So, who has pets other than Cat/Dog?

[lifeskills13]

Originally Posted by scrapwave wow! look at the nails on the smaller one! We have a RES too...it's about the size of your larger one...eats pellets like a PIG...but I agree...the aquarium filters are what cost. The pellets are $3 or $4 at WM but they last a good while. Oh, any my RES LOVES LOVES LOVES flies!! We found this out when she caught one that got into her tank one day. Now, my kids will swat flies that are in the house and dump them in her tank...she gobbles them down! Also buy filters at WM...but go through alot more of those so that's the biggest expense with the turtle. They are alot of fun to watch though! :)

Yea thats chuckie :) I got him when he was two inches long a couple years ago from my supervisor because her 2year old got "bored" with it. Sorry, im more protective over RES turtles now that i have been taking care of them for so long. I got TIffany she is on the right, a few months later from a guy in the mall (will never do that again) she was smaller then a quarter and its illegal to sell them that small. plus its not good to pay breeders like that..how he handled each one and how the water looked *sigh*

i remember when he handed me her..he put her in a plastic 2inch big plastic tank with holes on top and he scooped a few pebbles in it and said here..i looked at the water and then at him. "Doesn't she need water?" no he said...how long can she go without water? (i didn't know much about them at this time) he said longer then 24hours..and it was the hottest day!
I knew that wasn't right so i rushed home to put her in the tank without waiting more then a hour.

lol i made a few mistakes w/ them. like over feeding them was my first..they got soooo fat. now i give them all they can eat once every two days. (snails are good too! cheap and they eat them right up!) I tryed feederfish but the first time i bought 8 and they died on their own and i had to take them out..a few days later and tiffany started getting interested...so my plant eating reptiles one converted into ooo whats they moving thing? lol

A few days after she ate the feeder fish the algae eater that was with them for year and a half got attacked and passed away :( it was 5inches long! :)

Another thing i learned ...the basking area cannot be attached to ANY part of the tank..this is a known fact..i tryed and tryed to leave the basking area attached but they either will unattach it hour later or get stuck trying to...so now is freelance..i also had to find the biggest one they make..later ill make one myself..its too small for two.

Never have anything in the tank thats bigger then them..somehow they will be under it..and i even watched them..they will swim and hit the object until itfalls over or is dug up. The tank was so pretty before now i only allow rocks on the bottom and basking area on top..they might hurt themselves with anything else.

and jonjaktez (love your pictures of the turtles and the names! we seem to have a set of famous names, if you can guess where my newphew and niece got the names from) but ya right the male has long nails and the girl will be bigger then a male and have shorter nails...chuckie is at least 18months old then her :)

Chuckie last year


Tiffany last year


almost three years ago.(smaller one is tiffany)


THe thing in the background was taken out :( (chuckie)

[jonjaktez]

We have ours in a 100gal tank but we're working on their outside area. They are big enough now that they can be outside all year long. Luckly we live in the south so the winters aren't bad. Our tank is 3/4 water and 1/4 sand. They love this set up.

I've never fed them snails and mine eat every day. They are fed a lid full of turtle food daily. Once a month, they get feeder fish. Once a week they get apples and leafy green vegys.

Where do you get snails?

Pebbles and BamBam eat the feeder fish up like crazy. I buy 2 dozen at a time and usually 5 are left and are eaten within the month.

They are so fun to watch.

[Leann]

Originally Posted by couponsmakecents I consider my husband a pet. I have to: feed him water him clean up after him bath him (at least have all items in the shower) Does this count?

Oh yeah, I have a pet hubby too!!!

We actually raise all the live food for all the pets that eat it. In general the parents are pets, the babies are treated well until.....anyway....
The snails and feeder fish we had were part of our aquarium set up. They loved them. We raised 4 or 5 different kind. They were kept with the guppies in a refugium. Part of the bio-life. In 5 years we never used chemicals in the tank except the water starter when we added water and occasionally salt. For guys that size I guess you'd need mystery snails or moon snails. I try to always feed fresh and live food and avoid the commercial stuff for the exotics. It's just a me thing. My Gecko's will be feasting on the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach babies once they start breeding.

[bkmomto3]

We raw feed our dogs and cat, so that can be based on what we find on sale in the meat dept.

As for the turtles, we buy feeder fish, but we also put out veggie scraps in their part of the backyard, (we live in Houston, so we can get by with letting them live outside year round). The flies eat the veggies scraps that the turtles don't eat. In the process, the turtles eat the flies. We throw egg shells out with the veggies, too, for the turtles shells.

Don't know if that's helpful to anyone, but it works for us.

Bonnie

[scrapwave]

Originally Posted by lifeskills13 Yea thats chuckie :) I got him when he was two inches long a couple years ago from my supervisor because her 2year old got "bored" with it. Sorry, im more protective over RES turtles now that i have been taking care of them for so long. I got TIffany she is on the right, a few months later from a guy in the mall (will never do that again) she was smaller then a quarter and its illegal to sell them that small. plus its not good to pay breeders like that..how he handled each one and how the water looked *sigh* lol i made a few mistakes w/ them. like over feeding them was my first..they got soooo fat. now i give them all they can eat once every two days. (snails are good too! cheap and they eat them right up!) I tryed feederfish but the first time i bought 8 and they died on their own and i had to take them out..a few days later and tiffany started getting interested...so my plant eating reptiles one converted into ooo whats they moving thing? lol A few days after she ate the feeder fish the algae eater that was with them for year and a half got attacked and passed away :( it was 5inches long! :) Another thing i learned ...the basking area cannot be attached to ANY part of the tank..this is a known fact..i tryed and tryed to leave the basking area attached but they either will unattach it hour later or get stuck trying to...so now is freelance..i also had to find the biggest one they make..later ill make one myself..its too small for two.

Our RES came from a pet store and was between a quarter and 50 cent piece size. She's (I assume it's a she) isn't even a year old yet but she's BIG...I think I must be overfeeding...but she eats 7 or 8 pellets 2 times a day and acts like she's starving all the time!!
We got some smaller catfish to put in the aquarium with the RES when she was smaller...all but one have long gone. I recently got an algae eater and it too disappeared. The last albino cat she doesn't bother at all for some reason. It's been in there with her for 6 or 7 mos. now.
My basking thing is attached with 4 small suction cups but my RES doesn't mess with it or try to get it loose.
Another thing...when we get our turtle out for any reason...she tries to bite...are RES normally biters?? We don't take her out of the tank often at all..but when we do she goes after any finger near her face!

[jonjaktez]

Originally Posted by scrapwave Our RES came from a pet store and was between a quarter and 50 cent piece size. She's (I assume it's a she) isn't even a year old yet but she's BIG...I think I must be overfeeding...but she eats 7 or 8 pellets 2 times a day and acts like she's starving all the time!! We got some smaller catfish to put in the aquarium with the RES when she was smaller...all but one have long gone. I recently got an algae eater and it too disappeared. The last albino cat she doesn't bother at all for some reason. It's been in there with her for 6 or 7 mos. now. My basking thing is attached with 4 small suction cups but my RES doesn't mess with it or try to get it loose. Another thing...when we get our turtle out for any reason...she tries to bite...are RES normally biters?? We don't take her out of the tank often at all..but when we do she goes after any finger near her face!

Yes they will bite just like any animal that feels unsafe. Pebbles always has her mouth open when we take her out to scratch her "back". BamBam doesn't. He loves to be held. We can even rub the back of his head. He's the sweetest. Females are more agressive than males are.

If they ever bite you, just go head and comes to terms with losing the finger or what ever he/she has ahold on. They have VERY strong jaws.

Any type of animal that you put into the tank with turtles are food so if you want to have fish as "pets" then get a separate tank.

[Leann]

Originally Posted by bkmomto3 We raw feed our dogs and cat, so that can be based on what we find on sale in the meat dept. As for the turtles, we buy feeder fish, but we also put out veggie scraps in their part of the backyard, (we live in Houston, so we can get by with letting them live outside year round). The flies eat the veggies scraps that the turtles don't eat. In the process, the turtles eat the flies. We throw egg shells out with the veggies, too, for the turtles shells. Don't know if that's helpful to anyone, but it works for us. Bonnie

Do you find that to be more cost effective than commercial food on the cat/dog, and how many are you feeding?? Curious.

[bkmomto3]

I'm feeding two dogs--(One is 21lbs. and the other is 28lbs), and one cat (7 lbs). I look for manager's specials on meats and I go to a grocery store that has alot of things to sell like tripe and organ meat. Animals need to have the raw bones to eat, too. That provides calcium for them.

I can't really tell you what I'm saving buying the meat vs. the commercial products. However, this is how I look at it:

The wild versions of our dogs and cats ate raw meat and got their veggies from the stomach contents of what they killed for food. That is how it was intended. Commercial foods have more grains added than what these animals need. I believe that my pets are healthier than pets I previously had and fed the commercial products. In the end, the raw diet is going to help my vet bill.

If you visit this website: www.bones2go.com, you will a website for a raw food store that I pick some of my pet food items at. She has posted articles about raw feeding and those articles explain things much better than I can.

Hope that helps.

Bonnie

[iqover50]

Hello Peoples.... I just had to comment on that great...GREAT pic of the turtles. Just beautiful.

[Hoshi]

I have 2 ferrets and WOW are they expensive to feed! I just dropped $26 on a 8lb bag of Ferret food...that should last me like 3 weeks.

I think my male is getting fat, even though I only feed them once a day (a big bowl, though). My male ferret is younger, but he's probably double the size of my female!!


I encouraged my new kitten and ferrets to play together at first, but now all my cat wants to do is play with them! She even bothers them when they are in their cage, and starts howling a little if I don't let them out to play.