Apparently turtles have no concept of “my personal space”, photo by Dale Devries
Regular readers are aware that World Turtle Day is a big favorite of mine. It takes place a week from today on Tuesday, May 23rd, and I’m extra excited for this year as I will post the 10th and final turtle on my list of the ten turtles native to Michigan! Be sure to tune in and definitely consider supporting American Tortoise Rescue and their World Turtle Day!
I tried to find a definitive answer as to why turtles “stack” like this. It appears to be a way for littler turtles to get more sun, but I’m curious if anyone has a definitive answer.
About the photo Dale writes:
I took an old section of dock and made a ramp up to it just above the waterline, and the turtles have voiced their approval! I have no idea why we have so many turtles here, but it must mean the lake is healthy!
View the photo background big and see more in Dale’s The Best of West Lake slideshow.
Michigan in Pictures 
I have lived with a turtle for a long time, 16 years. I believe they like the contact. Turtles enjoy affection and have much more personality then most people think. Obviously if they didn’t like the stacking they wouldn’t do it. My turtle shows definite preferences for things.
The turtle I care for is a rescue. She is a Malaysian box turtle and can not be reintroduced to the wild. She was purchased by someone from a pet shop and given to someone else as a gift. When that person grew tired of caring for her she needed a home.
I don’t think anyone should have a wild animal of any kind as a pet.
Turtles are not easy to care for. It takes a lot of work and money to provide a decent living space and to keep it clean. The turtle has to live in an aquarium with water. You need equipment to keep the water temperature just right. You must have special UVB light bulbs and a heat lamp over a basking platform. You need pumps and filters to keep the water clean in bewteen changes. About once a month you have to take all the water out of the tank and put clean water in. The new water has to be treated to remove chlorine, if your water source is supplied by the city because all treated water has small amounts of chlorine, which is good because it kills cholera and yellow fever and other water borne diseases, but it’s bad for reptiles and amphibians. And the pump needs to be cleaned and sometimes tinkered with. The turtle must be taken out of the small tank and given opportunity to walk around the house or yard.
Caring for a captive turtle is hard work that takes a lot of time and money. I discourage anyone from thinking a turtle is an easy pet. It is not easy! An indoor cat is much easier. Plus, turtles are wild animals and should not be captive. No wild animal should be, save for rescue situations.
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Thanks Tina – that’s some great info! Something to add is that they can live 30+ years. Not an impulse pet for sure!
I had pet turtles as a kid. The rule was that I could only have them for a couple of days and then I had to put them back in the pond. I know some of those poor guys got caught multiple times…
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Well WordPress won’t let me like your comment, Tina, but I do. In fact I love it. There are so many irresponsible people out there who want to own exotic pets for the ‘cool’ factor, but have no interest in doing or even knowing what it takes to care for such an animal. One of the reasons rescue centers are always overfull. Thanks for spreading the word!
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These guys look very happy. And I have to wonder if it’s not just the turtles’ answer to the puppy pile – it’s cozy. Then again, it may be a worldbuilding exercise…
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