# turtles



## camt44 (Mar 30, 2009)

hey all, i went to the macherps expo on the weekend (which was great) and i saw lots of turtles which i have always been interested in... a few questions though... what is the smallest one (do they all get as big as the long-necks?) that is readily available, as i don't have room for a big tank, or a pond... any general care info would be greatly appreciated as well!!!


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## SnapKitten (Mar 30, 2009)

I have a Macquarie River Short neck. When I got him he was about the size of a 20cent coin. I've had him for a year or more now and he's about 15cm long. When he's fully grown he'll be about 30cm long. Had him in a smaller tank (80cm long) til recently. He didn't grow out of the old one, I just got a good offer on a 2nd hand 6ft tank, so he got upgraded. He is my first and only turtle (so far), so I'm not the most experienced. As for general care, I feed twice a day, have lighting, and a basking area. Change 1/3 - 1/2 tank water fornightly and have a filter. I've had no problems the whole time having him.


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## JAS101 (Mar 31, 2009)

the best turtle advice i can give u is >>>> http://www.australianfreshwaterturtles.com.au/index.php


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## camt44 (Mar 31, 2009)

great thanks alot. i'll check out that site now


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## obsessive (Mar 31, 2009)

The smallest Australian turtle is the Western Swamp Tortoise _Pseudemydura umbrina _(they still call Turtles Tortoises in WA) It grows to 14cms, but is critically endanged and is illegal to keep.

The second smallest Turtle is the macleay river turtle and is legal to keep. You will be able to keep a pair of these in a 5 foot tank for life. On that note, you are able to keep a pair of Painted turtles ina 6 foot tank for life. Regardless, if you have anything less thena 5 foot tank I would not bother considering turtles.

Turtle husbandry is pretty straight forward. But temps and diet will differ with what speies you get.


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## camt44 (Mar 31, 2009)

cool thanks for that. i only have some 2x1x1 tanks now, which i was going to use while they were young... how long do you think they could live in this for before they need an upgrade to their bigger tank (the 5 or 6 foot one?) what size do the macleay river turtles get? i saw some of them at the Macherps expo and they looked awesome. i'll do some more research on them.


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## jomichstan (Mar 31, 2009)

petty sure the macleay river turtle gets to about 170mm in diameter read it somewhere just bought a murray long neck on the w.end they are pretty cool pets. he is 100mm can not buy any smaller in vic through a pet shop


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## obsessive (Mar 31, 2009)

The length of time you will be able to keep a macleay in a two foot tank depends on what you feed it. Turtle dinner and other high protein foods will increase the turtles growth dramatically and you will be lucky to get a year use out of it. If you feed it a proper diet of turtle sticks, live foods and freshwater plant you should get around a year and a half before you need to upsize.


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## Kay-Dee95 (Mar 31, 2009)

teripen turtles are pretty small but if you live in victoria there illegal


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## domdom22 (Mar 31, 2009)

SnapKitten said:


> I have a Macquarie River Short neck. When I got him he was about the size of a 20cent coin. I've had him for a year or more now and he's about 15cm long. When he's fully grown he'll be about 30cm long. Had him in a smaller tank (80cm long) til recently. He didn't grow out of the old one, I just got a good offer on a 2nd hand 6ft tank, so he got upgraded. He is my first and only turtle (so far), so I'm not the most experienced. As for general care, I feed twice a day, have lighting, and a basking area. Change 1/3 - 1/2 tank water fornightly and have a filter. I've had no problems the whole time having him.



wow feeding him twice a day!!??
15cm in a year?
ive had mine for nearly two years probably and they are prob max 5cm....
which is what they are sposed to be i think


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## JAS101 (Mar 31, 2009)

domdom22 said:


> wow feeding him twice a day!!??
> 15cm in a year?
> ive had mine for nearly two years probably and they are prob max 5cm....
> which is what they are sposed to be i think


yup twice a day is too much > should only be feeding it the size of its head [ the amount of food] 15cm in one year is wayyy too much .


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## obsessive (Mar 31, 2009)

Kay-Dee95 said:


> teripen turtles are pretty small but if you live in victoria there illegal


 
Terrapins are illigal Australia wide and get quite large.



domdom22 said:


> wow feeding him twice a day!!??
> 15cm in a year?
> ive had mine for nearly two years probably and they are prob max 5cm....
> which is what they are sposed to be i think


 
15cm in one year is way to fast for a turtle to grow. I would suggest feeding it once a day with a serving of food the size of the turtles head. Turtles are opportunistic feeders and will eat themselves silly if given the chance. Are you feeding turtle dinner?


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## domdom22 (Mar 31, 2009)

obsessive said:


> Terrapins are illigal Australia wide and get quite large.
> 
> 
> 
> 15cm in one year is way to fast for a turtle to grow. I would suggest feeding it once a day with a serving of food the size of the turtles head. Turtles are opportunistic feeders and will eat themselves silly if given the chance. Are you feeding turtle dinner?




Yeah i know..my turtles are still little..and i feed them a variety of pretty much everything..
its SnapKitten (person i quoted) whos turtles are growing really big, really fast. not mine


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## obsessive (Mar 31, 2009)

domdom22 said:


> Yeah i know..my turtles are still little..and i feed them a variety of pretty much everything..
> its SnapKitten (person i quoted) whos turtles are growing really big, really fast. not mine


 
lol... I know. I was hoping no one pulled me up on it. Lets just put that down to me backing you up, yeah?


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## domdom22 (Mar 31, 2009)

lol ok



obsessive said:


> if you have anything less thena 5 foot tank I would not bother considering turtles.



mmm i dunno about this...ive got 2 turtles in a 2foot which is fine atm because turtles grow so slowly...but yeh in the end u will need a big tank


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## obsessive (Mar 31, 2009)

domdom22 said:


> mmm i dunno about this...ive got 2 turtles in a 2foot which is fine atm because turtles grow so slowly...but yeh in the end u will need a big tank


 
Sorry, I should have worded myself better. I agree for the short term a two foot will be more then sufficient, but the OP said he can't spare the room for a large tank or pond, so if he can't find room for a 5 - 6 foot tank (now or in the next 2-3 years) then there is really no use getting a turtle because with time a larger tank will be needed. Future planning is always needed when dealing with animals that live for 30+ years and grow to the size of a platter dish. I have a sawshell hatchiling (1.5 months old and the size of a 20c coin) in a 1 foot tank at the moment, it works now but I know he will need a larger tank with time just as you will know that your two murrays will have to be upgraded eventually. Some people are still under the impression that a turtle will grow to the size of a tank and pass this information onto others. Its grossly incorrect and unimaginable cruel.


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## SnapKitten (Mar 31, 2009)

If you read my post again I said 'a year or *more*', It would be closer to 2 years. But I wrote a year or more as the record book (along with movements and my licence) I had him written in when I first got him was thrown away by room mates so I no longer have an exact date. I called EPA and recieved a copy of my licence but was told to add pre existing animals to a new record book. So I had to guess an age when writting the post. I had my turtle before my cat and my cat is now a bit over a year so I said a year or more. I do feed him twice a day but they are small feeds that are far apart, in the wild a turtle wouldn't have one big feed then wait until tomorrow for the next. You said yourself (obsesive) that they are opportunist feeders. And yes, he sometimes gets turtle dinner, beefheart or bloodworm but I also give fresh water plants and he got feeder fish but didn't eat them, even tho the opportunity is there.


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## obsessive (Mar 31, 2009)

15cm straight carapace length is fairly normal size of a turtle at 2 years old. I wasn't having a go at you, if that was the impression I gave I am sorry. But it is better for a turtle to grow slow than fast. For example my one year old murray is 8cm scl. I used to feed tutle dinner but stopped after he shot up in size. He also shares his tank with fish that never make it onto the menu, its quite normal for turtles to ignore live fish if they are well fed... turtles are quite lazy really.


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## camt44 (Apr 1, 2009)

i always knew i needed a bigger tank than 2 foot, i was just wondering firstly how long that would be alright for, and how big the final tank would need to be so i could get an idea... i never had the intention of trying to keep an adult turtle in a 2 foot tank


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## domdom22 (Apr 1, 2009)

lol
you could keep them in like a 2foot tank for around 2 years maybe?
it depends..sum of them grow heaps fast and sum dont..(its wierd...ive got 2 turtles, same age, same ammount of food and one is like twice as big as the other..:S)


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