A Turtle Name-Tips to Help You Make the Perfect Choice

What turtle name should you choose for your brand new pet? Deciding on a name is probably one of the most fun tasks that come with pet ownership. However, you may also find yourself faced with indecision and difficulty in making your final selection, especially if you are the kind of owner who wants to find the most appropriate and meaningful name for your new turtle.
Well-cared for turtles can have long lifespans that may last over forty years. The turtle name you select for your pet is a mirror of your relationship with it, as it reveals how much you care for your treasured friend. A distinctive feature, characteristic, or quirky behavior of your pet are some of the factors that you should consider prior to making your turtle name selection.
This special name not only gives you something to call your new pet turtle, it also gives it a special identity, officially welcoming it as a unique part of your household. It will also help you identify one turtle from the other if you happen to own a bale (another word for "herd") of turtles.
You can choose the name of your turtle according to its habitat, or any other trait or attribute that stands out. You can pick a name that is very special or personal to you. There are hosts of available and recommended turtle names which have been collected from various owners around the world that will help you in choosing the right name for your pet. Take time to think about the name you will pick. Consider watching your turtle for a few days before finalizing the name, to see what his particular moods, traits, and physical characteristics are.
If you have some spare time and are so inclined, you might do a little research into the etymology of names and their original meanings. Here are some I have found.
For example:
* "Morgan" is a Celtic, male name which means "lives by the sea." * "Spark" is an English, male name which means "Gallant." * "Dyana" is a French, female name which means "Divine." * "Brina," is an Irish female name, means "Strong." * "Otilie" is a German, female name meaning "Fortunate Heroine." * "Trinette" is a French, female name for "Little Innocent." * "Kayleigh" is a lovely Irish, female name meaning "Slender." * "Dell" is a name with English origins, meaning "noble."
Of course, children would probably want to give their pets fun and easily remembered names like "Turdman," "Shell-Shocker," "Pokey," "Myrtle," "Mr. Turtell," "Ozzy," or "Shelly."
Remember, if you are bringing home a turtle into an existing family with children, you should always include the children in the naming process. This will ensure a closer bond between the child and the turtle, and more chance that the turtle will receive excellent care and attention from all family members.

About the Author

Karma Williams is a pet turtle care enthusiast. Discover more about turtles by visiting the turtle name page of her website. Get your free 10 part Pet Turtle Care mini-course, valued at $49, by visiting her PetTurtleCenter website and requesting it. Check out her eBook entitled "The Ultimate Guide to Pet Turtle Care."

Turtle Pets Love Fun and Exercise Too!

Raising turtle pets is a hobby that has grown by leaps and bounds, with people all around the globe enjoying these reptiles as cherished family members. Some might feel that turtles demand more tedious care than other pets, and that their supplies for food and shelter can be costly. However the satisfaction, fascination, and amusement you are guaranteed to obtain from keeping these amazing animals will definitely make it all worthwhile. Thanks to turtle pet owners sharing information gleaned from daily observations and hands-on experience, we now have substantial first-hand information as to which type of turtle is best to keep as a pet, and how to choose the name best suited to our beloved pet.

No matter how much you adore your pet turtles, you should bear in mind that these special creatures are nothing like dogs and cats. One theory postulates that reptiles do not have the capability for affection. Still, this is just a theory, and should not discourage you. Pet owners have shared their personal experiences regarding their turtle pets, offering their first-hand knowledge on how to bring out the best in them.
When you first bring your turtle home, you should give him a period of time to adjust and learn to trust you. Allow approximately two to three days for your turtle to have peace and quiet, and don't try to establish any rules or routines during this initial phase. When you approach the turtle, be sure to move cautiously and slowly so as not to startle him. Also, refrain from making loud sounds or noises when you are anywhere near the turtle. Practicing these basic steps will allow you to earn your pet turtle's trust, slowly but surely.
A good number of turtle owners have claimed that their pets love to play with sea shells. Turtles will often flip the shells by pressing on them with their claws and sliding them along the floor.

Another way to have fun with your turtle is to take it outside for a walk. Not only do they like scampering around, but walking is also an excellent form of exercise for them.


For turtles that are housed in a tank, or whenever you put your turtle in a tank for a swim, you can also place broken pieces of cuttlebones afloat in the water. Turtles adore chasing these around while swimming, and as an added plus, they will get much-needed calcium when they eat the bones.

Another fun idea is to set up a toy raft in the turtles' housing, so they will have something to play with, even when you are not there and they are on their own.

Helping your pet turtle adjust to and enjoy his new life as your cherished pet is really not too difficult a task. First, you must allow your new pet turtle to get used to his new habitat, and to learn to trust you. As a responsible owner, it is your job to constantly look out for your pet's safety. Wherever you house your turtle or transport him to, be sure to keep him in an environment where he is free from possible harm, injury, and exposure to predators. In whatever activity you may try to engage your pet turtle, you should always first consider potential risks to his health and well-being. Do not choose activities which are too strenuous or stressful. Rather, opt for the ones that will benefit his health while allowing him to enjoy himself.

About the Author

Karma Williams is a pet turtle care enthusiast. Discover more about turtles by visiting the turtle pets page of her website. Get your free 10 part Pet Turtle Care mini-course, valued at $49, by visiting her PetTurtleCenter website and requesting it. Check out her eBook entitled "The Ultimate Guide to Pet Turtle Care."

Aquatic Turtle Supply Tips by Lucy Diamond

Children adore turtles as pets. They are very interesting creatures and there are many species, so When you decide to have a turtle for a pet, you will need to know the exact species for the proper care.

Turtles are terrestrial, spending more time on land, or aquatic, spending a great deal of time in the water. Do you need aquatic turtle supply tips?

Box and mud turtles are terrestrial. They require land to hibernate during the winter and sun on during the day. Most terrestrial turtles need at least 12 hours of sunlight, which can be provided by a UV lamp. Turtles are very susceptible to temperature changes often living in 80 degrees during the day and 70 degrees during the night. Terrestrial turtles also need water not only to drink, but for swimming as well.

Aquatic turtles include sliders and painted turtles. Sliders typically live in swampy areas or near lakes with a lot of mud. They tend to bask in the sun during the day and swim to cool off. The painted turtle requires special care. Could aquatic turtle supply tips be beneficial to you?

Once deciding on the type of turtle you wish to have, you will need to determine the size tank you need. Most turtles require a 40 gallon tank or larger to provide emough room for land and water. You will also need nonpoisonous plants in the tank as the turtle will want to eat them. Your pet shop should be able to help you choose the right type of plants.

Avoid Wood chips and bark, as they harbor bacteria and molds. A turtle has a small digestive track and therefore wood chips often cause blockages. Certain turtles enjoy small rocks to burrow under along with the dirt.

Turtles enjoy lettuce, goldfish, special feed sticks, berries and insects depending on the species of turtle you own. Water is important for your turtle, and you never want to give them tap water to drink. Give them natural spring water or non-chlorinated water to swim in. Chlorine and other chemicals in the tap water can cause bacteria to enter their digestive systems.

Turtles will make great pets if you know a little about their habitat needs. They are sensitive animals, so avoid handling them too often. They must hibernate to live a long life, so you will need to keep the turtle somewhere little children cannot disturb them during the fall period. With some aquatic turtle supply tips, and some knowledge and guidance, your turtle will make a great pet.

About the Author

by Lucy Diamond

Lucy is interested in nature and animals. If you have ever thought about having a pet turtle and need aquatic turtle supply tips, check out the website.
Turtle Care Guide

Hatchling Care - Tips for Raising Healthy Baby Turtles

The turtle hatchling is very cute and appealing to people, as are many baby animals. Nevertheless, it is illegal to purchase a hatchling turtle throughout the United States of America. (See U.S. Food and Drug Administration Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, Subpart D, Sec. 1240.62--Turtles intrastate and interstate requirements) There are a few exceptions to this law however, for bona fide scientific, educational, or exhibitional purposes. The primary reason for this is because the hatchling turtle is deemed to be a greater risk for Salmonella compared to adult turtles. Turtle hatchlings are most likely to be handled by children who do not necessarily practice good personal hygiene; therefore the turtles' care must be properly and strictly observed.

To begin, you must be committed to caring for your turtle for a long time, as their lifespan is close to that of humans. If you take excellent care of them, they may even outlive you!

Interested turtle keepers must first find out the species of turtle they want to keep. Not only must you provide suitable housing and the right kind of food to your pet; you must also know which species of turtle best suits your lifestyle and living conditions. There are some classes of turtle that grow extremely large, and cannot be kept as domesticated animals. Fortunately, there are a good number of turtle species that have docile personalities and grow to a manageable size as adults, making them suitable for captivity. Once you have purchased the turtle most suitable to your needs, you can move on to providing a good habitat for your pet.
Be sure to provide the turtles with a place to bask, swim, and hide, as these are the primary daily activities of your new pet. Not only do turtles enjoy these activities, they are essential to the turtles' overall good health. Turtle hatchlings can be best kept in plastic tubs or aquariums so you can monitor them more closely. Hatchling care requires constant temperature regulation. It is advisable to use a heater to maintain a controlled and sustained warm temperature within the area. If there are no heat or temperature-regulating devices available, place your pet's housing in a location where they can receive abundant natural lighting.

Feeding baby turtles may be the most challenging part of your hatchlings' care. At first, they may not even eat at all, no matter what type of food you offer them! This is just their normal behavior at this stage, so you need not worry too much. Although turtles are omnivorous, the young ones are most likely to behave as largely carnivorous animals. Hatchlings are very picky in the food that they approve of eating. Start off by feeding them small, live insects and worms. As they mature, you may find that their range of food preference also broadens. They then can be fed fruits and vegetables, or even the processed food intended for the mature turtle's diet.

If you are keeping more than one turtle, pay extra attention to your pets, in order to be certain that each one of them maintains optimum health.

If there are children in your household, teach them that observing good personal hygiene is a vital part of their pet hatchlings' care. Turtles have proven to be one of the best animals to keep, and once you get into the rhythm of excellent, responsible care for your hatchlings, you'll be a happy and satisfied turtle owner for years!

Karma Williams is a pet turtle care enthusiast. Discover more about turtles by visiting the hatchling turtle care page of her website. Get your free 10 part Pet Turtle Care mini-course, valued at $49, by visiting her PetTurtleCenter website and requesting it. Check out her eBook entitled "The Ultimate Guide to Pet Turtle Care."

*Video* Pet Turtle Care : What Is the Behavior of a Turtle?

Types Of Pet Turtles For Novices

Taking on a pet requires a certain level of commitment. For the most part, you will be responsible for the safety and well-being of another creature. Taking care of a turtle is no easy task. Choosing from among the types of pet turtles will entail careful thought. You will want to select a pet whose lifestyle can easily fit in with your own way of living. Here are three common types of pet turtles that you can consider rearing.

Box turtles

The box turtle is one of the more popular types of pet turtles that are found practically all over the world. Wherever there are damp, mossy areas, one is sure to find a box turtle inhabiting the land. These types of pet turtles are pretty territorial and are required to stay near their place of birth for their entire lifetime. As a matter of fact, if you try to remove a box turtle to another area half a mile from where it was born, it acquires the tendency to systematically search for its former habitat. It may not be able to find its way back to its old home but it will spend most of its life looking for it. This is one of those types of pet turtles that you will want to be cautious about because you need to create a living environment that is very similar to its old habitat. A box turtle is omnivorous so it can live off of insects, berries and various types of food products. They are ideal pets for people who live in the country because it is easier to recreate their natural habitat.

Slider turtles

Among the many types of pet turtles, sliders are probably the most controversial due to the salmonella scare in the 1970's. Apparently, young children have contracted the disease due to improper handling of slider turtles. However, through the years, these types of pet turtles have managed to redeem their popularity as they have always been known to make excellent pets. A slider can grow up to eleven inches long so you will probably need to replace your tank if you started with a ten-gallon aquarium for a baby turtle.

Slider turtles naturally live in swampy areas that have lots of mud such as shallow ponds and lakesides. These types of pet turtles love to bask in the sun for hours and are typically omnivorous. However they tend to minimize on their intake of meat as they grow older. You can try feeding your pet live goldfish, worm cubes and food sticks. It's also a good idea to feed it lots of lettuce and other types of vegetables.

Painted turtles

Painted turtles are probably the most beautiful types of pet turtles because of their colorful markings on their shells. The turtle usually has a dark olive to black skin color combined with red and yellow stripes on its legs and neck. It usually comes with a smooth carapace and can grow up to ten inches in length.
These types of pet turtles are generally aquatic. Compared to other species, they are a bit more complicated to take care of because they have specific habits that you need to take note of.

For great turtle care advice, turtle food recommendation or turtle health issues visit us at ..... http://www.petturtlecare.net/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steven_Magill

What Do Turtles Eat?

What do turtles eat? Well, that really depends on the type of turtle you are asking about. Most turtles are carnivorous when they are young, but grow in to omnivores when they mature. Some feed mostly on plants while others, like the snapping turtle, actively hunt small creatures for their food. A turtle's diet depends on what kind of turtle it is, where it lives and what it has access to.

If you have an adult turtle as a pet, here are some of the foods you can feed it to keep it healthy:

Protein: There are many sources of protein that are safe to feed turtles: small amounts of cooked fish, turkey or chicken are okay; boiled eggs are okay; mealworms, waxworms, earthworms and silkworms are okay; slugs are fine, as are shrimp, snails and crickets. Don't give them raw meat, though because it can contain a lot of fat and could become contaminated by the time the turtle decides to eat it.

Vegetables: leafy vegetables are best: grape and fig leaves, red clover, carrot tops, dandelions, lettuce (red and green are okay), turnip greens, water lettuce, duckweed, collards, endive and plantain weed are all okay. Regular vegetables like corn, green beans, beets, carrots, okra, green peas and some squash varieties are also okay.

Flowers: some turtles love flowers! Roses, pansies, petunias, lilies, carnations, hibiscus, hyssop, borage, nasturtium and geraniums are all okay as turtle food.

Fruit: some turtles also like fruit: kiwi, apple, mango, strawberry, cantaloupe, blackberries, bananas, grapes, tomatoes, blueberries and some citrus fruits are all a fine to feed a turtle.

Of course, there are some foods that should never be given to a turtle:

Turtles cannot digest milk or dairy products because their stomachs do not carry the enzymes needed for the breaking down of lactose. Feeding dairy products to your turtle is a good way to make sure it gets very sick.

It is also a bad idea to feed any sort of canned or processed food to your turtle. These usually have large amounts of salt and preservatives and people don't yet know what these ingredients will do to the digestive system of a turtle.

What do turtles eat from their natural habitats? Some turtles have been known to eat poisonous plants that are a part of their natural habitat-they do this as a way to make themselves inedible by predators. Unfortunately, especially in the case of pet turtles, you won't know exactly what kind of plants are a part of its native habitat, so it is best to keep poisonous plants (like poison ivy, rhubarb plants and avocado plants) out of their reach and out of their tanks.

What do turtles eat? The turtle's diet depends on what kind of a turtle it is and how old it is. While they are babies, turtles are almost completely carnivorous, though they change into omnivores or even herbivores when they get older (depending on the turtle species). If you are buying a pet turtle from a store, the pet store will likely have food you can feed it.

Copyright (c) 2008 Steven Magill

For great turtle care advice, turtle food recommendation or turtle health issues visit us at ..... http://www.petturtlecare.net/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steven_Magill