Now I have a Pet. Ask me Anything.

I have an aquatic sidewinder. I have tons of questions but restrict it to a few. They say it’s stressful and unappreciated by these pets to be handled. But at the pet shop the guy said that it’s ok they will get used to it.

Any ideas? Mine was a baby when I brought it home, now it's almost 7-8 inches, and it hisses and snaps when I try to handle her.  There were threw, but one went away, and another, a little male, had his little sex organ girlhandled therefore literrally dying from too much feminine attentio caused by jelousy.

This one remained, and escaped while putand left outside one pretty, sunny day, only to resurface 1 year later totally well but looking dreadful, as if nothing at all happened.

(I related this incident to the pet shop guy and he found it increible)

I do feed it variety: some fruit, pieces of meat, usually cooked, but because she had become choosy on her food, she will turn up it's nose at pelletts. 

her name is “baby”

I’m going to assume that an aquatic sidewinder is some sort of turtle…maybe you mean a slider or a sideneck or something, I don’t know. If there is such a turtle as an aquatic sidewinder, I have never heard of it.

Most turtles hate to be handled and hate to be take out of their territory (aquarium, etc.) a few of them warm up to the idea, but I wouldn’t expect it. Even turtles that seem extremely friendly and glad to see you when looking through the glass may become completely different when you try to pick them up.

Sometimes you will have to pick a turtle up, but I wouldn’t expect it to ever want it or like it.

Turtles don’t roam very far. If it was captive born, it’s not unusual for it to escape, but then stay in the general areas. There are stories of turtles that have been missing for a long time turning up and basically walking right up to their owners as if they want to be captured again, though a year is a very long time for that to happen.

Turtle diet is a very touchy thing, I can't advise without knowing exactly what species and how old, except that as a  general rule, aquatic turtles are all at least somewhat carnivorous, especially when young.   A good commercial pellet should be part of their diet because they have lots of vitamins that it's hard to balance by working out your own diet.  Make sure the meat you give is lean if possible.  Turtles don't have to eat every day, so if it won't eat pellets maybe go 1-2 days without feeding to get them a little hungrier first, or offer the pellets after you've already gotten them in the eating mood by feeding them a little of something else. 

also, keep in mind that pellets can get stale after a few months, that could be another reason a turtle wouldn’t eat them.

What?

I think he thinks you tease the turtle with food.
Out here I rescue tortoise and turtles all the time. They get on a road and become targets for sick fucks. A large snapping was crossing the road once and the car in the approaching lane stopped just as I did. We both wrangled that sucker into the pond it was heading for. The guy told me that out here any tortoise or turtle are targets or supper. I always loved the critturs and most reptiles. Gotta save them.

African Bullfrogs live for 20+ years

That only tells me that they aren’t smart enough to conserve energy properly. :mrgreen: :evilfun:

It’s Ok, - my bullfrog will extract revenge for the bullying of his vertebrate brethren. :dance: :banana-linedance:

Wow, no shit? That suddenly makes them much more appealing as pets, I admit. I still know they are extremely sedentary and the other reason I don’t like most reptiles/amphibians as pets is because all they do is sit motionless all day, though. Aquatic turtles are the most active reptile pet I know of, it’s pretty surprising if you don’t expect it.

Well, then he is copping an attitude about a matter on which he knows nothing. How novel!

Anyway, turtles quickly learn who is going to feed them, and they will splash and thrash around against the glass to get your attention if they see you in the room. If you feed them every time they beg for food, you’ll kill them, so turtle keepers just get used to their antics as they try to get your attention and convince you they are starving.

Ya, turtles are awesome, I’ve never had a chance to rescue one, they keep pretty far out in the woods most times around here, I’ve only seen them near a road 2-3 times in my life- though I’m from quite a bit further north, too.

The place where I live has 7 lakes, none of them like humongous great lakes or anything, but like lakes that you can kayak or canoe on, or catch fish from. A lot of people fish here. I dunno. My point…yes…my point is…is that there are turtles everywhere. I have a feeling that at any given moment, if I was willing to get dirty, that I could walk outside and within a pretty short period of time capture at least a couple of turtles. Some of them are pretty big. If you get on the 3rd floor when the sun is shining mid-day and look down into this one lake across the street, you can see huge fish by the dozen, and so many turtles it’s not even funny. Sometimes, we go to the day-old bread store, and fill the trunk of a car with stale bread, then we get high and throw all the bread off the balcony to see how many ducks we can get herded, and how many fish and turtles we can get to come over by the edge of the water. I’ve had over 50-60 ducks easy on more than one occasion, it’s ridiculous.

So yeah, I don’t have a turtle that lives inside with me, and I don’t have a turtle that has a name, or that eats turtle food from the pet store, but that’s ok because I still get the turtles and none of the responsibility. Not a bad deal really.

If your turtle ever needs a friend, let me know and I"ll catch one and mail it to you. Also…two things are important to know about turtles…1) they bite, sometimes pretty hard, and 2) they can be delicious is seasoned properly.

Oh wait…I just remembered another turtle experience. Last year when I was in Ft. Lauderdale…it was nesting season or something for these huge turtles. So they had all the street lights near the beaches turned off, and there were humongous turtles just all over the place on the beach. Pretty bizarre. Also, a big storm came in the day after I returned from a cruise to Ft. Lauderdale, and there were huge waves and a ton of surfers. That’s also pretty bizarre. Ft. Lauderdale has a lot of beautiful beaches, but it’s not exactly known as a prime destination for surfers. That weekend, they were out there by the hundreds it seemed.

Smears,.

About the one thing that sucks about the species of turtle I chose is that they are very aggressive towards any other species of turtle- they tend to bite their heads off when they can.   They are called crocodile turtles for a reason!  But yeah,  I wish I lived in an area where bumping into a turtle in the wild was a little more common. They are fascinating creatures. 

As far as biting goes, some species are far more likely to bite than others, but they all have sharp beaks and can make it hurt more than you’d think for their size. This little bastard especially: theturtlesource.com/i.asp?id … usk-Turtle

Yea I know about the food antics of turtles, tortoises are not as demanding they are laid back about foodtime. The gopher tortoise is a protected species here, you are not supposed to move them. But, if I had not there would be even fewer. I have a couple on our property and the four hundred acres behind us has had about 6 safely transplanted over the years. Cool breed of box tortoise. They are rare due to their tasty flesh and timber companies. Want to piss off a timber company down here, find gopher tortoise , just one on their land and report it to the government. The timber company cannot harvest their trees. :slight_smile: The acres behind us can’t be harvested.

I have heard that box turtles are very particular to the place they were hatched, and will go through hell and high water to hike back there if they are moved. Has that been your experience?

Yes, but, give the tortoise good forage and they will move readily. You have nit picked me before so I get to return it at least once… :slight_smile:
Tortoise and turtle are different. To keep it simple, tortoises are strictly land, turtles are aquatic to semi aquatic. You put a tortoise in water it will likely drown. If you can find some photos of the feet of both, you will see a distinct difference. There is more differences but, I figure this will give you a chance to do research, I generally enjoy research rather than being handed answers :slight_smile:

Yeah, I don’t really want to keep a tortoise, they sound like more work than a turtle and I really haven’t put the time into researching all the in-and-outs.

And yeah, I know the difference between a turtle and a tortoise, lol. I did a bunch of research on reptile husbandry through college in preparation for keeping this one. :wink:

Man if they bite other things naturally, then you should breed em and start putting them into turtle cage matches and have em fight it out.

I used to go to the pet store and buy 2 betas when I was in college and I’d take bets and fight em in the dorms. It’s a lot cleaner and easier to hide than cockfighting. Good way to make a few extra bucks in college.

I can relate a turtle story that was surprising even to an occutist like me, the gypsy who sold me this sidewinder told me be careful, they bring luck, but don’t let them get away because they tend to take the luck away with them. Also she said,never ever mistreat a turtel.

We used to go to las vegas a lot, and one day we went to the Alladin hotel. They served turtel soupo and we thoiught will try it. Next day, we lost and lost. There was no end to it.

Then the following year we went back lhinking to go back, and the hotel was demolished. They didn’t serve trutle soup long either.

Just a thought.

I hope your turtle brings you much happiness.

That’s pretty charming. :laughing:

Anyway, like Dan~ said, hope it all goes well.

Ucci, I think the ease of care is perspective. A pet turtle can thrive in an aquarium, a tortoise needs space, a turtle is more carnivorous, tortoises are vegetarian. Turtles require more interaction for health, , a tortoise likes to dig…it just depends upon the human. I know of a few tortoises that have been passed down from parent to child. The tortoises live in the house and yard enclosures, they do get large if cared for. I have yet to hear of turtles surviving even one generation of human care. I am sure a few have,maybe. I think perhaps it might be due to environment and or diet.

So far so good. He’s kind of pissed at me today, I had to handle him a bunch yesterday. He’ll get over it.

Oh that is definitely a common thing with both turtles and tortoises… attitude … and people say reptiles have emotions. I knew a rat snake that could get pissy if you moved an object in his tank or fed him dead food. Otherwise he loved it when you held him.