What kind of tortoise is this?
- Thread starter Superbia
- Start date
It's a water turtle, but I'm sorry to say, I don't know what species.
Welcome to the Forum!
We'll send a shout-out to our water turtle people - @Markw84 @Anthony P
Welcome to the Forum!
We'll send a shout-out to our water turtle people - @Markw84 @Anthony P
spanish pond turtle, maybe?
Wow, what's with these international turtles? My wheelhouse is N American turtles!!
Yes, Spanish Pond turtle.
Mauremys leprosa
Yes, Spanish Pond turtle.
Mauremys leprosa
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2012
- Messages
- 5,172
- Location (City and/or State)
- South of Southern California, but not Mexico
I'm really curious, how have you been housing this guy all this time?
Great question, Sarah. Beautiful turtle. I adore the entire Mauremys genus.
Like a turtle in an aquarium with some soil so she can be out of Water. I also have her walking around a lot. I always thought it was a turtle until someone told me it was a tortoise. But now i see in fact it is a turtle. I was worried i had been mistreating her if she was in fact a tortoise. Gladly it is not.
And she has these huge claws that i am scared of cutting. Should i ask the vet or something?
And she has these huge claws that i am scared of cutting. Should i ask the vet or something?
Sara G.
Active Member
Unless her claws are curling you shouldn't need to cut them.
Turtles naturally have longer and sharper claws than most tortoises.
What size aquarium do you have?
Turtles naturally have longer and sharper claws than most tortoises.
What size aquarium do you have?
It's 1 meter / 40 cm. I'm waiting to get rid of it and create a nice enclousure, that's why I joined this forum. I want to learn The best ways she can live so she lives well and as long as she should live outside her natural envorinment.
By The way, she is a she right?
By The way, she is a she right?
Sara G.
Active Member
Im not very good at sexing turtles/tortoises but she does look to be a female to me.
I don't know this species at all to be able to give you all the necessary information. So the below information I'll base off my knowledge of Red Eared Sliders. I'm fairly certain most, if not all, of it will apply to you.
As with any water turtle they need either a large aquarium/tank or a decent sized pond.
They also need to be able to get completely out of the water in order to dry off their shells to prevent shell rot.
They require a basking area with a UVA/UVB/Heat lamp. And some species require a heater for the water of their tank.
If you're going the aquarium route then I would recommend a very large tank. The largest you could get. For a full grown female RES usually 200 gallons is recommended. That could be a little excessive and sometimes a 90 gallon tank could work for a smaller female.
I don't know exactly how large your Spanish Pond Turtle is but she looks to be a decent enough size to require a tank that large.
As far as the basking area were to go I would really recommend an ATBA (above tank basking area). These can be constructed fairly easily but that way you can fill the entire tank up with water and give your turtle the maximum swimming room they can get.
And I'd get a canister filter. Fluval makes pretty good ones though there's a couple other companies that seem to do okay as well and might be cheaper. I have a Fluval 406 and I love it.
I'll show you a pic of my tank & ATBA set up and hopefully some other members can give you better advice on your specific turtle.
And just so you know, my tank has 2 not-yet-full-grown sliders in it. And it is WAY too small for them already.
The ATBA is actually an old tank with the top & bottom cut out and a plastic piece with a ramp serving as the actual basking area.
I don't know this species at all to be able to give you all the necessary information. So the below information I'll base off my knowledge of Red Eared Sliders. I'm fairly certain most, if not all, of it will apply to you.
As with any water turtle they need either a large aquarium/tank or a decent sized pond.
They also need to be able to get completely out of the water in order to dry off their shells to prevent shell rot.
They require a basking area with a UVA/UVB/Heat lamp. And some species require a heater for the water of their tank.
If you're going the aquarium route then I would recommend a very large tank. The largest you could get. For a full grown female RES usually 200 gallons is recommended. That could be a little excessive and sometimes a 90 gallon tank could work for a smaller female.
I don't know exactly how large your Spanish Pond Turtle is but she looks to be a decent enough size to require a tank that large.
As far as the basking area were to go I would really recommend an ATBA (above tank basking area). These can be constructed fairly easily but that way you can fill the entire tank up with water and give your turtle the maximum swimming room they can get.
And I'd get a canister filter. Fluval makes pretty good ones though there's a couple other companies that seem to do okay as well and might be cheaper. I have a Fluval 406 and I love it.
I'll show you a pic of my tank & ATBA set up and hopefully some other members can give you better advice on your specific turtle.
And just so you know, my tank has 2 not-yet-full-grown sliders in it. And it is WAY too small for them already.
The ATBA is actually an old tank with the top & bottom cut out and a plastic piece with a ramp serving as the actual basking area.
How does your turtles go to the top where the light is? My turtle has about 13cm. I guess she needs that kind of space. I saw that her species is semi aquatic and that they are found miles away from the water to get sun food etc. It always has seemed to me that she likes being out of water more than in the water, but i dont know. Im saying this in a sense that i have been thinking of a more spacious and improved space outside the water than inside it. But give me your advice on this.... why does she need that amount of water?
Where do you feed your turtle? Where does she usually likes to sleep?
Thank you so much for all your advice and patience
Where do you feed your turtle? Where does she usually likes to sleep?
Thank you so much for all your advice and patience
Sara G.
Active Member
They climb up the ramp. The ramp hangs about 3-4 inches into the water and they hoist themselves up. You'd be amazed at how strong they are!
The water is important because as aquatic turtles they spend almost their entire lives in water. They leave to bask, and to find nesting sites to lay their eggs when it's time. But for the most part my turtles sleep, eat, drink, poop, and live entirely in the water.
My two sleep in the water. They can hold their breath for a long time and can even take in a very small small portion of air through the vent in their tails which helps them not have to come up as often as we do.
But they'll pop up to breathe and go back down.
Sometimes they'll hang onto the plant and float close to the top so they don't have to swim up to get air.
My next project is to create an in water area for them to sleep on so they don't have to do much but raise their heads up when they wanna breathe at night.
As far as I know--this could be a myth but I've looked it up before--RES's don't produce saliva like you or I do. So they have to eat in the water in order to be able to properly swallow. So water is very important.
Your Spanish pond turtle might require more land room than my turtles do but that can easily be fixed with a larger basking area.
You can always set up a pond outdoors if you have the room. Is it warm all year round for you? Or does it get cold?
If you do set up a pond I would make sure you have really good fencing around the pond--preferably something your turtle can't see out of and something they can't climb over. I'm not sure about SPTs but my RESs are crazy climbers.
The water is important because as aquatic turtles they spend almost their entire lives in water. They leave to bask, and to find nesting sites to lay their eggs when it's time. But for the most part my turtles sleep, eat, drink, poop, and live entirely in the water.
My two sleep in the water. They can hold their breath for a long time and can even take in a very small small portion of air through the vent in their tails which helps them not have to come up as often as we do.
But they'll pop up to breathe and go back down.
Sometimes they'll hang onto the plant and float close to the top so they don't have to swim up to get air.
My next project is to create an in water area for them to sleep on so they don't have to do much but raise their heads up when they wanna breathe at night.
As far as I know--this could be a myth but I've looked it up before--RES's don't produce saliva like you or I do. So they have to eat in the water in order to be able to properly swallow. So water is very important.
Your Spanish pond turtle might require more land room than my turtles do but that can easily be fixed with a larger basking area.
You can always set up a pond outdoors if you have the room. Is it warm all year round for you? Or does it get cold?
If you do set up a pond I would make sure you have really good fencing around the pond--preferably something your turtle can't see out of and something they can't climb over. I'm not sure about SPTs but my RESs are crazy climbers.
Sara G.
Active Member
I feed my turtles in the tank. But there are a lot of people who set up a different area outside their tank (a bin full of water works) and feed them outside the tank. That way it helps keep the tank a bit cleaner.
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