Month: February 2021

General Levels: pH: between 6 and 8. Most turtles can actually tolerate pH lower than 6, but the friendly bacteria in the filter can’t.Chlorine: 0.Ammonia: 0.Nitrite: 0.5 ppm or less (preferably zero).Nitrate: 40 ppm or less. Starting the Bacteria Conversion ProcessIn order to cultivate good bacteria growth in the tank, “Cycling”, the nitrogen cycle needs… Continue reading Basic Tank/Water Management

You may be wondering, “What is a good budget for getting and setting up a turtle?” Honestly, I have no idea. I did not have a budget planned out and I don’t think I want to know how much I ended up spending ( refuse to add up the below). I am generally a person… Continue reading Budget & Things I Bought

This was two weeks ago. So here are the things I kept and are currently using: This is us now: Moving the filter and heater to the middle has made a big difference! I am thinking about putting the dock back in even though she doesn’t use it. I may just put it in high… Continue reading Tank Set Up

Turtles can drown! I know, freaked me out too. Not all turtles are great swimmers, Mud turtles are one of those turtles. I HIGHLY recommend finding a local vet that takes reptiles AND an emergency vet service that does reptiles. That peace of mind was priceless. We had an adventure with Superworms. She is not… Continue reading Turtle CPR

What do you when you have a semi-aquatic turtle and you lose power due to an ice storm? If you are like me and had no plan, you will put her in a smaller container of water, devise some time of top that doesn’t seal it, and huddle with her and the dog under a… Continue reading Ice Storms and Turtles

When I started doing research on getting a turtle (fulfilling a childhood dream of mine), I ran into the classic problem of too much information! I was overwhelmed with the amount of information on turtles that I found. Most of the well put together information, or information on the specific turtle breeds I was considering,… Continue reading Picking a Turtle