TEST: Are You Ready To Be a Turtle Owner? 

Copyright by Valerie Haecky. This document may be freely 
distributed for non-profit use, provided this notice is
included.

Becoming the owner of a turtle carries all sorts of responsibilities, ranging from setup choices to veterinary bills to personal time invested. Print out the following questionnaire for yourself. Fill in all the answers. (There is no automatic processing of the form at this point.)

Now, chances are good that you've already acquired a turtle, and now, that the reality of your purchase is sinking in, you are trying to be the best turtle owner you can be. Use, then, this questionnaire to become familiar with what it is you've gotten yourself into, to budget for your new family member, to get a basic understanding of what you need (see the care sheets for more information), and to decide whether you can keep the animal or whether you should find a more suitable home for it (no shame in that!).

Financial Considerations

Pricing for many items depends on how fancy you would like your setup to be; some items can be free, like newspaper bedding; others have a set price, for example full-spectrum reptile lighting.
  1. Cost of animal:
    (Free: Adopt an animal.)
    (DeLuxe: Designer Animal from Breeder.)
  2. Cost of cage:
    (Cheap: Pick up at swap meet or yard sale.)
    (DeLuxe: Have a custom cage built.)
  3. Cost of heating (incandescent light bulb and hood):
    (Cheap: Old desk lamp and incandescent bulb.)
    (DeLuxe: Incandescent hood and ceramic heat bulb.)
  4. Cost of temperature control:
    (Cheap: Aquarium or simple thermometer.)
    (DeLuxe: Thermometer with humidity gauge; thermostat.)
  5. Cost of water heater for water turtles:
    (Cheap: Aquarium heater from yard sale or heating pad from drug store.)
    (DeLuxe: Nice aquarium heater with good thermostat.)
  6. Cost of filtration for water turtles:
    (Cheap: Small submersible filter. Or make your own filtration system.)
    (DeLuxe: Canister filter or bio-wheel filter.)
  7. Cost of full-spectrum reptile lighting (ReptiSun 5.0):
    (Cheap: Keep turtle outdoors or take for daily walks in the sun.)
    (DeLuxe: ReptiSun 5.0 or equivalent fluorescent bulb.)
  8. Cost of hood for UV lighting:
    (Cheap: Used from yard sale or swap meet. Line with aluminum foil.)
    (DeLuxe: Brand new with reflector.)
  9. Cost of bedding per year(newspaper, commercial bedding):
    (Cheap: Newspaper, folded and/or shredded.)
    (DeLuxe: Reptile bedding, as for example coconut fiber based bedding.)
  10. Cost of water bowl (plastic cup, fancy shaped bowl):
    (Cheap: Flower pot saucer or appropriate size.)
    (DeLuxe: Ceramic water bowl or designer water bowl.)
  11. Cost of hide place (cardboard box, shaped hide place):
    (Cheap: Cardboard box, homemade wooden box, flower pot.)
    (DeLuxe: Beautiful designer hide box.)
  12. Cost of decorations (very optional):
    (Cheap: Don't use any or collect what you are going to use.)
    (DeLuxe: Purchased decorative wood, plants, rocks.)
  13. Cost of timers optional):
    (Cheap: Don't use a timer for your lights.)
    (DeLuxe: Completely automate lights and heaters using timers and thermostats.)
  14. Cost of transport carrier:
    (Cheap: Line plastic box with newspaper and add holes for airflow.)
    (DeLuxe: Animal carrier approved for airline travel.)
  15. Cost of commercial food per year:
    (Cheap: Don't. Make your own turtle menu.)
    (DeLuxe: Variety of pellet and canned foods to choose from. Never feed exclusively.)
  16. Cost of calcium and vitamin supplements per year:
    (Cheap: Cuttlefish bone. If you feed some commercial food and use proper lighting, this is fine.)
    (DeLuxe: Vitamin and mineral supplements formulated for reptiles.)
  17. Cost of live food per year:
    (Cheap: Collect snails and worms (no pesticide areas only!); start a worm bin in your garage.)
    (DeLuxe: Buy various kinds of live foods.)
  18. Cost of initial veterinary checkup:
    (Cheap: Don't. If you want to be cheap here, don't get a turtle.)
    (DeLuxe: Actually, having regular checkups is the best. Become knowledgeable so you can recognize problems. See veterinarian immediately.)
  19. Cost of annual veterinary checkup:
    (Cheap: Don't. If you want to be cheap here, don't get a turtle.)
    (DeLuxe: Do an annual fecal and checkup.)
  20. Budget for unexpected expenses:
    (Cheap: Don't. The unexpected always happens. Maybe your turtle lays eggs and you'll need an incubator!)
    (DeLuxe: Double the amount above. Donate remainder to turtle rescue organization at the end of the year.)
TOTAL COST for first year (add it up):

Time Considerations

Taking care of a turtle takes time. Not much, minimally, but still time that must be committed regularly. The option that is considered a requirement is in bold-face type.
  1. How much time do I have to prepare food for my turtle?
    Preparing and serving food times vary depending on what you are feeding on a given day. Obviously, making a turtle salad is a lot more work than dumping some pellets in the bowl. By feeding a mix of commercial and homemade foods you should be able to accommodate the turtle even with a busy schedule. However, if you are not able to spend at least 5 minutes a day on feeding, then you probably shouldn't have any pets.
  2. Do I have time to feed my turtle every day? Yes No
  3. How much time do I have for daily small cleanup chores, turtle health inspection, socialization?
    Changing the water in the water bowl, checking the temperature, removing obvious feces, looking at the animal and talking to it. If you don't have time for those, should you really have a pet? It takes 5-10 minutes a day to do these chores.
  4. How much time do I have for weekly cleanings?
    The time it takes to clean an enclosure depends a lot on the setup. For water turtles, using good filtration is a key element in reducing water changes and cleaning chores. Enclosures should never smell bad or look dirty. It takes about 15-30 minutes to clean a well-set up enclosure.
  5. Do I have any time to spend with the animal apart from care taking?
    This is why we get pets do begin with, isn't it? Every person's life has times when time for pets is limited to basic care. However, if you don't have time to spend with your animal, what's the point of having it? Deciding how much time is right, is a personal choice.
  6. Does my schedule permit continuous and regular care taking? Yes No
    This is a long-term consideration. Extended vacations, frequent business trips, babies in the family, other hobbies and obligations all can interfere with your pet's basic needs.
  7. Do I know whom to ask for pet sitting if I need to go out of town? Yes No
    Friends and neighbors are fine for occasional pet sitting. If you are out of town a lot, a professional pet sitter may be right for you.
  8. So, do I have enough time to provide food, clean shelter, and some company to my turtle? Yes Maybe not, after all.

Space Considerations

  1. Do I know how much space my turtle needs today? Yes No
    If you don't know, find out!
  2. Do I know how much space my turtle will require fully grown? Yes No
    You can find out from care sheets and this website. It is your choice whether to purchase a setup that will last your turtle for it's whole life, or whether to start out with a smaller setup and then upgrade as time goes on.
  3. Can I provide enough space for the adult animal in my current house/apartment? Yes No
    Serious. A Sulcata tortoise doesn't fit into a studio apartment. Neither does a fully grown red-eared slider female.
  4. Do I have a place set aside that is safe for the turtle? Yes No
    If you have other pets, they may like a tasty bit of turtle. If you have children, they may be too young to keep their hands out of the enclosure.
  5. Am I able to provide the proper environmental conditions for the turtle in my house/apartment? Yes No
    Turtles can overheat as much as they can be too cold. A top-floor apartment without air conditioning will be too hot for a box turtle in summer. In general, dealing with too cold an environment is much easier than dealing with one that's too hot.

Additional Considerations

  1. Do I know how to handle the animal? Yes No
    Yes, this matters. A turtle that's turned on it's back all the time, or dropped, or held by the tail is not going to be very happy.
  2. Am I comfortable handling the animal? Yes No
    Turtle phobia is rare. But if your animal bites, are you still comfortable holding it?
  3. Are there young children in the family? Yes No
    Consider this when choosing the location for the enclosure. You will also need to teach your children how to handle the pet and to always wash their hands after touching the animal and/or the enclosure.
  4. Are there other pets in the family? Yes No
    As mentioned earlier, some animals like to play with turtles to the turtle's detriment. They might also be jealous!
  5. Why do I want a turtle? Yes No
    This is the first question to ask before buying a pet. It's a good question to ask after doing this questionnaire. If you still want a turtle now, and you are confident that you can provide for it, go forth and enjoy turtleing!

Go To: Turtle Care Home Page
Page created by: cuora@pacbell.net
Changes last made on: Sept 13, 2001