Tiny Turtles!?!? Do they exist, and stay that way?

[madasafish]

Hi all,

Well, I know this is kind of a FISH site, but I have a turtle question which I hope somebody might be able to answer. Are there any really small turtles out there for sale? If necessary, I could always ask my LPS owner /manager to order one. I'm really looking for a turtle that won't outgrow a 30 or 40 gallon tank (I'd love to set up a paludarium).

Ideally, the turtle wouldn't get any bigger than 4 or 5 inches in length, and more ideally would stay about 3 inches in length. Do such turtles exist?? I have no idea where to look on the net.

Any imput will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[possum]

I At my LFS they have turtles that are about 1 to 2 inches across. I had 2 but gave them away. The guy told me that if you put them in a 10 gallon tank they would stay the same size but would grow a little bigger each time you upgrade the tank. Now i dont know if this is true but thats what i was told!

 

[madasafish]

Hmm... Interesting. I think there are some like that in China Town here. You can get each one for about a buck or two. But I also know that in my friend's 30G, they have grown to about 6 or 7 inches. Arg--the problem is I WANT to keep them in a large aquarium, coz I like to give animals plenty of room to roam... Thanks for the info, though, Possum.

Anybody have a species name for a small turtle??

Thanks

 

[possum]

Not sure the scientific name but the common name of the ones i had is red eared slider.

 

[Megalofyia]

He's probably talkign about red eared sliders.. but they can get big ..
At least in the wild they do.

 

[Biggen]

Yup. We sell Red Ear Sliders during the spring and summer. They can reach sizes of 8-10 inches. Would need at least a 30 gallon tank to properly take care of it when its full grown.

 

[madasafish]

Any other suggestions???

Any websites you can suggest to do research on? I can do all the research! I just haven't been able to find anything yet (there seems to be a lot more sites for info on fish!).

Thanks!

 

[Moe36]

...hmm...Ive heard its illegal to sell turtles under 4" or something like that. But, maybe its just for my area.

 

[madasafish]

Hmmm... ok. Why do you think that is, Moe36? I've never heard that before. Or does anyone else know?

Terry, Biggen, Bernie do you stock any tiny turtles (other than the R-E sliders)?? Any other fish/pet store owners around here?

Thanks!

 

[madasafish]

And, urg. If I don't hear anything about really small turtles, I'm considering scrapping the idea. I do know how much work they are, and how much waste they produce! I was thinking of setting up a palludarium, but they require SO much time and effort, and different treatments for the different sections of the tank!

 

[missyintx]

I would definately steer clear of the red-earred slider. they are adorable when they are little, but they get to be about 8-10" around from what I've heaard. When had one named Speedy in our first tank which was 20 gallons. He was too big when we got him but he was sort of adopted/inherited him from my littlest girls pre-kindgergarten teacher. He was mean as all he!! and would hiss at you if you got close to the tank. And they are dirty smelly creaatures.
We took him to this lovely park with a beautiful pond in a quiet residential neighborhood and told him to go find Mrs Speedy and make lots of baby turtles.
I was sooooooo glad when he was gone!
Now I have 9 tanks with lots of beautiful tanks and couldn't be happier about it.
I don't know what kind of turtle you can get that stays small, but I do wish you the best of lucky in your search for one!

 

[Moe36]

Hmmm... ok. Why do you think that is, Moe36? I've never heard that before. Or does anyone else know?

http://www.turtletimes.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9336
http://www.tortoise.org/general/4inch.html
http://forum.reptilerap.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=135http://www.turtlecare.net/baby.htm
...4 sites I found in under two minutes

 

[Moe36]

http://www.amphibiancare.com/frogs/aquaticturtle.html (1st ppgh)
http://www.tortoise.org/general/salmon1.html

 

[Moe36]

...no one said your guaranteed to get caugh though.

 

[madasafish]

Alright, Moe36. You got me--I'm lazy (didn't mean to be, though)! Should have just done the research myself! But thanks for the help!