I own red eared slider turtles, while not exactly exotic it’s funny that the three things they are known for by owners are things normal folks would not expect.
- Turtles are escape artists. Because they need so much water to swim in and need basking areas, you’ll generally want to fill your tank up as high as you can, and then have a basking platform up there. They will use those and filters to try to escape. They may succeed. There are a ton of questions/guides online to address this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHbV5nsDCb8&ab_channel=TheTurtleGirl
- They are destructive. You will want to have a filter for them, and they will attack the filter with the fury of a bored creature attacking the thing making a noise. Many filters will fall to their wrath. If you google it you’ll find ton of stories of turtles destroying filters/water heaters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnD3cKuFOa0&ab_channel=HMoore
- They smell. How can such a small creature smell so powerfully? Magic.
Any other pet owners have secrets about their type of pet?
Oh wait, so if they don’t have chew toys, can it grow long enough to harm themselves?
That’s super sad! They are the cutest little things.
That’s my understanding of it. It is apparently common in the rodent family.
Most rodents have continuously growing teeth. Like fingernails. In the wild, they constantly gnaw on stuff to sharpen and wear down those teeth.
As pets, if they are fed only soft food, and aren’t given something tough to gnaw on, the teeth won’t wear, and will just keep growing until the animal can no longer close their mouths.
This can be addressed by a visit to the vet, who will grind down the teeth, but you can only get to this point by seriusly neglecting your pet.
I had a rabbit whose teeth didn’t meet so couldn’t wear down by eating. Every 6 weeks I had to go to the vets and he clipped the teeth with nail clippers. It freaked me out so much.