“Try to be like the turtle – at ease in your own shell.”
Bill Copeland, Poet
Pros and Cons of Owning a Turtle
You want to get a pet but don’t want to own an ordinary pet like a dog or a cat?
In such a case, keeping turtles may be the way to go for you.
However, while owning a turtle can have many advantages, there are also some issues related to those pets.
Hence, make sure to check out the pros and cons of owning a turtle in the following chapters.
Table of Contents
Advantages of Owning a Turtle
- Turtles are quiet animals
- Tortoises are rather slow
- Keeping a tortoise can reduce your food waste
- You will learn a lot about tortoises
- Turtles are not that demanding
- Keeping a tortoise can be a side hustle
- You can build a brand around your tortoise
- You can start a YouTube channel or a blog
- Getting a tortoise can make you famous
- You don’t have to go for a walk with your turtle
- You will have a pet most people don’t keep at home
Turtles are quiet animals
One advantage of tortoises is that they are rather quiet animals.
While dogs will bark and cats will meow quite often, turtles will not do anything of that and will also not try to communicate with you that much.
While this may sound boring at first, it can also be quite helpful.
For instance, imagine you work from home and have many important tasks to do in a rather short period of time.
In such a case, you don’t need any distractions from pets and having a quiet pet instead of a noisy one can greatly help you focus on your work.
Moreover, dogs will often bark at nighttime and will wake you up in the middle of the night.
Consequently, your overall quality of sleep will be rather low.
By keeping turtles instead of dogs or other noisy animals, you can avoid those issues and chances are that you will get much better sleep due to that.
Tortoises are rather slow
Tortoises are also not the fastest of pets.
This can be great since it means that it will be harder for your tortoise to escape or to hide.
In fact, you can let your tortoise walk through your home or your garden and don’t have to look after it on a regular basis since you know that it will be around somewhere since it will just not be able to walk long distances in a reasonable amount of time.
Consequently, you don’t have to worry that your tortoise will escape in a rather short period of time like other pets can and this will make your life just more relaxed in general since you don’t have to look after your tortoise every minute of the day.
Keeping a tortoise can reduce your food waste
Another upside to keeping tortoises is that you can also greatly reduce your food waste.
Many of us buy plenty of vegetables and fruits but don’t eat all of them.
In turn, plenty of food will be wasted and our overall food use will be quite inefficient.
By getting a tortoise, you can lower our food waste since you can just feed it to your little friend.
In fact, turtles and tortoises really like feeding on vegetables and fruits and will be grateful for everything apple, cucumber or other things you offer to them.
In turn, you can also feel much better since you know that you use your food more efficiently and that you don’t waste as much food as most other people but rather do good for your turtle friends.
You will learn a lot about tortoises
When you first start out with keeping turtles, chances are that you will not know that much about those reptiles.
While you might have seen many cats and dogs at your friends’ homes and got some experience regarding how to deal with them, far fewer people keep turtles and you will therefore not be familiar with those animals.
However, don’t be discouraged if this is the case. Always see the positive aspects of it.
If you don’t know a lot about tortoises yet, you have more room for improvement and you can become a real turtle expert in the long run.
You can also see it as kind of a quest and challenge yourself to become a real expert in this field which can also make you more confident since you can gain trust in yourself if you see what you are really capable of.
Turtles are not that demanding
Another benefit of getting a turtle is that they are just not that demanding.
Sure, you need to feed your tortoise and also have to make sure that it feels well.
Yet, you will just not have to spend that much time on turtles compared to many other pets.
Most often, your turtle will just swim in your pond and your tortoise will just do something else and will not rely on your support that much.
Consequently, you will have lots of time left to spend on your hobbies instead of having to care for your pets.
Keeping a tortoise can be a side hustle
You may not know it, but some people also keep their pets with the intention to make some money from it.
While this may be problematic from an ethical perspective, some people start a side hustle around their pets and are able to even make a full-time income in the long run.
This can be done by using social media and selling stuff related to turtles.
For instance, you could post funny pictures of your turtles and sell t-shirts or other souvenirs with pictures of your turtle on them.
Opportunities are almost endless in this regard and if you are the kind of creative person who is familiar with the digital world, chances are that you will be able to make at least some money from keeping turtles if you are willing to put in the work.
You can build a brand around your tortoise
If you are really good at digital marketing and are also willing to put in plenty of time and work, you may also be able to build a real brand around you and your tortoise.
Branding is crucial for selling all kinds of stuff and if you become a real expert in your field and people start to trust you, you will also be able to sell courses and other things to your audience, which can deliver a serious income to your pocket.
You can start a YouTube channel or a blog
If you are an extroverted person who likes to talk to people on camera, chances are that you should also start a YouTube channel around your tortoise.
You can make nice videos about all aspects of tortoise and turtle care.
Moreover, you can also make funny videos with your turtles.
If you are a rather introverted person who doesn’t want to be on camera, you may be a good writer instead and can start a blog around turtle-keeping.
In both cases, you will be able to monetize your audience sooner or later and will some people make nice pocket money, others are able to quit their jobs and go full-time on blogging or YouTubing.
Thus, by getting a turtle, you may also get a real chance to ditch the desk and to do for a living what you are more interested instead.
Getting a tortoise can make you famous
If you know how to build a brand in the digital world, you may also become famous with your turtle.
In fact, pet videos are in high demand since everyone of us loves our little friends.
In turn, people will watch your videos and may recognize you when you walk down the street.
Thus, keeping turtles can also be great for you if you love the attention and to be the center of the universe.
You don’t have to go for a walk with your turtle
Another upside of tortoises as pets is that you also don’t have to go for a walk with them.
While you have to go for a walk with a dog even in times of bad weather, you can stay inside your four walls by keeping turtles instead and this can make your life much more convenient in general.
You will have a pet most people don’t keep at home
Keeping turtles can also be great for you in case you don’t want to get an ordinary pet but rather want to have something special.
In fact, not many people keep turtles or tortoises at home and you can really stand out from the crowd by getting one of those little friends instead of pets most people have at home.
Now that we talked about all the nice things that come along with keeping turtles, we also have to talk about the downsides of keeping turtles so that you get a more realistic picture of what owning a turtle really looks like.
Disadvantages of Keeping a Turtle
- You need some space to keep a turtle
- Tortoises may bite you
- Your tortoise may escape
- Tortoises are not that cute
- You can’t cuddle your turtle
- Difficult if you want to go on vacation
- You have to invest some money
- Getting a turtle is a long-term commitment
- Many people lose interest in turtles in the long run
- Tortoises will not follow your commands
- You can’t teach turtles tricks
- You may need a pond
- Turtles are not the perfect pets for kids
- Your guests may not like your tortoise
- Tortoises are not housetrained
- You need to inform yourself before getting a turtle
- Many people don’t know how to keep turtles in the right manner
You need some space to keep a turtle
One downside of owning a turtle is that you will simply need some space.
For keeping turtles, you usually need a garden with some water elements in it.
For keeping tortoises, you will also need plenty of space since tortoises can get quite big and you need to give them some room so that they can develop and exercise in a healthy manner.
Hence, while you could keep other pets in small flats, you should make sure that you have sufficient space at home before getting a tortoise or turtle to provide them with optimal living conditions.
Tortoises may bite you
While tortoises may be rather slow and also don’t look that dangerous, they can still be rather fast when it comes to biting you.
In fact, if you are not careful and your tortoise has a bad day, it may bite you in your finger or your toes and those bites can lead to serious injuries since the jaw of tortoises is quite strong.
Moreover, those wounds may also become inflamed and you may suffer from serious health problems from it.
Consequently, if you decide for getting a tortoise, make sure that you have some respect and that you keep some distance to avoid those issues.
Your tortoise may escape
Even though tortoises may not be the fastest pets, they can still escape if you don’t look after them for an extended period of time.
While your tortoise may not get too far away, it may still make it to your neighbor’s home and your neighbors may not be happy about having your pet in their yard at all.
Tortoises are not that cute
While tortoises can be quite interesting pets, many people still don’t like them as much as other pets. In fact, many people out there think that tortoises are not as cute as cats, dogs or many other pets.
In turn, turtles and tortoises often don’t get the same level of appreciation and admiration from people and you should just be aware of the fact that many of your loved ones may not understand why you got a tortoise instead of other cuter pets.
You can’t cuddle your turtle
Another disadvantage of getting a tortoise is that you can’t cuddle it. Sure, you can try it.
Yet, chances are that it will try to bite you and your tortoise will also not feel like a pet to cuddle at all.
In turn, chances are that you will also not develop the same connection with turtles like with many other pets and your turtles may just not become as important to you.
Difficult if you want to go on vacation
You will also have to find someone who is willing to look after your turtles while you are on vacation.
While this may not be a problem with more conventional pets, most people will not agree to look after turtles or tortoises since they fear doing something wrong.
Consequently, you may have to cancel your vacation plans or give your tortoise to an animal hotel which will cost additional money.
You have to invest some money
In general, you will have to spend some money on your turtles. Sure, this is true for all pets.
Yet, you should be aware of this fact and don’t get tortoises if you are broke right now and barely have any money to spend.
Getting a turtle is a long-term commitment
Since tortoises can get quite old, you should also make sure that you are willing to care for your turtle for a long period of time.
In fact, many turtles can live up to 100 years and this means that you may have to care for them for your whole life.
Thus, before getting a turtle, be aware of the fact that this will be a long-term commitment.
Many people lose interest in turtles in the long run
While having a turtle at home may be exciting in the short run, it may become quite boring in the long run.
Since turtles don’t do that much interesting stuff and are rather slow pets, your kids may be bored of your little friends quite soon and you may have to give your turtles away to the shelter.
Tortoises will not follow your commands
Another problem with turtles is that they will also not follow your commands at all.
While it will be relatively easy to get dogs to a point where they know what you want from them, this will not be the case for tortoises at all since it is just not in their DNA to follow human commands.
Instead, they will do what they want to do and will just not listen to you most of the time.
You can’t teach turtles tricks
You will also get quite disappointed in case you expect that your tortoise will learn any tricks.
Even if you spend numerous hours with it, your tortoise will still not learn any exciting stuff but will rather spend its time in the way it likes most.
Hence, if you search for an exciting animal that you can play around with, you should definitely go for a different pet instead.
You may need a pond
While tortoises don’t need water environments to survive, turtles will need a natural pond since they will just spend most of their time in the water.
Consequently, this means that you will have to get a natural pond in your garden and this can lead to serious issues.
If you want to learn more about natural ponds, make sure to check out my article that shows you all pros and cons of natural ponds.
After that, you will be better able to decide whether you want to make this commitment or not.
Turtles are not the perfect pets for kids
Since turtles stay in the water for most of the time and tortoises are rather slow pets, they are just not the perfect pets for kids.
Children often want to have pets that are exciting and interesting and will just not have that much patience.
In turn, if you have kids at home and search for a suitable pet, chances are that you should get another pet instead.
Your guests may not like your tortoise
Some people may even be afraid of your tortoise. Even though you know that your tortoise will be rather harmless, your guests may not know it and may not like the company of your tortoise at all.
In turn, some of your friends may not feel good at your place at all and may no longer come over to your place.
Tortoises are not housetrained
You should also not expect your tortoise to be housetrained.
While some tortoises can be housetrained over time, others just don’t learn it in a lifetime and this means that you have to clean up the mess on a regular basis.
You need to inform yourself before getting a turtle
You should also not expect that keeping a turtle at home is that simple.
In fact, you will have to inform yourself about all the things that come along with it and this means that you will have to spend plenty of time studying in this regard.
Many people don’t know how to keep turtles in the right manner
Many people also don’t know how to care for their tortoise in the right manner and are also rather helpless in this regard.
Many of them are also not willing to put in the time and the work to become better at it and this means that they keep turtles in a rather poor manner which can lead to many different problems in the long run.
Hence, before getting a turtle, make sure that you are willing to learn about those pets so that you can provide good living conditions to them.
Top 10 Turtle Pros & Cons – Summary List
| Turtle Pros | Turtle Cons |
|---|---|
| Turtles are quiet pets | Tortoises are not that cute |
| Tortoises are not that demanding | You may need a pond to keep turtles |
| Tortoises are rather slow | Your turtle may escape |
| You don’t have to spend that much time | You can’t cuddle your tortoise |
| Keeping turtles can reduce food waste | Your kids may get bored quite soon |
| You will have an exotic pet | Getting a turtle is a long-term commitment |
| Keeping tortoises can be interesting | Some people just don’t like tortoises |
| You can start a YouTube channel | Turtles will not follow your commands |
| You can make additional money | You can’t teach turtles tricks |
| You may become famous | Tortoises are hard to housetrain |
Should You Get A Tortoise?
Now that you know all the advantages and disadvantages of owning a turtle, it is on you to decide whether you still want to get a tortoise or if you rather want to get other pets like dogs, cats, mini pigs, rabbits, guinea pigs or an aquarium instead.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortoise
https://www.britannica.com/animal/turtle-reptile
About the Author
My name is Andreas and I’m really passionate about our environment and also about growing plants. In fact, I have grown several different plants over many years. I love to see my plants grow and also always try new things to improve my overall conditions at home.
In my blog posts, I want to share my experiences with you so that you can become successful in growing various different plants and improving your home as well, even though you might still be a beginner right now.
