What Actually Happens When You Buy a Turtle?

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

“I am a responsible pet owner, are you?” - Connie Tan, Owner of The Live Turtle and Tortoise Museum. This documentary has been months in the making and my first attempt at documentary filmmaking. I hope to bring you more and even better documentaries in the future. If you enjoyed this documentary, I ask that you LIKE this video (it actually makes a difference) If you want to see more fish/turtle content, I ask that you SUBSCRIBE (and turn on post notifications). If you want to protect our eco-system and natural wildlife biodiversity, I ask that you SHARE this video (especially with a friend who is thinking of buying a turtle). If you want me to produce more documentaries for you, I ask that you COMMENT below your topic of interest (don’t be shy!) If you want to see more of River Safari, I ask that you watch my FULL TOUR here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3mtnmZvmsSVY9k Thank you! And remember, I love turtles.

[@FSRain]

Kudos to your efforts in making this documentary! It's great that you've reached out to the various representatives from private and public sectors. I hope that you've enjoyed interacting with your RES. looks like a potential girl that you may have there.

[@snippingscissorhands]

is she responsible though? long beans r not really the best to feed tortoise . and all the shell pyramiding and living conditions of these animals are so sad!

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

@@snippingscissorhands it's a question of what's your benchmark? The best possible life a turtle can live? No one is responsible against such a benchmark. The benchmark in this case is clear: the lives the turtle would have otherwise lived if not for her. As for their diet, long beans arent harmful as far as I'm aware. And what you see is just a moment in time: Her feeding for a couple of seconds. That's no way to gauge a diet. It would be as though I see someone eat a donut and assume their entire diet consists exclusively of donuts. The conditions of the animals are to her credit actually. She is adopting unwanted turtles that lived through all kinds of poor care and housing. A testament to (1) my point above regarding the kind of lives the turtles would otherwise live and (2) her intention to look after unwanted turtles and not just pretty looking ones. As for living conditions.. the relevance of benchmark and alternative is just as important here. It would be as though because I cant afford to provide someone dying of starvation a 5-star meal that's healthy in every regard that I should then led him starve to death instead of offering a relatively safe but not the "healthiest" or "best" meal. I am also a proponent of judging the animals quality of life not by their living conditions but by the animal itself. A husbandary that may look ideal (to us) but contains depressed animals tells me it is ideal to our standards and not theirs. While a husbandary that looks questionable to us with animals that are healthy, happy and active only means we have judged the husbandary to our ideals and not theirs. All said, there is definitely the question of whether such animal sanctuaries do more harm then good by allowing an avenue for people to release their unwanted pet (and guilt), thereby perpetuating such irresponsible behaviour. That's probably a good question to ponder!

[@MsKat_7]

This is a much needed message but unfortunately one that most parents or even potential owners won't see. I appreciate your message and turtle love. I rescued a turtle from possibly being released into a creek area of downtown San Jose, CA. 2 boys were the owners but he had such a small tank dirty water and even the tank he had was only 1/4 of the way full so maybe 5 gallons of water for a 4 inch turtle. I had to nurse him back to the healthy little turtle he is today. His shell rot is all cleared up he has grown 1 inch in the 9 months I've had him and he has a huge tank to swim in. I am probably going to build him a turtle basking area to give him more space as he has already outgrown the basking area he came to me with and it dips in the water so his belly is still wet. I don't find very many retail platforms work well enough. Think twice before getting a turtle. I call him my plant terrorist since he is so excited when he gets new plants in his tank and eats or moves them around. They are seriously it for him to enjoy and provide some stimulation. He does not play well with fish still. I think he was not fed so everything is good for him. He does eat shrimp and worms from my hand and is not skittish around me anymore. I have seen turtles being given away on social media platforms so completely understand where she is coming from.

[@romeisgod]

i think most people underestimate the size that these sliders grow into, when they are so small in the shop. same for gouramis, pacus and other commonly abused pet fish. :(

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Yeah, it can be very deceiving for the unsuspecting customers.

[@AeliaM16Lake]

Yes, I have three and my 2 girls are 20cm+ at 16 yo. Their lifespan is twice that of dogs!

[@reddogproducktions468]

bought a 100 gallon tub at local farm store for 80 bucks way cheaper than what the petshmo people recommend.

[@nitro5009]

I've had my red eared slider for 16 years now. Love her!😍🐢

[@marcjoshua3623]

Kudos to you mate, its a real good eye opener to what raising a Red Ear Slider takes and means. I hope this message will be widely received throughout the community in general, especially to those thinking about buying these goofy and potentially "high maintenance" animals.

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Thanks marc!

[@HargMentor]

"what happens when you buy a turtle" you own one more turtle than you previously owned

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Bingo

[@georgeleiter6277]

Turtles are cool, and I love to see them when I visit large aquariums, but I think I will leave it there. :)

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Wise choice, George 😊

[@AeliaM16Lake]

Or, make friends with people who keep well-loved turtles and get some excuse to visit their homes to see live turtles XD

[@luster5497]

I thought he said "My name is Ashley" FOR THE LONGEST TIME!!! Lmao 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

[@Straightpath85]

Glad you are back with the recently released videos!

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

And I'm glad you're back to watch too!

[@spammusubi1607]

Wow I’m so impressed by her!! She’s so committed and I hope people will be more educated about how to keep turtles

[@spammusubi1607]

This is some quality content!!

[@jameelwasnothere]

Getting a turtle is a commitment and if u know u cant handle it dont get one

[@reddogproducktions468]

Looks like a very nice animal sanctuary. I bought a red eared slider last week and now i have turtle fever I just bought a cumberland slider tonight!!!! Take care of your pets if you get them!

[@anungging]

everybody thinks about getting one should watch this first.. great work, Sir.

[@sukaira6465]

I see a lot of good effort in this video. Keep up the good work. Interesting content for a Singapore aquarist.

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Thank you!

[@kishor5389]

Awesome vid bro!Really improving in your camera skills I see😃Please do a documentary about the local fish species of Singapore and do a Singaporean biotope 🙏 Maybe I can accompany you as I have been fishing for a while 😅

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Thanks man! Species documentary is something I'm thinking about

[@MackaylinGovender]

Beatiful documentary Ashley Very important aspects and amazing photography📸 Would appreciate if you can do documentary on local specie fish👍

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Thanks Mackaylin. And thanks for the suggestion!

[@chrislaid214]

Also don’t feed a pet turtle too much food, not only do they get fat, they grow really quickly when overfed

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Agreed. Their shell can get what is called pyramiding if they are overfed too.

[@SR-nv9gx]

@@SGBeardedAquarist yes , In that their shells also get lumpy and they will need a big home soon !

[@leansipper2]

Thank you so much for the advice bc I might have a pet turtle soon

[@carlosaguilera2959]

This was an excellent video. Felt like I was watching animal planet or National Geographic. Wish he would do a video about how he’s turtle and fish are doing. He doesn’t upload as much but has some great content.

[@hahapink]

Alligator snapping turtle is literally a living dinosaur

[@FSRain]

WOW! You managed to find out that PetMart brings in MBT!! they are super cute companions, and yes, they still do poop as much but they are a blessing to have. I found my MBTs being stranded / abandoned. They are currently my only MBTs, 2 have passed on due to parasitic infections as they were from the wild (lost/stuck in urban gardens as a young hatchling) and one was sold by an irresponsible online seller. My current MBTs are both girls, very interesting personalities and behaviour. They live amicably with the RES. the one which you were holding in your hand brings back a lot of good memories of our first turtle, who have passed on. Did you end up getting a MBT?

[@bensiew9712]

Guys I need help, I had three red eared sliders, but two ran away. And the one left is now depressed, not eating a keep hiding under its shell

[@felixchin5203]

Love your commentary video... I'm a turtle lover too 😁

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Thanks Felix

[@Khabib9-z8w]

Hi bro your turtle is damn beautiful,where do u buy it? I wana find sumthing big,pls recommend

[@ajinjoseph1]

can my 2 year old baby get salmonella from them... after getting one of them i read some articles and i am bit scared...

[@fransiskusandri6243]

so comprehensive tells red slider turtle.. nice documentary bro.. salute.. (Y)

[@LiptonDew13]

Nice work sir! If I am not mistaken Malayan Box is also endemic to Philippines( where I am from) yet they sell them here dirtcheap(maybe around 5US dollars). I think a lot of people mass breed them in captivity.

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Hopefully they are captive bred ones being sold. Thats really cheap. The price of one malayan box turtle here (in the rare occasion its even brought in) is approx 100+usd. They are captive bred.

[@exoticdame5595]

Can we buy from them?

[@mindtwister1984]

Enjoyed your cinemagraphy and content. On the way to become the David Attenborough of pet world.

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Haha thanks Kelvin!

[@David_Ohh]

Hi I have a question so I'm going to get a larger tank in like 5 months but I have 1 cory catfish in my 10 gallon and I got another so it doenst get lonely is it fine if i have two cory catfished in the meantime.. thank you

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

In general, keeping schooling fish in pairs is a bad idea. One will likely harrass the other. Im not sure how much this applies to corys in particular but ill recommend at least 2 more

[@trigothebengalking5213]

What is the best food of redyear sliders ?

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Young sliders under a year old could use turtle pellets daily with roughly 30-40% protein. As sliders can older they become more herbivorous and require less protein. So a turtle pellet designed for older turtles (~20% protein) alternated with veggies such a lettuce would be ideal.

[@samsunguser6244]

Hi bro,you should continue to do it more on turtles 😍😍i love all types of turtles,great videos😉👍👍and how much do pet mart at serangoon sell the malayan box turtles?😍😍

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Thank you. It was 100+. Cant rmb the exact price.

[@samsunguser6244]

Thank you so much brother!!😀😀👍👍

[@jonathanlee97]

I thought RES are the only legal turtle you can own in SG? I was told by a keeper in singapore on a turtle forum.

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Yeah most people think that. And sometimes out of laziness I would just tell people that too. Because most people dont know what the malayan box turtle is and its super rare to get it. So its easier to mention RES as the only legal species and then this is perpetuated on. You can see the two legal species on nparks/avs website.

[@jonathanlee97]

SG Bearded Aquarist ah so malayan box is legal to own too. In malaysia you can keep more species but sometimes they will be confiscated even tho its legal... cause most of the workers dont know what species they are and just assume its a CITES species...

[@FSRain]

@@SGBeardedAquarist so true. most don't do their research. we didn't know until we picked one up from a pile of leaves in the neighbourhood park.. it was still a hatchling and we thought to bring it home to give it a better place. its one of the best things we did and he gave us many fond memories.

[@tortols1548]

Me regretting getting two baby red eared slider:

[@aaronwong5968]

hi1 how do u care for yr previous malayan box turtle?

[@eugeneho8677]

Im more interested on how u managed to get access to interview them 1 on 1

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Now this is a good question! 😉

[@FSRain]

I'm sure he did his pitch, reach out through emails or phone calls, send in the questions he wishes them to answer and the objective of this documentary serves as good education material for the general public. hence the support given by these organisations. I am also sure that he must have pull some strings where he could. :)

[@user-cz1dj6jm9y]

R export Red eared sliders??

[@debraanderson7086]

I have an Asian box turtle whom I believe is a girl (per veterinarian). I am in Ohio, USA. I would love to donate her to a licensed zoo or nature center.

[@FSRain]

I would suggest that you could also reach out to local organisation who are able to match turtle owners-to-be who might wish to take in yours.

[@ytyoungrichnhigh]

great documentary.

[@leontan5766]

Great video Ashley. And to promote responsible turtle ownership.

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Thanks Leon!

[@PTigris7]

I live in SG, I used to have Malayan Box Turtle, Black Marsh, Pig Nose Turtle, Mississpi Map Turtle and Chinese Golden Thread turtle. Now i only have one of the species left. Malayan Box turtle is not that rare actually, there are places in SG that you can get that is not a aquarium..

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Where can you get the MBT?

[@joelh6514]

Very good information and enjoyable to watch.

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Thanks Joel

[@Skythelimit4u]

Meet Tom... Starts struggling to get the food. Aaarrgghh!!! Hahaha

[@channabarca7359]

This is great content. However, I'll have to point out certain inaccuracies featured in this video... 1. Not ALL turtles spend the majority of their lives in the water. In fact, several species like the 'Spiny Hill Turtle' (Heosemys spinosa) mentioned in this documentary, spend the later phases of adolescence and their entire adult lives on land, inhabiting a more tortoise-like lifestyle among the undergrowth of humid rainforests in Asia. They aren't considered 'tortoises', because they lack elephantine feet, which are the main indicators of a true tortoise. Other turtles which spend most of their lives on land include the Flowerback box turtle complex (Cuora galbinifrons sp) of Indochina, Arakan forest turtle (Heosemys depressa) of Myanmar, and the Vietnamese & Japanese dark-bellied leaf turtles (Geoemyda spp). 2. It's an overused misconception that red-eared sliders introduced into Singapore's waterways, will be severe competition to native Malayan box turtles, spiny hill turtles, etc. This is because, almost all native Singaporean turtles, with the exception of the Malayan box, are isolated within inland forest streams deep within primary and established regrowth forests on the island. Simply put it, they will never encounter red-eared sliders. Why ? Bcos red-eared sliders are usually introduced into urban and artificial reservoirs, that bear zero connections to the forest streams.

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

You are absolutely right. Even the malayan box turtle I mentioned spend as about much time on land as in the water, hence their poorer swimming capabilities. It was a general statment that holds true for majority of turtles. Perhaps the qualifier "most" turtles would have been better. Where do you get your information regarding the misconception. Specifically, how do you know RES are not found in these forests? Is this anecdotal, based on logic or are there studies available? I'm not suggesting this is true or untrue. I ask because when I was doing resesrching there was only one published studies looking at feral populations of RES in SG and it did not cover this aspect clearly. I spoke with NUS FIB Lab and they do not research this either.

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Thanks very much for sharing btw!

[@channabarca7359]

@@SGBeardedAquaristDespite red-eared sliders having nested and deposited eggs at the edges of regrowth forests near reservoirs like MacRitchie or Upper Seletar, they almost never encroach further in to such habitats, as a forest environment is simply unsuitable for their more open-water exploits. Their diets and lifestyles are highly-aquatic. As for our native turtles, most of them like Notochelys platynota, Cyclemys dentata and Heosemys spinosa are forest specialists, and prefer the confines of more crowded habitats with denser foliage and streams.

[@channabarca7359]

@@SGBeardedAquarist No problem-o man, keep up the good work! Btw, re-emphasising on the red-eared slider nests, majority of the eggs rarely make it as they're easily excavated & consumed by our monitor lizards.

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Very interesting. Is this in your area of work/study?

[@jhhhhhhh2126]

that’s a snapping turtle

[@adminaquatics5668]

Nice job dude, the photography is awesome, I also have a red eared slider who is slightly bigger than Tom but not by much, she is awsome and I got her like 5 years ago but now they don’t sell them near me. Very sad 😔

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Thanks man. Dont sell them near you? Where you at!

[@adminaquatics5668]

SG Bearded Aquarist New England in the US they’re very strict on preserving wildlife in most areas

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

No wonder, makes sense.

[@lagthical9867]

Nice vid keep up the good work!

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Thanks man

[@josecarlos-cr1xn]

Good job man!

[@lagthical9867]

Btw how much were the box turtles being sold at

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

It was 100+. Cant rmb the exact price

[@luster5497]

I am ashamed to admit that I have release my red ear turtle into a local park creek. -My understandably un-education Asian Parent, said it was good to set it free and it would be happier. -Also releasing a "cage animal" is a good deed and the animal's spirit will grant me good karma accompanied by good luck. Yeah, half of that is true... but mostly they probably ticked me into getting rid of it, because they just don't want me to keep it. -doesn't justified the release of (Any) non-native pets. -I can't change that now, so sorry.. -I won't do it again, though.

[@Jeongwoosuk]

Does the live turtle and tortoise museum do adoption? I would much prefer adopting even with a fee than to buy.

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

I'm not too sure as it's always people looking to let go rather than adopt. I'm quite sure she'll be agreeable to someone adopting (not sure about fee).

[@pandoraarts7748]

Currently have in my care my little sisters turtle because her father said he wanted to kill it. Gave me nothing but a box and the turtle itself. And its NOT Small, had to do soo much research and spend a shit ton of money on this thing just so my little sister would be happy. I'm far too nice for my own good. I don't have a lot of space for this thing.

[@angpeiyang]

Bro can do rainbow aquarium farm tour? Hope to see more videos from you

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Will try to in the future.

[@Chilam.]

I have 6 turtles I only brought 2 but as I look after them so well other people have given me their animals

[@lantinas]

I have red ear silder my turtle was a 8 years old

[@kitty_cinnamonCrossing]

To be honest my family wanted release my two turtles i told them not to im there owner im going take care them even though im only 15 i going take care of them no matter

[@crazybirdybird4312]

We have 4 red sliders and didn’t buy any of them.

[@kitty_cinnamonCrossing]

I have a red ear sliders im not releasing to Aquarist i chose to take care of my turtle

[@mdshishirkhan9015]

I'm from Bangladesh and I have 2 Red Eyad slaider I care a lot about them

[@gohroblox904]

I am. And I went to turtle museum Singapore

[@CALIFORNIA650.]

I like her

[@WhyDeeNA]

Thankfor thus awesome content

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

It's my pleasure!

[@joannetan6606]

Wow nice video

[@blendavalenzuela1684]

I like turtles so much but my is big

[@gohroblox904]

I hand fed them

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Thats awesome!

[@ytmB4HyU4kUq]

What happens when you buy a turtle? That's just the thing. Don't. Please adopt instead and stop buying from online vendors or "stores." The exotic pet trade is one of the worst, abusive, and irresponsible industries. Adopt or buy from a known responsible breeder.

[@miramardream]

When you realize tom, is a girl......🤨😱

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Haha yes she is

[@deborahguo2503]

@@SGBeardedAquarist does that make her a... tomboy? :D

[@Naughty_8oy]

Did you get that cute Malayan box turtle home?

[@SGBeardedAquarist]

Sadly not!