Red Eared Slider Turtle

[M.R Otter]

Common name: Red eared slider turtle-Red eared terrapin

Scientific name: Trachemy scripta elegans

Family: Emydidea

Origin: Native to souther United States, but common in some areas of the world due to the pet trade.

minimun tank size: young turtles need 30 gallons or more.

Care: These turtles are quit easy to keep if the right conditions are available, thier tanks decoration should match thier natural home, the more thier tank looks like thier home the more healthy they will be and happy, add some bogwood, plants and rocks.

Feeding: The red eared slider turtles are omnivores, they feed on both meat and aquatic plants. in the wild they feed on fish, aquatic plants, shrimps and usualy large water snails, and captivity they are fed reptile sticks and pellets. Varying these turtles diet is a key to succes with these turtles, here is a list of things you should feed both young and adult red eared slider turtle. young turtlessmall fish like a guppy, small meal worms, blood worms) and for the adult turtlesfish like swordtail and molly, lettuce, aquatic plants, crickets and crayfish).

Sexing: Young turtles are quit hard to sex, but adult turtles are very easy to sex, males have a very long claws, and the female is huge and bigger than the male.

Breeding: breeding red eared slider turtle should not be taken lightly in an aquarium, unless they are in pond. The male will swim toward the female and will start courting by vibrating hes long claws infront of the female face, if she is receptive she sink to the bottom for mating. After days or weeks of mating eggs will be layed, the female lays about 2-30 eggs in her burrow (nest). eggs will hatch within 60-90 days.

Comments: Ault turtles will hibernate if they in a pond, and that is good!! red eared slider turtles will hibernate in the winter. SO AVOID DIGGING OUT THE TURTLES WHEN THEY ARE HIBERNATING.

Red eared slider turtle in a 30 gallon tank

Red eared slider turles basking neer a pond

 

[Spishkey]

would like to add a few points here if you dont mind

1. NEVER use gravel in any turtles tank, if ingested it can cause blockages which without veterinary treatment will prove fatal
2. RES's can live for more than 25years with reports of some captive RES's living for up to 50!!..are you willing to take care of one for so long?
3. Turtles are very messy and require huge aquariums and filtration. A turtle tank needs to hold 10 gallons per inch of turtle, plus 15% extra space for basking areas (yes they will need a basking area, a place they can get out of the water and totallly dry off). A full grown RES will need a tank size of at least 80 - 120 gallons (302 - 455 liters) depending on whether it is male or female, for example, a female RES who is 10-12 inches when full grown, will need a 140 gallon tank filled with 120 gallons of water.
if you are keeping your res in an aquarium and not outside in a pond (with access to natural sunlight), you will need to purchase a heat lamp, water heater and a uvb lamp as well as a jolly good filter!. please bare in mind most uvb bulbs need replacing every 6 months! mercury vapour bulbs are more expensive but last that much longer!
4. young/baby turtles require more protein than older turtles. fish, meat and pellets are good for young turtles, but as they grow they will require these less and should be given more vegetables. a good way to look at it is like this, for a mid age turtle their diet should consist of
*50% Vegetables and water plants:
*25% Commercial foods/pellets:
*25% real/live proteins (such as guppys/platys etc):
as they get older, add more veg and less meat/pellets.
iceberg lettuce is not good for RES's and other turtles!! Romaine is much better) do not feed spinach or any members of the spinach family. veg such as bell peppers, squash and carrots are much loved by turtles and are easily available.
water plants like anacharis, water hyacinth, water lettuce, frogbit, hornwort, and duckweed are great and can easily be grown in a seperate aquarium for you turts.
dried shrimp are no good for turtles! its like giving candy to a child and they may end up refusing any other food, so give dried shrimp a miss completely!
5. if you find you have a female res, she will need a sandy area where she can lay eggs (yes she will lay eggs whether theres a man about or not)
6. indoor turtles should not be hibernated.
if you want your outdoor/pond turtles to hibernate, it will need at least 18 inches of mud underneath the frost line in order to hibernate. The pond must be fairly deep to have this. For example, if your frost line is 36 inches down, you need to dig down 54 inches, install the pond liner, then add 18 inches of mud/leaves back into the pond.the temp needs to stay below 55f for a turtle to safely hibernate outside. if you do not want your outdoor turt to hibernate, bring it indoors before it gets too cold out!

 

[mixmaster jay]

well i think its all been covered
The second most important factor after temperature control is humidity. Humidity control can be difficult to monitor and is often overlooked, but the importance of proper humidity cannot be overstated. Improper humidity levels can lead to illness and death in all turtles so no lids on turtle aquariums

Diurnal cycles are the daily cycles of light and darkness. Just as in their natural environment, captive turtles need to have a regular diurnal cycle. For most species, 14 hours of natural or artificial light are adequate. A corresponding lowering of temperature during the night will also help replicate their natural surroundings.

Set up two-thirds of your turtle's aquarium for swimming and one-third for basking, using a full-spectrum ultraviolet light source. Basking is critical for drying and preventing shell problems. And since turtles can't store vitamin D 3, they must be exposed to UVB light for absorption. uvb 10.0 is best i find

Common medical conditions are improper mineral balance, vitamin deficiency and excessive protein levels. The biggest problem for turtles and terrapins is a metabolic bone disease caused by improper feeding and lighting and lack of exercise.