I really don't care. It's for my sister. She wants to know. But i'll probably end up taking care of it. But could you suggest the best of both please? Thanks!
How old is your sister? I dont know much about aquatic turtles but box turtle are pretty good beginners as long as they are captive bred. Here is a really good care sheet for boxs: http://boxturtlesite.info/bxbook.html
She's ten, but don't worry, shes acually really responsible and has two fish tanks with platies and guppies. She realizes turtles are a large investment and need care and aren't nearly as easy as fish. But i wouldn't mind taking care if she doesn't. She wants a map turtle, what do you know about those?
Sorry I know nothing about map turtles. Maybe someone else will be able to give you some info on them.
Look through posts already in this section, it will give you a good idea on the difficulty of caring for any aquatic turtle and some basics that cover most of them. What do your parents think about this? Do they know and agree with it? Are they or you willing to spend a lot of money for initial set up and more as the turtle grows? Since you're in Texas, please check the White List. They've recently made all sorts of animals illegal there (no idea if they fixed it yet so people can legally keep their cornsnakes and mice...). Also, would it be possible to build an outdoor enclosure? Even aquatics benefit from being outside under natural sunlight.
Yeah they say it's okay as long i help here out with everything. Picking out the right tank, food, which turtle that would be healthy, and i am reading books on map turtles and eastern box turtles and going to tell her everything. I don't think map turtles are illegal because the PetCo here sells them. But when i go to get my ackie from a show, we are going to look there for good turtles. I don't think outdoor would be possible considering we have dogs that run along our property and they would bug the turtle to death inside his cage. And yes, if my sister cannot afford something she needs i will buy it for her.
Easterns are illegal in Texas, btw. Poor wording on the bill that was passed made all box turtles, even subspecies that do not live in Texas, illegal there. Some suspect it was done on purpose if there was AR involved, others just suspect that the law markers are too stupid to know the difference or research. You do not put a turtle in a cage outside.... you make a pen with a lid and locks if you have to worry about neighbors or anything else opening it. You also call animal control if those dogs are not your own -there was an incident in this state a few months ago about an elderly woman that was killed by strays. This isn't something you can really ignore and hope they go away. A 4 inch turtle will require at least a 40gal aquarium (larger is better since turtles do grow...), 80gal pump or one made for turtle use, uvb lighting, heat light for basking, digital thermometers, dock, supplements, and food. Easily $250-300 without the turtle.
Maybe they aren't box turtles at PetCo then... But they are my dogs, we have a fence around our 2 acres that they run freely in, but even if it was in a pen, the dogs would just bark all day. It's going to take a while to get the money, so she won't get one for a while. Thanks for all your help!
