FAQ   This chapter is intended to answer some general questions about aquatic turtles, its not only about the genus Chinemys. Are turtles easy pets ? How large does the tank have to be ? Are flourescent tubes or ordinary bulbs sufficent for lighting ? How can I provide a basking space ? Is my turtle lonely ? Can I keep fish together with the turtle ? How old can turtles get ? Do female turtles lay eggs when they live alone ? Are turtles easy pets ? Baby turtles are available at less than 20 EUR, and these little fellows are really cute and easily bought. A common mistake: people trust the pet shop assistant and believe what he says: "The turtle does not grow much bigger, max. 10 cm" Wrong. The most commonly sold species like Trachemys scripta scripta or Graptemys kohnii grow 25-35 cm and need a tank that is at least 1,50 m long. They do not adapt their growth to the size of the tank. "Turtles are easy to keep" Wrong. Many factors have to be considered like lighting, filtering, feeding, and a lot of technical equipment is necessary to make a turtle feel comfortable. A small 60l tank that you've still got somewhere in the basement is not sufficient. "Food from the pet shop is great food" Wrong. There are some sorts that should not be given at all, thats the stuff that looks like pellets. There is too much protein in them. Quite good are gammarus, dried insect larvae and fish, but they are not enough as only food. Read what we feed our turtles One fact is sometimes simply forgotten to mention: turtles reach an age of at least 20-30 years. Compared to the costs that arise over the years for equipment, feeding and keeping the initial price of the animal is not worth mentioning. Here is a list of things that are needed at the beginning:    big tank from 100 EUR    canister filter from 40 EUR    heating from 15 EUR    lighting, e.g. 125 W mercury vapour lamp from 80 EUR Your electricity bill will probably raise when you keep a turtle. Just say that the lamp is on 10 hours a day: 125W * 10 h * 30 days = 37,5 kWh/month In Germany the average price is 15 Cent/kwh, i.e. you will need 5,60 EUR per month just for lighting. We could cut our electricity bill by half without the turtles. A visit to the veterinarian can cost you easily 30 EUR and more if treatment is needed. Food can be prepared quite cheap if you cook turtle pudding. Its just time you need for that, say half a day every 2-3 month. Some more time is needed for cleaning the tank (every 2-4 weeks) and the filter (every 6-8 weeks). You see, turtle keeping is not at all easy and can cost you a lot of money. How large does the tank have to be ? The larger the better. Especially turtles of the genera Trachemys, Graptemys and Chrysemys are very good swimmers and need a lot of space. The animals reach a carapace length of 25-40 cm (10-15 in). The tank has to be at least 1,20 m to 1,50 m long (4-5 ft), the water level can be 50 cm high (1-2 ft). The more turtles share the tank the bigger at has to be. Are flourescent tubes or ordinary bulbs sufficent for lighting ? No, they can only be combined with other lamps. If the turtle is kept indoors the lighting has to compensate for the missing sunlight. It has to be bright, warm, an emit UV-radiation. The light intensity of bulbs and flourescent tubes is simply not enough. There are special reptile tubes which emit UVB, but this does not last for long, and the tubes have to be replaced every few weeks. The required light intensity is best achieved with mercury vapour lamps, metal halide lamps or Active UV reflectors. All of them emit a small portion of UVB waves. For an intensiv exposure to UVB light the Osram Vitalux 300 W is suitable. The animals have to get used to this lamp slowly, and it may be applied for 20 minutes max. daily. Sufficient temperatures are reached with mercury vapour lamps and Active UV reflectors, if metal halide lamps are used an additional heating lamp is necessary. Read more about our lighting Read more about the importance of UV lighting How can I provide a basking space ? For most aquatic turtles a basking place must be provided. It is a place that is easily reachable from the water, it has to be dry, bright and warm, with temperatures of at least 35°C (95°F). Floating Cork pieces or the like are not so good, they are never really dry and its difficult for a turtle to climb theses things. Have a look at our basking places Is my turtle lonely ? Not at all. Turtles don't need the company of other turtles. If they form groups in their natural habitat, e.g. on a basking spot, this is done for security reasons and not because the animals enjoy the company. It is very interesting to keep turtles as pairs or in groups for breeding, but you need a lot of space, and there is always the chance that the animals don't get well along, especially when they are adults. Can I keep fish together with the turtle ? It is worth a try. Of course you can not put a turtle into an existing fish tank, because they don't have a land area and sufficient lighting, the water level is most likely not appropriate, the turtle will eat the fish and the plants. If you put fish into a turtle tank you must expect that they will be eaten. If they survive they are quite useful since they eat leftover food, they are a good water quality monitor, and they are good for entertainment since the turtles can practise hunting. We keep catfish and guppies, and our turtles are luckily not very interested in them, but that is rather an exception. How old can turtles get ? Not as old as the most box turtles. They reach an age of 20 to 30 years, but there is not much statistical data available. Two people from Seattle collect information from all over the world and publish it on their site. According to this source the oldest C.reevesii in captivity became 24 years old. Do female turtles lay eggs when they live alone ? Yes, the female lays unfertilised eggs. Most people do not expect this and therefore there is no sufficient sandbox where the eggs can be buried. Often the turtle will lay the eggs in the water. Sometimes it does not lay the eggs at all if it does not find a good place. The turtle will then develop a condition called egg binding, and it can die from it, so you have to see a vet immediatly if you suspect this.