Keeping a turtle at home

When I was given a turtle, I didn’t know what to do with it, how to care for it, what to feed it. I was interested, and I needed it. This was the goal of my work. I tried to cover everything you need to know about having a turtle in your home. I am sure that she is interesting not only to me, but also to my little sister. When she grows up, she will also help take care of me. I believe that my time was not wasted. My result is knowledge that will be useful to me.

I have a Mediterranean tortoise. In Russia it is sometimes called Caucasian. The carapace is dome-shaped, serrated at the back.

The background of the carapace is from light olive to yellowish-brown with dark spots. On the back of the thighs there are some semblances of “spurs”. The front paws have 5 claws, the limbs are columnar. The tail has a hook-shaped outgrowth, especially pronounced in males. The head is covered with regularly shaped horny scutes. Length reaches 35 cm..

The biotopes of this turtle are varied: from fixed coastal sands with characteristic vegetation to floodplain forests and woodlands. It can be found in flat semi-deserts, rocky, gravelly and clayey foothills.

Land turtles are mostly herbivorous. Turtles do not have teeth, but they have horny plates ending in a beak. With these plates and “beak” they deftly send food into the mouth; they are helped by a muscular tongue.

Like many reptiles, turtles molt, freeing themselves from dead scales, but this process is uneven and affects only the skin.

Turtles don't hear well, but it would be a mistake to assume that they don't hear at all. They hear much worse than lizards and crocodiles. But they have good eyesight.

Even though they say that turtles don’t hear and don’t become attached to their owner, I don’t believe it. It seems to me that my turtle hears me, understands me and even gets bored if he doesn’t see me for a long time.

Feeding

The diet of turtles in nature varies according to the season; they try to keep up with the growing season of plants, and it is advisable to maintain this rhythm. So in nature, the Mediterranean tortoise feeds on lush grassy vegetation, where legumes predominate. To a lesser extent Asteraceae. Sometimes eats fruits and berries. Among the plants mentioned, both cultivated and weeds, are beans, clover, alfalfa, lettuce, artichoke, chamomile, burdock.

The modern view of feeding turtles in captivity is that they should receive as much fibrous roughage with a low percentage of protein as possible.

Like ruminants, land turtles digest food in the hind intestine, and therefore require fibrous foods for normal digestion.

Mown or picked grass is suitable for feeding turtles, especially alfalfa and escarole lettuce, as well as other table varieties of salads. Dandelion and other weeds are good, carrots are a source of vitamin A.

My turtle loves to eat cabbage leaves and dandelion. She drinks very little water. She eats 1-2 leaves of cabbage per day. We also have special food for turtles, in the form of tablets. It needs to be soaked to become soft. But my turtle doesn't like it.

Turtles, like bears, go to bed for the winter.

When the temperature drops in late autumn and the turtles stop feeding, they are immersed in warm water several times so that they can empty their digestive tract. Then you need to wipe dry. The turtles are placed at the bottom of a suitable large box, where a thick layer of slightly moistened peat is scattered, and then the turtles are covered with dry leaves or hay. The box is placed in the basement at a temperature not lower than +6, and then left until spring, until the turtles begin to move. Don't worry if your turtle wakes up prematurely. The condition of the turtles is checked every month, taking care not to disturb them. Before being released indoors, they are bathed in warm water. During this procedure, the turtles begin to drink greedily. Then they are wiped dry, rubbing a little to cleanse the skin of dead cells

The main problem in keeping a turtle is sleep safety. When a turtle sleeps, it is defenseless. Mice and rats can eat it. Therefore, you need to make a safe place to sleep so that they cannot get there and be chewed alive.

We lowered our turtle underground, in a box with sand and covered it with hay. We closed the box so that it would not be accessible to rodents. She is sleeping now, but there is little sleep left. It’s already spring, it’s warm.

The turtle must have a terrarium.

We have a homemade one at home, made from a glass aquarium. It contains sand, stones, a feeding trough, and water. It should be warm, light and a place where the turtle could crawl. Sometimes she buries herself in the sand. We let her crawl at home. Although it seems that the turtles crawl slowly, they will visit all the rooms. She also loves to play hide and seek. I don’t have time to release her, but she’s already hidden.

I clean the terrarium once a week, change the water, remove leftover food, add fresh sand. I bathe her once a week, and in the summer it can be every day. It all depends on the temperature and time of year.

In the summer she crawls in the garden and eats grass that she likes. She loves the sun very much, she would lie and warm herself for hours.

I had many different animals, but I settled on a turtle. She is not picky and is not difficult to care for. There is no dust, no dirt, no squeaks at night. It’s not difficult to feed her; she eats food that everyone has in the house. She doesn't tear wallpaper, doesn't chew furniture, doesn't pee in the corners. And it is emptied into a bowl of water. There are no losses or unnecessary troubles from it.

My turtle is very beautiful. I like taking care of her. My sister and I often look for her in different corners when she hides from us. And when guests come to us, everyone wants to see it, because a turtle at home is a rarity. I'm proud that I have a turtle!

I also like that she cannot harm anyone. After all, she doesn’t know how to scratch or bite.

This is a faithful, and most importantly, harmless friend for many, many years!