If you take care of your turtle right and make sure that it is well fed and kept at the correct temperature, he might just out live you. Many turtles have lived beyond 100 years.
You want to make the perfect home for your new friend and sliders need a warm, dry place with a large warm pool of water to call home. You will have to provide a warm enclosure with heated water and a warm place for your turtle to bask. You have to remember that their natural habitat is located where the sun easily warms the water. You have to make sure that you keep the water clean. You do not want old rotten food or poop to accumulate in your tank because this will be a very unhealthy environment for your turtle. You will probably want to clean the water daily to ensure a clean home for your turtle.
If you have a turtle on the smaller side, than you can start out with a tank that is at least a 30-50 gallon sized aquarium. You can now place colorful aquarium rocks at the bottom to build a slope from the pool to the dry land. You can either purchase a warming rock from your local pet store or place Plexiglas to make a platform so that your turtle can relax and stay warm. You should not use rough rocks in your tank because they can scratch the turtle's shell that can allow bacterial and fungal infections to go into the turtle's body.
You want to make sure that your turtle has enough water to swim in. You also have to remember that larger turtles will need more water than a smaller turtle. The water should be at least 2 times your turtle's length and in depth you should have at least several inches of air space between the surface of the water to the top of the tank so that your new friend cannot escape. For example, a turtle that is 4 inches long you should at least give them a minimum of 6 inches deep, and 16 inches in width of water. You also want the land area to be bigger than the pool area. You have to also make sure that your turtle will have room to grow. When you see that your turtle is growing efficiently than you must make sure that you plan ahead on building him a bigger environment.
You should really consider investing in a water filter for your tank. This way you can go up to a week before changing out the water that will save you the daily hassles. If you buy a powerful filter system and feed your pet in another tank than you can probably get away with replacing a quarter to half of your water each week for two or three weeks and emptying and cleaning out the tank every 3-4 weeks. Make sure that the water is always warm when you replace it. The best thing to do is to consult a pet store about the proper filters to support your Red-eared slider.
The best recommended filters would be:
Fluval 4 Internal Canister Filter
Fluval 403 External Models
Eheim Canister connected to an undergravel filter
Magnum 350 Deluxe with an undergravel filter
Magnum 350 Pro with Bio-Wheel
Keeping the water warm is very important for your turtle's new environment. You should buy a water heater and thermometer to make sure that the turtle is kept at a good warm temperature. If you turtle is too cold he won't eat his food and if he is too hot than you might end up killing him so make sure that you have good heating instruments and monitor them regularly.
You want to ensure that your turtle has the best possible diet so that it will receive the proper nutrition and vitamins for a healthy growth. Younger turtles must be fed every day and adult turtles can be fed every 2-3 days. You should be careful not to feed them more than they can eat; the food that they do not eat will end up going to waste and can cause bacteria to grow in the water.
You can buy your turtle's food from your local pet store. Trout Chow, commercial floating fish, reptile or turtle food pellets, sticks, or tablets are formulated for your reptile and they don't decompose as fast as other food would in the water.
Animal protein such as live feeder fish makes a great diet for your turtle. Do not use any frozen feeder fish. Earthworms from a reptile or aquarium store are also good for your turtle. You shouldn't use the ones that you find in your backyard because they can carry bacteria, parasites, and pesticides. Raw lean beef; beef heart and cooked chicken are okay for your turtle to eat. Be careful because raw beef and chicken can have salmonella, E. coli and other organisms. You can also feed them high quality dog food (kibble) occasionally as a treat. You cannot use dog food as a sufficient diet for your turtle only as a treat.
Your turtle will love vegetables and green leaf plants to snack on. You can offer your slider dark leafy greens such as collard, mustard and dandelion greens. Shredded carrots squash and green beans. You can thaw out some frozen mixed veggies occasionally; do not use them all the time because they can destroy the B vitamin. Fruit can be offered to your turtle either shredded (apples and melons) or chopped (be
The bigger the environment the bigger the healthier the turtle. Remember 10 gallons for every inch of turtle. I have used kiddy pools and plastic pond liners from most nurseries and worked great.
Did you know that they need to bask under a reptile light UVA/UVB for up to 8 hrs a day for the vitamin D that they need to grow. So that means getting a turtle dock also.
Leave the heater on 75 to 78 degrees always. These turtles in captivity do not hibernate their eating may slow down some but they will not hibernate. These are not cuddly pets and will bite very very hard. Under 4" they carry a disease called 'salmonella'. So you must wash after every handling.
Their water needs to be clean otherwise they get sick easily from dirty water cause they poop allot. You need a good filter system!
Total Body length: 5-8" average for males, up to 12 inches max for females. Life span: 15-25+ years
Males have the longer front nails and are used in mating. And are considered mature at about 5 yrs old. You can’t start sexing till about 3” across.
Gravel larger than they can swallow.
You need to feed them feeder guppies, goldfish or minnows for protein and calcium drop 20 or so in the tank and watch them disappear in a few days! When I got these two 36 yrs ago all we had in back then were goldfish to feed , so after 36 yrs and still going strong. They can eat goldfish!
This way when they swim for their dinner they get exercise also!
I also feed dried cubed blood worms or tubiflex worms at least 5 times a week.
They sleep at the bottom of rivers, streams. lakes or ponds or your tank to avoid predators like coyotes, foxes, owls, hawks, possums, raccoons and even some wide mouth bass.
TOSS in a bird cuttle bone in the water for calcium that will promote better shell growth, it will dissolve real slow and if they eat it that’s fine!!
They can have garden worms, meal worms, snails, crickets, flies, crayfish small frogs, dragon flies and anything that moves, but only as a treat.
They need leafy greens Romaine, Butter lettuce. (Iceberg and cabbage are bad for them, any other leafy greens will do) for vitamin A that they need at least 3 to 4 times a week.
They love grapes and strawberries and squash..
You probably already know that they get sick easily, shell rot, respiratory sickness, lopsided swimming, coughing, blowing bubbles from their nose. Fungus white cotton patches on their skin?
**Swollen cloudy eyes which means lacking in Vitamin A. Which we all need for good eyes. Google ‘vegetables with Vitamin A.
Contact the “www.anapsid.org/societies, for a turtle vet / RESCUE in your city and state.
Red eared sliders are the easiest to care for...get the largest aquarium you can afford,(they grow fast) fill it with water, a water heater, a basking lamp, UVB/UVA light, something for the turtle to climb on and get out of the water to soak up the heat and UVB/UVA, some substrate such as gravel and then drop in a couple dozen fish, six or seven crawfish, a coupe of apple snails and some water plants (real plants the turt will eat them) and that should do it.
It is usually recommend taking turtles outside and into the sunlight for some glorious UVB. It still is, but please don't leave your turtles unsupervised or unguarded. They should get partial shade and an area to bask. Keep other pets away from them and make sure they are not on a rough surface like cement or asphalt, which can also become very hot. If they are in a kiddie pool, keep an eye on the water temperatures in there too.
you need of course a fishtank. get one that has filter for the water. make sure he has some rocks underwater, and some he can climb on. a small log he can swim under and climb on. they do eat the store food pellets, but they also like meal worms, crickets, and of course fish. you can feed him gold fish if he is large enough and can catch/trap them somewhere in the tank. use the rocks to make an area which he can corral them and grubb!
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If you take care of your turtle right and make sure that it is well fed and kept at the correct temperature, he might just out live you. Many turtles have lived beyond 100 years.
You want to make the perfect home for your new friend and sliders need a warm, dry place with a large warm pool of water to call home. You will have to provide a warm enclosure with heated water and a warm place for your turtle to bask. You have to remember that their natural habitat is located where the sun easily warms the water. You have to make sure that you keep the water clean. You do not want old rotten food or poop to accumulate in your tank because this will be a very unhealthy environment for your turtle. You will probably want to clean the water daily to ensure a clean home for your turtle.
If you have a turtle on the smaller side, than you can start out with a tank that is at least a 30-50 gallon sized aquarium. You can now place colorful aquarium rocks at the bottom to build a slope from the pool to the dry land. You can either purchase a warming rock from your local pet store or place Plexiglas to make a platform so that your turtle can relax and stay warm. You should not use rough rocks in your tank because they can scratch the turtle's shell that can allow bacterial and fungal infections to go into the turtle's body.
You want to make sure that your turtle has enough water to swim in. You also have to remember that larger turtles will need more water than a smaller turtle. The water should be at least 2 times your turtle's length and in depth you should have at least several inches of air space between the surface of the water to the top of the tank so that your new friend cannot escape. For example, a turtle that is 4 inches long you should at least give them a minimum of 6 inches deep, and 16 inches in width of water. You also want the land area to be bigger than the pool area. You have to also make sure that your turtle will have room to grow. When you see that your turtle is growing efficiently than you must make sure that you plan ahead on building him a bigger environment.
You should really consider investing in a water filter for your tank. This way you can go up to a week before changing out the water that will save you the daily hassles. If you buy a powerful filter system and feed your pet in another tank than you can probably get away with replacing a quarter to half of your water each week for two or three weeks and emptying and cleaning out the tank every 3-4 weeks. Make sure that the water is always warm when you replace it. The best thing to do is to consult a pet store about the proper filters to support your Red-eared slider.
The best recommended filters would be:
Fluval 4 Internal Canister Filter
Fluval 403 External Models
Eheim Canister connected to an undergravel filter
Magnum 350 Deluxe with an undergravel filter
Magnum 350 Pro with Bio-Wheel
Keeping the water warm is very important for your turtle's new environment. You should buy a water heater and thermometer to make sure that the turtle is kept at a good warm temperature. If you turtle is too cold he won't eat his food and if he is too hot than you might end up killing him so make sure that you have good heating instruments and monitor them regularly.
You want to ensure that your turtle has the best possible diet so that it will receive the proper nutrition and vitamins for a healthy growth. Younger turtles must be fed every day and adult turtles can be fed every 2-3 days. You should be careful not to feed them more than they can eat; the food that they do not eat will end up going to waste and can cause bacteria to grow in the water.
You can buy your turtle's food from your local pet store. Trout Chow, commercial floating fish, reptile or turtle food pellets, sticks, or tablets are formulated for your reptile and they don't decompose as fast as other food would in the water.
Animal protein such as live feeder fish makes a great diet for your turtle. Do not use any frozen feeder fish. Earthworms from a reptile or aquarium store are also good for your turtle. You shouldn't use the ones that you find in your backyard because they can carry bacteria, parasites, and pesticides. Raw lean beef; beef heart and cooked chicken are okay for your turtle to eat. Be careful because raw beef and chicken can have salmonella, E. coli and other organisms. You can also feed them high quality dog food (kibble) occasionally as a treat. You cannot use dog food as a sufficient diet for your turtle only as a treat.
Your turtle will love vegetables and green leaf plants to snack on. You can offer your slider dark leafy greens such as collard, mustard and dandelion greens. Shredded carrots squash and green beans. You can thaw out some frozen mixed veggies occasionally; do not use them all the time because they can destroy the B vitamin. Fruit can be offered to your turtle either shredded (apples and melons) or chopped (be
Sliders, cooters , painted, map, yellow bellied all are basically the same and require the same basic care.
I have had my 2 slider girls for 36 yrs. Plus an 8 and 5 yr old and now a 2 yr old adopted from this site.. they are a lot of responsibility and $$$$.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29035692@N03/sets/721...
The bigger the environment the bigger the healthier the turtle. Remember 10 gallons for every inch of turtle. I have used kiddy pools and plastic pond liners from most nurseries and worked great.
Did you know that they need to bask under a reptile light UVA/UVB for up to 8 hrs a day for the vitamin D that they need to grow. So that means getting a turtle dock also.
Leave the heater on 75 to 78 degrees always. These turtles in captivity do not hibernate their eating may slow down some but they will not hibernate. These are not cuddly pets and will bite very very hard. Under 4" they carry a disease called 'salmonella'. So you must wash after every handling.
Their water needs to be clean otherwise they get sick easily from dirty water cause they poop allot. You need a good filter system!
Total Body length: 5-8" average for males, up to 12 inches max for females. Life span: 15-25+ years
Males have the longer front nails and are used in mating. And are considered mature at about 5 yrs old. You can’t start sexing till about 3” across.
Gravel larger than they can swallow.
You need to feed them feeder guppies, goldfish or minnows for protein and calcium drop 20 or so in the tank and watch them disappear in a few days! When I got these two 36 yrs ago all we had in back then were goldfish to feed , so after 36 yrs and still going strong. They can eat goldfish!
This way when they swim for their dinner they get exercise also!
I also feed dried cubed blood worms or tubiflex worms at least 5 times a week.
They sleep at the bottom of rivers, streams. lakes or ponds or your tank to avoid predators like coyotes, foxes, owls, hawks, possums, raccoons and even some wide mouth bass.
TOSS in a bird cuttle bone in the water for calcium that will promote better shell growth, it will dissolve real slow and if they eat it that’s fine!!
They can have garden worms, meal worms, snails, crickets, flies, crayfish small frogs, dragon flies and anything that moves, but only as a treat.
They need leafy greens Romaine, Butter lettuce. (Iceberg and cabbage are bad for them, any other leafy greens will do) for vitamin A that they need at least 3 to 4 times a week.
They love grapes and strawberries and squash..
You probably already know that they get sick easily, shell rot, respiratory sickness, lopsided swimming, coughing, blowing bubbles from their nose. Fungus white cotton patches on their skin?
**Swollen cloudy eyes which means lacking in Vitamin A. Which we all need for good eyes. Google ‘vegetables with Vitamin A.
Contact the “www.anapsid.org/societies, for a turtle vet / RESCUE in your city and state.
I wish you luck.
Red eared sliders are the easiest to care for...get the largest aquarium you can afford,(they grow fast) fill it with water, a water heater, a basking lamp, UVB/UVA light, something for the turtle to climb on and get out of the water to soak up the heat and UVB/UVA, some substrate such as gravel and then drop in a couple dozen fish, six or seven crawfish, a coupe of apple snails and some water plants (real plants the turt will eat them) and that should do it.
It is usually recommend taking turtles outside and into the sunlight for some glorious UVB. It still is, but please don't leave your turtles unsupervised or unguarded. They should get partial shade and an area to bask. Keep other pets away from them and make sure they are not on a rough surface like cement or asphalt, which can also become very hot. If they are in a kiddie pool, keep an eye on the water temperatures in there too.
you need of course a fishtank. get one that has filter for the water. make sure he has some rocks underwater, and some he can climb on. a small log he can swim under and climb on. they do eat the store food pellets, but they also like meal worms, crickets, and of course fish. you can feed him gold fish if he is large enough and can catch/trap them somewhere in the tank. use the rocks to make an area which he can corral them and grubb!
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