Care Sheet for TurtlesAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 0 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 06/11/2007 |
Main Category: | Aquatic/Land |
Sub Category: | Turtles |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Yexalen |
Years Experience: | 1 to 2 Years |
Species: | Red Eared Slider (RES) |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | Most aquatic turtles |
Sexing and Characteristics: | The males will have much longer front claws compared to a female. And longer and thicker tails. The females will however grow to be larger then males. |
Mostly Active During: | Day |
Substrate and Water Needs: | You don’t want to use any small gravel as a substrate. Use large polished river rocks, nothing and leave the tank bare, or my favorite line the bottom with slate floor tiles.
The water needs to be twice as high as their shell is long. So if your turtle is 4 inches you should have at least 8 inches of water. Another rule is 10 gallons for every inch. So a 5 inch turtle should have a 50 gallon tank. |
Lighting and UVB: | They NEED a uvb light. They are used to help growth, energy, and helps with their digestion. They will also need a heat lamp. A lot of people also use a regular florescent bulb along the entire tank so it is a lot brighter. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | The basking temperature should be in the mid 80s. And water temperature should be between 75 and 80F. The warmer the temperature the more problems you will have with algae growth. So its best to keep it in their preferred temperature but still not to high. |
Heating and Equipment: | You should use a submersible under water calibrated heater. To keep the water at the right temperature. And as mentioned before they will need a heat lamp, which are sold at most pet stores. |
Caging Provided: | A 20 gallon at the least for a baby, and 55-65 gallon preferred. Will last quite a while. They need to be able to swim and turn around comfortably. You can eventually house them in an outside pond with all of the things they need. A land area could be built with rock, bought at a pet store (floating docks) or you can build your own. As long as they can get up on it. The young babies can drown if they can not get completely up and out of the water. They will also need a screen cover on the tank. They will try to escape. |
Diet: | Omnivorous |
Description of Diet: | They need a diet consisting of 25% meat 25% commercial and 50% vegetable matter. The meat can be feeder goldfish, meal worms, earth worms, crickets, grasshoppers, and cooked (unseasoned) chicken. The commercial diet is the turtle sticks or pellets you can find at most pet stores. They have alot of needed nutrients and vitamins that are needed. And the vegetable matter should be made up of dandelions, mustard greens, collard greens, spinach leaves, thawed frozen vegetables like green beans.
They can only eat in the water and it is best to feed them in a different container. A simple Rubbermaid tub will work fill it with some water place your turtle inside and feed. When he is done place him back in his enclosure. This will keep the mess down. |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | |
Maintenance: | The enclosure should be cleaned often. They are quite messy. A filter will be needed and removing any feces with a fish net will help too. You will also need to clean your turtles often. A soft bristled tooth brush and running under some 75F water will help softly scrub any algae or slime off of the shell. A occasional sulfa dip is needed too. You can buy this at most pet stores and you will need to follow the instructions on the back. This will help with most bacteria and also prevent it.
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Some Words on this Species: | They can grow from 8-12 inches. They can live up to 20-25 years. If properly taken care of. |
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