunlight. If the lamp constantly warms the island, there is no need to heat the water, the turtle will always be able to get out and warm on the island. MirSovetov recommends: the island should be at a level of 30 cm from the edge of the aquarium, if it is too close to the edge, the most nimble turtles will probably try to escape
Turtle feeding
Red-eared turtles are happy to eat both bloodworms and chopped meat and granular feed. However, to eliminate the turtles, boiled fish is needed (give the fish along with small bones, do not be afraid, they will not choke). Try not to give them oily fish, such as capelin, sprat, mackerel. Meat should not be the main food. Turtles "brought up" on meat inevitably get sick. The diet of young red-eared turtles should be dominated by animal foods, and with age, preference should be given to plant species stern. Until the age of two, the turtles are fed every day, and those that are older can be fed 2-3 times a week.
How to feed? Place food near the water's edge first. When the turtle is used to it, start feeding it on the island by placing the food in a saucer of water. If your aquarium has algae planted, the turtles will eat it. So that they don't lack plant food, give them lettuce, young cabbage and various pond algae. Do not forget that turtles can eat small ones. aquarium fish so feed them on time.
If the turtle's claws have grown too long, trim them with manicure tweezers. You don't need to cut your beak, because your turtle is a predator and it needs a sharp edge of its beak to tear food.

This type of turtle is a land turtle. They are quite large - weight 1.8 kg, shell length 15-25 cm. The color of the shell is different: from light red to dark olive.
In nature, the Central Asian tortoise digs holes and actively moves only two or three months a year. Therefore, when keeping it at home, you need to create a spacious terrarium in which temperature and humidity levels will be constantly monitored. In such a terrarium, a turtle can live for many years without any diseases. However, more often she is allowed to simply “travel around the apartment. The fact is that a turtle cannot be kept “freely”: letting it live on the floor in a room, you risk stepping on it at night, it can catch a cold from an accidental draft and die. In addition, Central Asian turtles need to dig - and they dig what they find - garbage on the floor, carpets, slippers ... So a terrarium is better. In it, the turtle will be able to choose for itself corners with a lower or high temperature, wetter or drier.
As for red-eared turtles, a lamp is installed in the terrarium, the air temperature on the bedding under the lamp is + 25-28C. AT summer time the turtle needs to be walked. Let the sun out on her, but make sure she doesn't eat anything and get hit by a car. It is best to keep the turtle in an enclosure (the bigger the better, the minimum enclosure is 1 x 1.5 meters) where he can dig at his pleasure and hide in shaded corners, just like in nature. However, do not forget that the turtle digs holes up to 2 meters deep, so the walls of the enclosure will have to be buried at least half a meter.
The terrarium needs to be cleaned once a month. Every week they change the water in the drinking bowl and partially replace the soil. And once a month they completely change the bedding, wash the walls of the terrarium with soap and water. To prevent turtles from getting sick, during cleaning, the terrarium is washed with disinfectant solutions, such as Betadine.
Feed Central Asian tortoises you need coarse plant foods - hard grass, cabbage, carrots, beets. The food is placed in the feeder for one and a half to two hours, after which the remnants of the feed must be thrown away and the feeder washed.
Features of caring for a land tortoise
Land turtles shed periodically. Only the skin on the paws and head changes. At this time, you need to bathe the turtle in warm water with the addition of 1 tablespoon of soda. After bathing, the skin is lubricated with vegetable oil.
In addition, MirSovetov would like to draw your attention to the fact that in order to maintain cleanliness, turtle care also includes bathing once a week. To do this, we collect water in the bath (t + 30С) and put the turtle there. Water should cover it only by a third. Gently wipe the turtle with soap and water, making sure that the soap does not get into her eyes. The turtle should “soak” in the bath for no more than half an hour, after which it must be wiped off. To strengthen the shell, you can lubricate it after bathing with olive oil. At the corners of the turtle's mouth, food residues sometimes dry out. They must be carefully washed off during bathing.
If you manage your turtle correctly, its claws and beak will always be in good condition. But if the food and bedding are too soft, the turtle's beak and claws will grow back a lot. In this case, they need to be cut. Look at the turtle's foot against the light - you will see that the tips of its claws are transparent and do not have blood vessels. These tips can be removed. But do not try to do this with ordinary scissors, you will need wire cutters. The regrown edges of the beak are also bitten with wire cutters, and the uneven edge is trimmed with a file.

bog turtles

They are widespread in middle lane Russia and often get into our homes directly from their native stagnant pond. The color of the shell can be dark olive and almost black.
She needs a low terrarium (about 30 cm high) with land (a lamp is needed above the land so that the turtle can warm up) and a water part. The height of the water is small, about 20 cm. Turtles feed and defecate into the water, so it must be changed frequently. How cleaner water the healthier your turtle is.
Bog turtles are predators, it is useless to feed them with cabbage. In the summer, give them pond snails, earthworms, large bloodworms. Swamp turtles need to be fed at least once a week. They are highly intelligent and can be easily trained to stick their heads out of the water to grab food. You can even teach them to take food outside the pool, but they will still run into the water to eat it, as instinct tells them. It is very interesting to watch them: if you give a turtle a whole small fish, it will turn its head towards itself and swallow it. And if the fish is too large, the turtle will tear it into smaller pieces. Be careful - their jaws are very strong, an untamed turtle will not fail to bite you. But if you do not offend them, the turtles quickly get used to the owner, begin to greetly stick their heads out of the water when he appears.
Trim beak and claws bog turtle not necessary. Even very long claws are not a hindrance for her, because she is a predator and breaks prey only with the help of her claws.

It is forbidden...

You can not keep any turtles without additional heating. You can not feed turtles one type of food. Only vegetable or only live food is equally defective. A harmonious "menu" should consist only of a combination of plant and animal feed.
It is impossible to keep red-eared and other aquatic turtles no sushi (she might drown).
It is impossible to keep turtles of different sizes in one terrarium, as, in principle, several males cannot be placed together - fights are inevitable.
And finally, you can’t cook turtles in the same dishes as people. And do not forget about personal hygiene after contact with the turtle.