Choosing a Pet Turtle

Series Summary

Turtles might not be the high-energy pets that cats and dogs are, but they require just as much care to their environment and diet to live long and happy lives. Turtles are among the oldest reptile species, and when cared for properly, a turtle can have a very long lifespan. This should definitely be taken into account if you’ve considered owning a turtle or giving a turtle as a gift.

If you’re looking for tips and advice about turtle ownership, this free pet care video series contains a wealth of information on basic turtle care, including feeding tips, safe handling procedures and much more. You'll learn everything you need to know about owning a turtle, including how to identify a healthy turtle, and tips on setting up the ideal lighting and temperature for your turtle's environment. You will also learn about filtrations systems, bedding and aquariums.

Video Transcript

"Today we're going to be working with a Red Eared Slider and of course the first thing you want to do when getting your turtle is, when you're picking him out you want to make sure you give him a good look over. You want to inspect his shell, make sure there's no missing scutes or hard cracks or any real damage to the shell. Make sure his eyes are clear and open and not cloudy or covered in any way. Make sure he doesn't have any strange funguses growing on him anywhere. You're looking for anything that's white or discolored. Make sure his beak is all healthy and well formed. Check his feet, don't be afraid to try to pull them out a little bit. You're not going to hurt him. He's not going to cooperate with me though. Check his feet a little bit and just make sure everything is there and intact. Same with his tail, his butt, make sure that everything seems to be in order and isn't discolored or bloated or have any fungus growing on it or anything like that. A little bit of algae is okay, if you see some algae growth, that's fine. Like we can see some in some of the pitting on the shell. I'd be a little worried about some of this pitting, it might mean that he's not gotten the best nutrition in the world but he should be okay and we'll get him on a good diet and he'll and all that will disappear right away."