Turtle Care Information Guide
Turtle Information Guide - What’s In A Turtle?
Turtles are a joy to have around the house. They can live very long lives but at the same times require good turtle care. Owners need to be familiar with the turtle diet and general information on turtles.
Turtle Facts:
First, let’s talk about general turtle facts. What you might be surprised to know is that the very first known turtles are said to have existed 200 million years ago. Moreover, there are around 300 species of turtles! They thrive practically everywhere on the planet except Antarctica. Some general information on turtles include the fact that turtles are cold-blooded, may bask to regulate their temperature, lay their eggs on land, can regrow bony and keratin tissue, have shells built into their skeleton, and shed their skin in bits of flakes instead of pieces like other reptiles. Turtles can either have webbed feet or not, and webbed feet are often in turtles that thrive in water. Turtles can live up to 200 years old, depending on what species they are.
There are many other interesting turtle facts. For instance, not all turtles hibernate. Female turtles lay eggs up to 4 years after mating, and the incubation temperature concludes the sex of the hatching. Many types of turtles actually make sounds. As opposed to popular belief, not all turtles are slow. In fact, some land turtles can actually beat a human in a foot race! Also opposed to popular belief is that turtle shells do break in many instances and not all shells are hard—some shells, especially those of sea turtles, are soft and flexible. There are many other false information on turtles. For instance, the growth rings on the scales of a turtle’s shell do not indicate the age of the turtle itself.
Regarding the turtle diet, there are typical health problems such as Metabolic Bone Disease as a result of an inappropriate diet. A very important turtle fact you need to know about providing the proper turtle diet is that not all turtles have the same nutritional requirements. Some turtles eat only vegetables, while others are entirely carnivorous. Then there are turtles that are both carnivorous and vegetarians. Another interesting information on turtles is that older turtles tend to become omnivorous, meaning they can eat pretty much everything else like cooked meat and worms besides their usual diet.
For proper turtle care you also need to set up an environment that is best suited to the type of turtle you have. Some will need both dry areas as well as wet ones. There are lots of information on turtles and how to set up their aquarium or tank. You may ask for expert recommendations at the pet shop or from a reptile veterinarian.
Now if your turtle gets sick, there’s still a lot of information on turtles that become ill. If your turtle has swollen eyes, administer Gentocin drops (prescribed by your vet) into the turtle’s eyes. For skin wounds, apply Betadine solution around twice a day. For shell sores, apply Betadine solution many times a day and soak turtle twice a day in warm water. For loss of appetite or sneezing and coughing, take your turtle to the vet. Administer all meds upon the agreement of your vet.