Turtles make an excellent pet though they are not the first choice as pets. They live long and they are not high-maintenance. They can live in you drawer, play in your bed, in your palms and the most important thing is that they are not dangerous.

Types of Turtles

There are different types of turtles that you can have as pet. Not all turtles are allowed to made as pet especially those that are extinct. Extinct turtles are oftentimes seen in zoos or a manmade habitat where they are breed so they can produce more of their own.

Types of turtles that can be found in pet stores:

1.    Red-eared Slider – People say that this kind of turtle is very small but when they are fed well they can grow around one-foot long. Their carapaces are colored green with yellow blotches or stripes.
2.    Reeves Turtle – Also a small turtle that has a rectangular shape and originally from Asia. Like the red-eared turtle, its carapace is green in color that has shades of brown together with yellow stripes. They are fed with vegetables, fish, worms and turtle food. Taking care of this type of turtle is the same with the slider turtles.

Types of Turtles

3.    Asian Yellow Pond Turtle and Asian Leaf Turtle – these turtles have similarities with the Reeve’s turtle. Its color is a combination of brown and yellow. These turtles are considered more terrestrial than the sliders so they need a wider place to live. Caring for these turtles is similar with the way reeves turtles are taken care of.
4.    African Mud Turtle – Just like the Painted turtles, these turtles have carapaces that that is brown in color that has gray or yellow skin.
5.    Pig nosed turtle – Other names of this turtle are Australian pig-nose turtle, fly river turtle, plateless turtle and pitted shelled turtle. This kind of turtle can be found in freshwater lagoons, rivers, streams in the Northern Territory of Australia and New Guinea and it also known to have soft shells.
6.    Green Sea Turtle – Though this kind of turtle can be found in tropical and subtropical areas around the world, they are considered extinct. Killing, harming or even collecting them is forbidden. It is also composed of two different populations that can be found in the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean.

Types of Turtles

7.    Alligator Snapping Turtle – In the North America, this type of turtle is considered as the largest freshwater turtle. When compared to the common snapping turtle, this turtle is larger but less aggressive. While other turtles do not stay long under water, the alligator snapping turtle is able to stay under water for as long as an hour.
8.    Leatherback Turtle – This is considered to be the largest turtle of all the types of turtle. It is the only turtle specie that has a soft shell and it is a sea turtle so it might be hard to take care of them at home. When this turtle grow, they can reach twenty-five inches and can be as heavy as forty-four pounds.