keeping terrapins

[powell77]

hi all my little boy has been on about me wanting to keep some terrapins for a while now,and ive caved in ,just wondering how easy they are to keep cheers

[MaRiNe_MaDnEsS]

Pretty easy but they are not the cleanest of creatures

[powell77]

ok cheers ,wondered if it was weekly or monthly cleaning

[jamesfirth1]

I had some as a kid, but they used to stink. Also they live for ages, so you will need a big tank or be prepared to upgrade.

[Chris@ChristalClearWaters]

The musk turtles only get to 4" and as long as you have adequate filtration and use carbon monthly, there is little or no smell at all. Cannister filters work best for these

[MaRiNe_MaDnEsS]

As above i used a canister filter from all pond solutions with layers upon layer of filter floss and carbon

Didnt really smell until you cleaned out the **** from the filter

[S6754]

I've got a 1300L indoor turtle pond. Never used carbon, I just use a Hozelock solids pump with a Hozelock pressurised filter with built in clarifier. There's no smell whatsoever. The other important thing with turtles is UV and basking temperature.

I clean the filter out when I feel like it. It mostly gets a build up of shed scutes. I do about a 70% water change every week.

[Seahorse Lover]

I used to keep them as a child and yes they were filthy and did stink. They also grew very quickly. Those cute tiny terrapins soon grew. They can also bite. I guess that a good filtration system would help though if you got any.

[S6754]

Don't let anyone put you off with tales of smell, turtles do NOT have to smell. They're not the dirty, disgusting creatures people are making them out to be. I can dip a clear container in my pond and the water is crystal clear. If the water is dirty and disgusting it's either insufficient filtration or poor husbandry.

Cooters and sliders grow the largest and are usually the ones you see up for rehoming and do require a pond of some sort. I've got a Peninsula Cooter, Yellow belly Slider and a pair of False Maps.

[Seahorse Lover]

When I used to keep them they weren't kept like they are these days with good filtration systems. Those were the days that they used to sell tortoises in the shop windows (yes I'm showing my age lol). The advice given from pet shops was very poor.