Looking to get a water turtle

GotTort

Active Member
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2013
Messages
257
I'd like to get a water turtle for my office at work. I have an area that's 50 inches long. What type of turtle do people suggest. I'm looking for something active and interesting to watch but will fit in that space. And easy to care for. My other question is how much noise do filters make? Since it will be in my office, located a little bit behind my desk, too much noise wouldn't be good.
 

Eggtort

New Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2015
Messages
19
Location (City and/or State)
United States
Well, there are a couple of options. But either way: you'll need to ensure that your desk space can house a 40 gallon tank. Because general rule of thumb is 10 gallons per 1". The smaller water turtles (common musk turtles are an option) get to be 4"-5" max, so you need to ensure that you can fit a 40 gallon so that they are healthy and happy!
 

dmmj

The member formerly known as captain awesome
10 Year Member!
Joined
Aug 15, 2008
Messages
19,695
Location (City and/or State)
CA
I'm pretty sure most of the sliders are out of the question based on their size. I would go for a musk, mud, or Reeve turtle.
 

Markw84

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 17, 2012
Messages
5,041
Location (City and/or State)
Sacramento, CA (Central Valley)
Really depends upon the setup. If set up properly turtles can be very active and enjoyable. If just half filled with water and a rock to bask on, they won't be very active. But a tank with lots of plants - real or fake, some rocks to explore in will make them feel secure and stimulate that hunting and exploring behavior.

Filters, if done properly are extremely quite, so that is not an issue. I use the Fluval cartridge type which are extremely quite, and easier to clean.

The suggestions above are good for types. Get ones that stay small. Mud, Musk, Reeves, Southern Painted are most common, but I love and specialize in Spotted which would be great but a bit more pricy but are beautiful and stay small.

If you go musk - they stay small, and one or two would do fine in a 55 gal tank. (which is 48" long so will be a great size for your area) The advantage is they really don't need to bask - so you can put them in a tank with some plants or fake plants they can hang on near the surface, and watch them like little bulldogs hunting around the bottom of the tank. I wouldn't put them in with other turtles as they are tail nippers, and will bite off the ends of another turtles tail they see hanging above them.

For other turtles you would need to create a basking platform for them and keep the water level low enough so they cannot escape. Need a good basking light for thermoregulation, and I like MVB as it also gives UVB, but that is questionable if they really need it - if you are giving a good diet as Most all turtles do get D3 from their fish oil inclusive diet. For this type my favorite is the Southern Painted Turtle. Males barely reach 4" and a large female is maybe 6", so a pair would be fine.
 

Russian Rehab

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2018
Messages
51
Location (City and/or State)
ma
I'd like to get a water turtle for my office at work. I have an area that's 50 inches long. What type of turtle do people suggest. I'm looking for something active and interesting to watch but will fit in that space. And easy to care for. My other question is how much noise do filters make? Since it will be in my office, located a little bit behind my desk, too much noise wouldn't be good.


Musk turtles stay small forever only 4-5 inches as adults which makes them well suited for smaller spaces.
these are my two breeding adults.

7l9DpB133hsopI6RAS5D2W0Q9CRlw49fOgetF3CXGcXvVexDggubpQvOiJ2TnbZLGor2GHFg-bfs1Tan19wMdFBB20a8kwvG2jBCP2GImlWeQEpX8N5YdqD4h-FVDkBDkxqkJtJErpORe6viZrFFokoMYwjC1Pc7xte4RS8jdJAknV3O2g0bY6mB6ozV6IRRaby7Gc-4dhwMga6W3JhyQHPC-Nx88lbeqd5zzPwaoAzdbvN8w4WgHwvdbqK9gSG2ON8xEbeJO42zIj1YeR8TmIhRIAdPtWho7p4qGQDYhQurIgrlpUkCYf4ih8QzsFauGSoDTukzViPydrJO96XTtdF6hU66XstFqc6AXcHFpH5hO5ZDcwCv7n57o1g0ovUR6z1Q-Pv-mhcMHB0Qs20E2rZ9jhur9jywfBdpp07iQusttenH8R22IapEiHPbLaSpM5nyidJ4U1ckiuvMruqpaA6FNf6btX8MNrNcJVDNtEVmenVoBPT4Cne8HgvshlETsKrpB0kipFoXTPYYmywrDBWrI6FIU1fRd6S2-z40Dcv5VzNhgQwGc0aQ2VdIpdOxEP5avH5RCELVT7hrtfN6YTR3TJlLcLvb0QhLe-NYztVJVXwglzDCQpKMG1Y0_4WuUPS2Kms8BROdgsXNFRRtjhiJ1lIjdXc=w360-h480-no
 

Moozillion

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Messages
10,744
Location (City and/or State)
Louisiana, USA
I'd like to get a water turtle for my office at work. I have an area that's 50 inches long. What type of turtle do people suggest. I'm looking for something active and interesting to watch but will fit in that space. And easy to care for. My other question is how much noise do filters make? Since it will be in my office, located a little bit behind my desk, too much noise wouldn't be good.

Please remember that you will have to clean the tank WEEKLY. This is NOT the sort of the the cleaning lady can do. And cleaning a turtle tank takes TIME and gets MESSY (...at least it does when I’m doing it! Ha! [emoji38])
Does your building temperature CHANGE on the weekend when no one is in there working? I know some places are set to have the air conditioning and/or the heat TURN OFF on the weekends to save money. Changes like this will impact any animal.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
For this type my favorite is the Southern Painted Turtle. Males barely reach 4" and a large female is maybe 6", so a pair would be fine.

Today I learned more about painted turtles. Thank you Mark.

How well would a spotted turtle do in an indoor housing situation like this? With UV and a basking area.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
I'd like to get a water turtle for my office at work. I have an area that's 50 inches long. What type of turtle do people suggest. I'm looking for something active and interesting to watch but will fit in that space. And easy to care for. My other question is how much noise do filters make? Since it will be in my office, located a little bit behind my desk, too much noise wouldn't be good.
Good luck whatever you choose! I want to see pics at lunch in November.
 

Markw84

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 17, 2012
Messages
5,041
Location (City and/or State)
Sacramento, CA (Central Valley)
Today I learned more about painted turtles. Thank you Mark.

How well would a spotted turtle do in an indoor housing situation like this? With UV and a basking area.
N American Spotted Turtles do very well in indoor tanks/aquariums. Adults are normally in the 5" range and a few in a 55 gallon tank can be great turtles. They are so pretty and extremely personable and active when set up right. In addition to the large group in my pond, I always keep some set up in my office as I enjoy them so much.
 

crimson_lotus

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Dec 28, 2013
Messages
1,385
Location (City and/or State)
Massachusetts
Please remember that you will have to clean the tank WEEKLY. This is NOT the sort of the the cleaning lady can do. And cleaning a turtle tank takes TIME and gets MESSY (...at least it does when I’m doing it! Ha! [emoji38])
Does your building temperature CHANGE on the weekend when no one is in there working? I know some places are set to have the air conditioning and/or the heat TURN OFF on the weekends to save money. Changes like this will impact any animal.

I agree with this. My tortoise was an "office tortoise" before they offered her to me.

The business would turn her light and heat lamp off on weekends or holidays due to the potential fire hazard, despite her being a tropical species.
If anything bad happened at night or over the weekend, like her flipping over, we would have no idea how long she was like that.

This is also pretty rare, but all of the water from my map turtle's 50 gallon tank spilled while I was at work onto the basement carpet. Seems I didn't put the filter top on securely enough. Cleanup was fun.
 

New Posts

Top