Are turtles as pets good or not?

Wondering if turtles as pets are good for you? Wow, this will be a tough one to answer. Why? Because I love small pet turtles. And I am a person that is hardly ever objective when loves something. But in this case - I will just have to be! Let us cover all aspects of pets in apartments and see how turtle ranks there.

Turtle's lifespan

This is a long term relationship. If you take good care of your pet it will live for decades. Basically, you can have it for life. The rule is that the bigger the specie is, the longer it will live.

Size of the turtle

I am mainly discussing apartment pets so I will do the same here. For small apartments the best, and the only proper turtle as pet is an aquatic turtle. So the size of the pet will not play a big role. Although you will need to consider getting a fairly large turtle tank.

Cost of the pet

There are two common turtles as pets found in pet shops. They are Eastern painted turtle and Red ear slider turtle. The price is around 15 - 20 US dollars.

Accessories cost

This is what makes turtles as pets pretty expensive. You will probably need several hundreds of US dollars to set up a turtle tank. You will need a tank, basking area, UV light, water heater, water pump and an aquatic turtle tank filter.

You can make a dry basking area yourself or buy one. Here are some basking platforms with price range starting from around 8 US dollars. Depending on the tank and turtle size, you can buy ones that are anywhere from 8 to 20 US dollars. Basking platform is one of the things you can save money on. You could even make the tank yourself.

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If you want some decoration, you might spend more money but it is not a must because you can decorate the tank yourself with some small rocks.

Upkeep

Upkeep of turtles as pets will not be too expensive. As you can see, the set up is a bigger problem. Turtle food price is acceptable. You can add some meat, fruit and vegetables from your own food (before you prepare it). Turtle pellets are reasonable priced. You will need some turtle vitamins (which are actually very cheap) and that is it. The upkeep should be less than 50 US $ a month (maybe even less then this, depending on the country).

Now, the vet might cost some. But if you got a healthy pet at the beginning, you provide a good turtle diet and clean the tank regularly, maybe you will not need a vet.

Both photos courtesy of Dimitris Siskopoulos

Commitment and interaction

How much will you need to commit to turtles as pets? As far as it comes to socializing the pet, there is nothing to worry about. They don't need it. They don't even need you to play with them. So this pet is good for people that don't want to spend time interacting with their pet.

You will need some time to clean them up, though. In case you bought all the necessary equipment for the tank, you will need to clean it up completely every 4 to 5 weeks. If you did not buy everything (especially the filter), then the turtle tank will get dirty easier and you might even have to clean it every week. If you invest more money at the beginning you will save money and time in the long run.

Making mess

Turtles as pets don't make mess outside the tank but they make a big mess on the inside. So, as already said, either you buy them water filters or be prepared for some cleaning. You can make the tank water "last longer" if you feed your turtles in a separate bowl.

Is the silence worth it?

People usually think that turtles are easy to keep pets because they are so quiet and they just swim around all day. Don't be tricked by this. You will need a lot of maintenance time to keep a small pet turtle happy.

Turtle diet

The diet is made of various foods but it will be very easy to provide everything the pet needs, just check out our turtle diet page.

Wild or bred in captivity

Definitely not a wild one. First of all it is not a good idea to remove wild animals from their habitats. Then it might be illegal. The animal can also be sick and you don't want your kids to play with a sick wild animal. Turtles bred in captivity are not expensive and they are a much better choice.

Turtles as pets for kids

Turtles are not good pets for kids. If you plan to take care of them, clean them and only let your kid look at it or play a bit than it is OK. A child can not take proper care of a small pet turtle.

Important note when it comes to kids and turtles: turtles can be a source of salmonella so make sure your kids wash hands every time they play with the turtle.