Turtle Advice:

Marshall

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It has been a while since I shared the Turtle Advice/Tips so when I got an email asking a particularly common yet important question I figured why not share the answer here in case any of you may have the same question.
The question was in regard to handling the turtles and their environment specifically asking should/can they be handled and if yes then how to go about it.
The answer is yes you can handle semi-aquatic turtles and in fact doing so whenever cleaning or doing maintenance on their tank not only keeps them safe but they will become tame much faster once they realize that you are not going to harm them even when you have complete control of them (holding them). The best way to go about is preferably pick them up while they are either floating with head above the water or while they are on their floating dock/basking area etc. The reason being that if they do get spooked it is best that they are not under water since although they do live in the water they still breathe surface air and can in fact drown if they inhale water. Another trick I use at the rescue is I always take some rubbing alcohol (Isopropyl or ethyl rubbing alcohol 70% +) and rub it all over my hands and this serves two purposes. One it disinfects and cleans any contamination from your hand but more importantly and the reason I do it is that it will give a noticeable burning/stinging sensation if there is even a tiny cut or scrape on your hand which would mean it is not safe to handle the turtles due to a risk of infection. So basically the tip is yes you can and occasionally should handle your turtles and following the simple steps above will ensure you do so properly and without any risks to the turtles or yourself. I don't recommend children under 8 handle them at all and even children over 8 should still be closely supervised by an adult.
PS: I don't recommend hand sanitizer since although they have alcohol in them it is not as concentrated and they have other ingredients like moisturizers and perfumes that are not good for the turtles. Just use pure rubbing alcohol at 70% at least or I personally use 91% and it will work much faster than sanitizer anyway and most importantly it is a easy way to discover small cuts that could become infected if contaminated by the turtles and their environment.
 
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I’m not a fan of hand sanatizer. I did Dial or Micrel hand soap before and after handing my turtle, but I’m also the kind of person who digs in muck, so I’m sure I’ve had worse on my hands!
 

Marshall

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I’m not a fan of hand sanatizer. I did Dial or Micrel hand soap before and after handing my turtle, but I’m also the kind of person who digs in muck, so I’m sure I’ve had worse on my hands!
Generally I am the same way with most animals including the box turtles but captive bred RES turtles in particular as well as eastern painted turtles are notorious for carrying salmonella and some other gnarly bacteria strains including one type that leads to staph infection so I always recommend people play it safe assuming they are new to turtles. There are more than one way to do things though so if you are already an experienced caretaker of semi-aquatics then you probably already know the risks to you and the turtles. As far as soaps go the mildest ones like ivory etc. should be fine so long as it is rinsed well. Dial in particular can be an issue specific to aquatic turtles but really any soap or detergent will harm the aquatic turtles shell not to mention if it is antimicrobial/antibacterial it could wreck the bio-filtration if it got into the water. A lot of it is common sense but I figure it's always best to pass on all the details just in case.
PS: The Mississippi map turtle in my profile picture is Atlas and I can guarantee that he knows every single form of turtle stink and infection and is an expert at producing them :sick: constantly so he is basically a terrarium-terrorist lol and that is why I am so gung-ho with this issue. :cool:
 
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I did my research, then more when me rose came home, turned out she was a he, and then again when he got some kind of shell rot issue. Turned out he wasn’t getting enough vitamins, so I set up an outside area for him to get sun, but he ran away to follow the wild RES female I’d found and released near there. That’s what I got for expecting guys to get off the games long enough to retrieve him at sunset when I was at work.
 

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