How do I care for a turtle?
As a child my mother kept two subsequent turtles, one land turtle and one semi-aquatic turtle so I might as well give the rundown on them to give an idea of the differences and the care involved. The semi-aquatic turtle needed a huge plastic storage box full of shallow water. No idea what species it was, but my mother called it a Chinese swamp turtle and it liked to be in water almost all the time but couldn’t actually swim all that well. There was a filtration system for it, but the tank still needed to be cleaned pretty regularly and it was quite a hassle to do so. We did just fine without anything on the bottom of the tank for its shell. We kept goldfish in there as well for turtle food, but it turned out that it couldn’t actually catch them because it was a scavenger by nature, so the goldfish had to be stunned or killed before they could become food. Not quite as traumatic for a young child as you might imagine, but it’s something to consider if you’re looking at getting a turtle
You will need a good-sized tank, bigger than you actually think you need. (Most) turtles will need a heat lamp and a place where they can sun themselves, as well as plenty of deep water to swim in. Sunning rocks should be smooth and the bottom of the tank should be sand or very fine gravel so they don’t scrape the bottom of their carapaces. Turtles need lots of FRESH food, not just turtle pellets. The red-eared slider a roommate of mine had ate lettuce and grated carrot and apple–what your turtle eats is going to depend on the type of turtle you own. I do not recommend a red-eared slider, by the way, because they are an invasive species in America and technically illegal to sell as pets. Also, you do NOT need to feed turtles once a day (at least this is the case with red-eared sliders). That will make them fat and sick. They eat once every couple of days. Do check on this with whatever species you plan to get. Also be prepared to get the equipment to clean the tank regularly. You will
It sounds like you are not looking for a really long term pet. So if I were you, and you live in a temperate, turtle friendly environment, I’d do exactly what I did as a kid. Take your kid out to a nature preserve (maybe not an actual nature preserve, they might object to turtle removal), bring a net, and go turtle gathering. Get a bucket and a net of some sort and catch yourselves a turtle or two. This seems much more stimulating than buying one at the store. My summer turtles were usually kept (along with frogs, and crayfish) in a largish plastic kiddy pool in our backyard. Add a lamp or something in a corner, water, and some turtle accessible rocks, and you should be all set. You get the fun of determining what sort of turtle you have too, and what sort of food is appropriate. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t occasionally mortalities in my kiddy pool, but generally things survived and were released after awhile. When I see “the CDC cautions against allowing children to handle th
Unfortunately, I can’t give you any help on the specifics of turtle ownership, as I never was allowed to have one as a kid. BUT! Your six-year-old should also be given the Roald Dahl book Esio Trot. It is one of the cutest books ever, and is what really made me want some form of turtle when I was that age. I think it will definitely up the enjoyment factor. Powers that be: please don’t remove this comment…it doesn’t answer the question of “turtle care”, but I firmly believe it is a crucial part of a child’s turtle ownership.
Also on preview, gravel is bad because if ingested it can rip apart their intestines. If they’re aquatic then plain glass bottom are best, they’re not going to scrape their shells on anything. I don’t agree that feeding them once a day will make them fat, although they can go a long time without food. They just need a tank big enough to really swim in. Think about buying from a breeder or adopting. Lots of turtles get given up for adoption because they need so much care or because their lifespan is much longer than people think at first (I had to do this and it was sad).
