How to Keep a Turtle Healthy
Taking proper care of pet turtles is very important because it is natural for turtles to fall ill from time to time. This will ensure that your pet reaches it maximum lifespan and stays in good health for the duration of its life. In order to keep a turtle healthy, you will only need to attend to a few simple things.
Things Required:
– Tank
– Filtration mechanism
– Balanced turtle diet
– UVB light
– Heat light
– Water heater
Instructions
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1
Your chances of keeping a turtle healthy will increase dramatically if you buy a healthy turtle to begin with. Make sure that you get the turtle from a reputable breeder. Although it would initially cost you more, you will eventually get your money’s worth because healthy turtles have longer life spans.
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2
Make sure that the tank you purchase or design for the turtle is fairly large. The ideal turtle tank size in terms of water volume is ten gallon per each inch of the turtle. If your turtle is just a baby, the tank should be big enough to contain 50 gallons minimum.
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3
Install a quality water filter in the turtle tank. This will ensure that the water in which your turtle spends most of its time is free from harmful germs.
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4
The diet of your turtle should be well balanced. Use vegetables and water plants, commercial foods and live protein in a 50%, 25%, 25% ratio respectively. If your pet is less than one year old, be sure to feed it daily. Turtles older than one year should be fed once in 2 days.
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5
Separate a basking area for the turtles and install a UVB light over the area. It would be best to use a heat light in tandem with the UVB light for optimum conditions.
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6
Make sure that proper temperature prevails in the water tank. The best way to ensure this is to install a water heater in the tank. Temperatures that are too high or too low can prove fatal for your pet. Make sure that the basking area you separated is at least 10 degrees F warmer than the water. This will encourage your turtle to use the basking area often.
