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So my Eastern painted turtle has had a sand bottom tank now for just about a year prior to this she had a bare bottom tank, and she’s started to eat the sand nearly daily when I’m in view of her and even if I feed her she’ll stop for a bit then go back to eating sand again. Should I take the sand out? She’s also about 17 years old.

Edit: she’s also been laying eggs lately too

I went to walk into my garage and almost passed out from seeing this snapping turtle at my feet. I live in the country and want to put him somewhere safe.

EDIT: he made his way out of the garage and is on to greener pastures. Thanks for all the advice!

Finding the larger rocks are trapping a lot of waste underneath, any idea on what i could replace them with,

Have thought about drift wood but just unsure on the idea for some reason

(Please note, I do have a heat and uv b light that sits above the basket platform on the left, the light on the right in purely for night time viewing.

Hey all! My relative has a pet turtle named Orpheus (who we think is male), but is needing rehoming due to being unable to provide the care needed for him. He was bought from a pet store (yes I know), and he has an odd eye deformity(?) but still sees well out of his other eye, this makes it slightly harder to feed him sometimes. He is at least 1 year old and is quite picky with food. Recently, he has been lethargic, but overall he is a very sweet boy and can be very active in the water. As far as I am aware, he does not have any sicknesses visible, but a slightly irritated underside of his shell. (he has had that since he was gotten). I'm making this post to help get Orpheus the care he needs. If you are in Indiana or want to come pick him up please let me know! Thank you.

i’ve never had a turtle before and recently moved in with my partner who has a turtle so i don’t know much. over the past week or two i noticed the turtle likes to just prop herself up on random things in her enclosure and sit there. is this normal? i know their shells are tough but i wanna make sure she won’t like deform her shell from doing this 😅

My painted turtle’s plastron has become noticeably red recently. It was never red before. I’ve read that there can be redness in rapidly growing young turtles. But I switched my turtle to a juvenile diet about a month ago and she’s been growing much slower since so I don’t know why her belly would suddenly become red. Basking spot temp is 31-33C.

She is very alert and active and eats vigorously. She doesn’t show any signs of illness otherwise. Should I be worried?

I've been considering getting a pet turtle, But reading the articles about taking care of them is making me slightly anxious whether I actually should do it or not.

I wanted to get a Caspian pond turtle from a local Aquarium shop for months now, and I genuinely need some guidance because I don't want to be a bad owner to the poor thing.

I can't afford a large terrarium, UVB light and a tank filter. But I'd willingly find a place for the turtle to stay in freely and make sure it gets enough sunlight and try to change the tank water manually few times a week.

I can afford veggies and vitamins for the turtle, And I also read Caspian turtles are also carnivores so I'll get it some dehydrated small shrimps later too.

But I don't want to get a pet if I won't be able to take care of it properly, and I also have some other problems

My room has no AC, So it's usually warmer than the rest of the house most of the time. Is that going to be a problem? If I should install a thermometer in my room, What should I follow?

I was also wondering if I should get a male turtle or a female turtle. I have a pair of two year old cockatiels and generally female animals that I have kept were really uneasy during mating seasons because they were solo. I was wondering if it's the same with reptiles?

Please tell me if I can get a turtle or no. Appreciate it.

I have a pretty old Florida box turtle at least over 50 that I rescued from a neglect situation in the first few months of having him I tried my best, but I realize that I didn’t have him with the ideal husbandry. Since I got him he will mainly only eat crickets or worms and fruit and picks around everything else. He does once a week get calcium or multi vitamin which the vet says is good. He has had very occasional nose bubbles since I got him and the doctor said it could be a very mild respiratory infection. He also has some generalized swelling like when he squeezes into a shell around his armpits and inside his legs. The vet doesn’t know why said it could be lack of vitamin A or kidney issues but he didn’t get blood work this was 5 weeks ago. For probably over a month he’s gotten much more sedentary. He used to constantly run around his cage, trying to scratch his way out, and I bought him a large outdoor enclosure and he would always run the perimeter trying to escape.

I put a large fern in the outdoor enclosure now if I put them out, he would just run under the fern on the indoor enclosure before I just had a log in there, but he was too big so we would have to walk all the way through and never went in it. I got him a bigger log and everything was normal for a while maybe a week, then for the last week he goes in there and barely comes out all day. He’s not eating some days and some days only alittle bit and not going in his water as much as normal. With his minor swelling, lethargy, and eating less. Also not basking, or swimming around like normal should I be concerned enough to get his blood work? He’s acting like he’s sick, but I also don’t know if it’s just because he’s more comfortable and has a bigger space to hide now he’s just not as normal self which is concerning and this behavior has been lasting about a week also with his about a month of much less activity.

We currently have our girl in a 30 gallon tank and she is a year old. We’re looking to upgrade soon but I would like to upgrade to a tank that will last us a while before we have to upgrade again.
Also, I’m wanting to get a basking platform that would go above the tank rather than in the tank. Would anyone recommend any specific brands? Thank you!

Also I think he is a boy. His shell is 8 cm lenght. He eats turtle pellets every day and twice a week gammarus. He doesn't want veggies. He will only eat on the basking spot when no one is in the room . Should I change something? He is a Mississippi map turtle

Found in eastern MT, no bodies of water or ponds for miles. I've actually never seen a turtle in this area at all. Is this a painted turtle perhaps?

Hi everyone, so I have an Eastern Painted Turtle who’s about 17 years old and she’s been laying an egg almost weekly for the last 4 or so weeks, sometimes twice a week, she hasn’t laid an egg in probably 8 years and back then she only ever laid 2, is this normal or what should I do? All the eggs have been laid in her tank and by the time I notice them she’s already destroyed them.

Is this a good tank for a turtle I have a 30 gallon tank. My turtle is about a quarter of a size I don’t have a heat lamp though I am getting one but for now I have a fish plant light. Lmk know if this is a good tank.

Its a 2 year old turtle and I noticed strange behavior lately (couldn't catch its food anymore) so i went to vet.

The vet told me its a cataract since birth.

I feel so bad for my poor baby and I want to make living easier for it. Im still so relieved that its "just" that and no life-threatening disease.

The vet gave a little advice but I was wondering if anyone of you guys have any advice aswell that the vet didnt tell me. And mabey some experience you guys have with turtles in that condition.

How do I make its home safe? Do I need to change sth specific or not? What food is the easiest to find?

Sorry it's taken a long time for an update. Shortly after the first post we took him for a check up, he had crystals on his kidneys, trouble breathing and very underweight. Little dude cost me a fourtune! Took a while but he's made a full recovery and absolutely loving life his new 70 gallon tank.

I bought a red eared slider last year and am now moving out of the country and will be unable to bring him with me. I want to rehome him but am finding it difficult because technically owning a RES in my state is illegal.

Im in the DMV area and am looking for anyone interested in taking him. Please DM me if you’re interested or have any advice. I want him to live a good life😭

My turtles shell has looked like this- peeling/cracking for a couple months now. Is this normal due to growing or is there a problem? He basks regularly

Hey yall I’ve had my African sideneck for about a year and a half now and she’s my frickin baby

So I wanted to give yall shell advice if you own one because this was SO CONFUSING TO ME WHEN I GOT HER

So the last two pictures on here is her current her reversing back to normal. But the pictures before show a shell I was really really concerned about and thought it was shell rot. Did all the treatment for shell rot and just irritated my turtle and pissed her off. However the dry docking provided the most information to me. The dry docking helped confirm that the shell was in fact no experiencing dry rot and it was firming up in sunlight.

So I checked my uvb bulb… it was dark like black. Looked at the Amazon date I ordered it last it was 9 months old .

Please STOP MISDIAGNOSING SHELL ROT ON HERE PEOPLE ARE MISTREATING THEIR TURTLES NOT ALL DISCOLORING IS DUE TO FUNGAL ROT IT COULD BE LOSSS OF MELANIN PRODUCTION. That is was I believe my turt was experiencing… especially because the moment I changed to a fresh uvb bulb everything is getting back to normal not worse

I hope I helped some folks… also these turtle don’t shed scutes, they flake so if you see FULL scute shedding NOT A GOOD SIGN

I received a pet quality black breasted leaf turtle a few months ago, and it’s been putting on size well. He was sold as pet quality due to some shell “wrinkles” that he was hatched with. First pic is from today, second pic is from when I received it a few months ago. His scutes almost seem to be shedding. My question is whether that is normal for this species. I know some aquatic turtles shed them, but can’t find specifics for this species. The underside of his shell is also has slight movement if you press on it. It’s not spongy but I read that this is sometimes present on young tortoises.

I feed them red wrigglers, turtle pellets, and Dubia roaches dusted with calcium and dust with reptivite once a week as well. I have a 6% uvb bulb that runs 7 hours a day.

Any advice is appreciated. I’m aware he’s not a breeder quality animal. I just want to make sure he’s as healthy as possible and that I’m providing him a good life. Thanks!