Having given in to the child's requests for a pet, the parents decide to buy him a land turtle. They believe that the animal is small, silent, inconspicuous, eats little, does not need to walk and will not cause any discomfort to the owners. Is it so?
Turtles are very interesting animals. With proper care, they live a long time, delighting the owners. Of course, it is more interesting to watch them not in the terrarium. If there are no drafts, then they can live in an apartment on the floor. They quickly study their habitat and establish a daily routine for themselves. They eat in one place, sunbathe in the sun - in another and know perfectly well what time, in which room the sun will be, they sleep in the third - the warmest. The owners do not particularly recognize, but they are not afraid either.
When frightened, they hide their head and paws under their carapace, while making a hissing sound. It is especially interesting to watch them when they walk around the apartment. They walk like ballerinas, raising their shells above the ground. While walking, they clatter their claws on the floor covering, occasionally lowering the shell to the floor with a clatter to look around. On the way, the animal can fall asleep, and in the dark it can easily be overlooked and kicked forward. They can climb into a corner and try to bury themselves in it for a long time. This action is accompanied by loud, monotonous, scraping sounds. The wallpaper will be torn. They must walk around the apartment under supervision, otherwise they may well get stuck somewhere and die.
When kept in a terrarium, of course, the habits of the animal are not so pronounced, but all the necessary conditions can be created there. The terrarium does not have to be deep. You can equip it so that it will be a real decoration of the room. Instead of a terrarium, you can make something like a corral on the floor. Put sawdust or coconut mulch on the bottom. There must be a UV lamp for reptiles and an infrared lamp. It is desirable that there are zones in the terrarium: warm and cold. The animal itself determines what it needs at the moment and buries itself in warm or cold ground, or goes to sunbathe under a lamp. A turtle needs a house. In nature, they dig holes, they need a place to sleep. At home, they do not always hibernate, but in nature they can easily sleep from mid-summer, when the heat comes, and until spring.
In nature, land turtles feed on grass, sometimes not very succulent in drought conditions. At home, you need to remember this and understand that their digestive apparatus is not adapted for too wet feed. Small turtles are fed daily, large ones every two to three days. Food that has not been eaten is removed from the terrarium. They are most often fed with grass, dandelions are occasionally given lettuce, cucumber, pumpkin. Once a week, the animal is bathed, then she drinks. In conditions when food becomes scarce, the turtle can hibernate.
Turtles can be walked but easily lost. They are very active in the sun and move very quickly. Therefore, on the street you need to follow them very carefully.
Keeping turtles is not quite burdensome, although it requires some, fairly regular investments. We must be ready for them. It is very interesting to watch the animals.
