Pet Turtle for Christmas? 21 Essential Ways to Luv a Pet Turtle.

I luv my turtle, and I have discovered secrets for a more beautiful turtle. I have been caring for her for over 30yrs. This information is for a turtle about 6" - 8"

#1 a UVA heat lamp.

#2 a UVB lamp (really brings out the colors)

#3 fresh veggies most days of the week

#4 a floating log so that the turtle can get out of the water

#5 a varied diet

#6 a moderately clean tank. (every turtle I have seen where the water is crystal clear seems to make for a weaker turtle). This may seem odd, but turtles are not like us. Give her what she needs. And, if your aren't sure the best test is to replicate her own habitat. Don't let it get disgusting though. That can make your turtle sick too.

#7 For this one, I suggest something that I believe prolongs the life but is not necessarily essential: A Fluval brand filter, with biological filtraction, and a carbon insert. Fluvals are great because they cause water turbulence that your turtle will just plain love to play in for exercise.

#8 Occasional feeder fish. (makes for great exercise)

#9 fill your tank up to 1/2 to 3/4 of the way full (turtles are excellent escape artists. Overestimate what you think will keep them in the tank. And, the last thing you want is to find your turtle on the floor with a broken shell).

#10 Biweekly water changes should be enough.

#11 Siphon the tank water as needed. Veggies can be messy.

#12 Don't let the water be to low, such that it is is difficult for the turtle to be constantly lifting her head to try to keep from drowing.

#13 If you have 2 turtles, and they start fighting, quickly separate the turtles forever. They won't stop until the other turtle is dead.

#14 With some experience, you may be able to introduce a female Convict Chichild to the tank. All the other fish I tried to keep in my turtle tank died. Do not put a male Convict Chichlid in the tank. Also, if you have a new to you turtle you might need to build her strength. Keeping fish with turtles requires experience. Give the fish places to hide. #15 These places for the fish to hide should be such that the turtle can reach the surface to take a break from swimming. You want to have some places to rest without her completely outing from the water.

#16 Don't clean your tank with bleach, or other household cleaners. I have never even cleaned my tank with soap, or window cleaner.

#17 Exercise your turtle. Dangle her food over the tank and let her chase it this way and that, but always give it to her in the end.

#18 Turtles need to be able to exercise so make sure they have a big tank. I keep mine in a 55gallon tank all by herself.

#19 Absolutely keep your turtle inside, because wild animals like raccoons will find a way to get her.

#20 Look at your turtle daily to check up on her. Your turtle should be able to pull herself (head and legs) inside of her shell. You are in completely responsible for keeping her at a good weight. No excuses for fat turtles, so don't let them eat all they can. If your turtle seems hungry even after she has eaten, give her some lettuce. Dandelions are often a favorite.

#21 If you have a heater, don't turn it up to high. I live in New England, and it gets cold here, so a heater is a must for the winter. One thing I have wanted to do is to run a cost benefit analysis to see if using a heater, can actually save money on heating bills. Turtles like heat, but if you aren't careful with this you might have to bring her to the vet. However, turtles are cold blooded such that they speed up which gives them year-round exercise.

Future Cars: Hydrogenated-Silicon May Replace Gasoline

Gasoline and petroleum are explosive hydrocarbons.  By hydrocarbons I mean chemicals made of H (hydrogen) and C (carbon) as in a few of the commonly know fuels:

Yet, not all hydrocarbons are explosive – for instance, pavement (sidewalks roads etc.). Pavement is a nonflammable hydrocarbon. Typically, folks don’t think of silicon as being flammable. When someone says silicon, I think of beach sand, soda bottles, or medical equipment (silicon is used to make silicone). For this reason often times, folks think of silicon as something stable. For instance, silicon glass melts at very high temperatures, and even then, it does not explode.

However, there may be some sort of chemical way to make silicon gasoline. Thus, I am not talking about a vehicle that runs on sand. For combustion engines, I am talking about replacing hydrocarbons with hydrogenate-silicon.  That means the compounds with the C (carbon), would be replaced by Si (silicon) in the picture.

The idea is that vehicles would consume chemically altered explosive silicon compounds.  The silicon would be chemically altered through hydrogenation.

The periodic table says that silicon is the closest thing to carbons, especially because both carbon and silicon have four valence electrons.

There is so much sand out there, and that is the primary appeal of inventing a silicon combustion engine. However, this procedure would probably not be environmentally safe.  In fact, it may be worse, but that isn't a guarantee, because it may be better for the environment gas.  Perhaps, through experimentation secrets may be revealed.