Why You Shouldn’t Get A Pet Turtle

After shows like Wonder Pets and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it’s not surprising that kids are asking for pet turtles left and right. And this may feel like a great choice for a pet. Today, we’re going to dive into some reasons you may want to skip on welcoming a pet turtle into your family.

Ah, turtles: one of the few reptiles I can say I do not own. There are countless species of aquatic turtles but for the sake of simplicity, we are going to focus on the most common one, the red-eared slider. Red-eared sliders are super affordable, typically costing around $20. And, they’re readily available. Most pet stores carry them and they can be found on Craigslist and other rehoming sites. The fact that you can find them so easily tells me one thing: turtles are being rehomed like crazy. Unfortunately, I find when they are not able to be rehomed, many people release them into the wild, which is terrible for the turtle itself. 

It takes a particular kind of person to care for a pet turtle, and a turtle is most likely not the best choice for the average family. This doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with red-eared sliders. They are incredible animals. And just like every other animal we feature here on Moonlit Jungle (and even the ones we don’t!), they deserve the best care practices possible. However, most people don’t realize what that involves.

So let’s dig into why a pet turtle probably isn’t the best choice for you. And if it is, you’ll know exactly what to expect.

Size

When you go to the pet store to get your red-eared slider, you’ll meet some very itty-bitty little guys. It is illegal to sell a turtle under a certain size, however, that doesn’t mean that they are necessarily being sold at that size. You can find stands along city roads where you can buy turtles no bigger than a few inches for a few dollars. In a pet store, they won’t be much larger. But this is deceiving. Red-eared sliders grow to be rather large turtles. A fully grown red-eared slider grows to be around 10-12 inches. Pretty big, right?

So while they may be cute and little right now, they won’t stay that way.

That size means you are going to require a large enclosure. Red-eared sliders are often marketed as turtles you can keep in a small aquarium. I often see people placing them in 10 or 20 gallon aquariums; neither of which are appropriate sizes, particularly when housing an adult. You may be able to get away with a 20 gallon aquarium for a baby, but as they grow larger, they will require more space.

The recommended sizing is 10 gallons per inch of shell. For example, if you have a 4-inch shell, which is usually what you will find in a pet store or up for adoption, you are going to need a 40 gallon breeder. Something about 36 inches long, 18 inches deep, and 18 inches tall. But red-eared sliders don’t cap out at four inches but typically 10-12. 

This means that you would need at least 100 gallons for one red-eared slider.

In an ideal situation, you would have a large pond outdoors for the turtle or you would need to have a massive aquarium inside. Most people do not have that kind of space. And not only are you going to need this extremely large body of water in your home or outside, you’ll also need to provide areas to bask. That means you are going to need to provide an area outside the water where they can climb up on to reach a proper basking temperature, which brings us to Lighting.

Lighting: Special Requirements 

If the red-eared slider is kept indoors, you will need to provide a special UVB light source. That means you will need a special light and heat setup for this turtle outside of their water that they can access whenever they need. 

This is not an easy set up for most people, especially when you have an extremely large enclosure. And unfortunately, these lights are non-negotiable. They are absolutely imperative to the turtle’s health and can cause many problems if they are left out of their care. 

Let’s be clear: the overall setup—it’s not going to be cheap. 

While the turtle itself may feel like a very affordable pet in the initial price of the adoption fees (I’ve seen them as low as $5), when you break down all of the necessary equipment—the enclosure, the water, the lighting, the heat—you’re looking at an enormous expense. And that doesn’t even cover the next most important thing.

Filters

Here’s the thing: turtles smell terrible. Aquatic turtles have a tendency to be smelly critters because they have a lot of waste sitting in their water that is heated up—ew. All of that waste needs to be removed which means, you guessed it, you’re going to need a very strong filter; something that is going to be strong enough to filter 100+ gallons of water. Those filters are not cheap but very necessary. This is another non-negotiable purchase because you have to make sure that the water quality is maintained in order to keep your turtle healthy and to keep the smell down. I say this as someone who loves turtles but who recognizes turtles can be stinky little things.  

So you’ve already got all of this money invested into your pet and if it’s for your child, you’re going to have to consider something very important. 

They live a very long time.

I know it’s hard to consider the lifespan of a pet when you adopt one, but the truth is, when you adopt a pet, you are making a lifetime commitment to that animal—their lifetime. You are committed to taking care of that animal for the entire time that it is alive. That means best care practices, investing in necessary equipment, feeding. Regardless of how long they live. But turtles live a particularly long time.

The average life expectancy of a healthy red-eared slider is around 30 years old. This ends up being a very long-term commitment with very specific requirements, and there aren’t many people who are up to that challenge because it is certainly a challenge. As someone who runs a rescue, I am regularly contacted about picking up turtles people no longer want because they don’t have the space or the financial ability to upgrade enclosures, or they don’t want to deal with the mess, or they were hoping the turtle would stay smaller than what it grew up to be. People go in with an idea of what they think having a pet turtle is going to be like only for it to turn out to be something else so they try to rehome it.

Unfortunately, red-eared sliders are incredibly difficult to rehome due to the fact that they do require such specific care. As much as I would love to be able to take in every red-eared slider that comes my way and provide them with a sanctuary, I simply don’t have the aquatic space for them. I don’t have the space to have multiple 100-gallon enclosures, and the same goes for most of the rescues around. 

The best way to break the cycle of getting and rehoming red-eared sliders is, before you adopt one yourself, make sure you’re well-informed not just about the positives but the negatives of this particular animal as well. And the negatives can be pretty big. This goes for every pet that you’re going to adopt. You need to know the pros and cons of that pet. 

I don’t say all of this to put turtles in a negative light. I think turtles are incredible! But they deserve to have the best care possible, and in order to achieve this, it’s going to take a particular kind of person with a particular amount of space who is willing to make the investment in their care to give them all that they need. And for many young families or people who have children, having 100 to 120 gallons of water in their home is unfeasible. And if you’re renting, there may be rules prohibiting this as well. I know plenty of landlords who are adamantly opposed to having anything over twenty to thirty gallons of water sitting in their apartments. 

If you’re interested in turtles as a pet, I highly recommend doing your research before adopting. If you’re absolutely set on getting a pet turtle and you have space and financial ability to handle all of the investments that are required for that turtle, absolutely look into adopting. Instead of going to a pet store to get your new turtle, check out your local rescues or rehoming sites. There are always, always red-eared sliders that are looking for a place to go. 

Now if you’re on the lookout for a pet for your child, check out What You Need to Know Before Getting Your Child Their First Pet Reptile where we cover some of your most frequently asked questions.