Yellow bellied slider questions

magnumlady

Hi all,

I'm still researching into getting one of these, so much of the advice on the net seems to vary, so I'm gatting confused.

What is the best heater to use? Can you use a heater mat? I've read that sliders can smash heaters or burn themsleves so I'm concerned about that.

Any help would be great, thanks.

Jimkel

magnumlady wrote:

Hi all,

I'm still researching into getting one of these, so much of the advice on the net seems to vary, so I'm gatting confused.

What is the best heater to use? Can you use a heater mat? I've read that sliders can smash heaters or burn themselves so I'm concerned about that.

Any help would be great, thanks.

Hi Magnumlady I have read a great deal on these Turtles and have been keeping two of them without a hitch for 2 years now. I've also years of experience keeping terrapins so maybe I can help:

OK It's all about personal preference but if you ask me the best way to keep them is in an Aquarium type set up containing plenty of water. They are reptiles but are semi aquatic and spend most of their time in water. So a heat mats not an option. Also be sure to buy a good book on keeping aquatic turtles.

Here's a perfect set up for the YBS.

For two baby - 2 year old turtles you will need:

A 2 foot long Aquarium about 1 foot tall and 1 foot wide with a hood (lid) which has a space designed for a tube bulb. (Standard glass fish tank set up)

A polystyrene sheet to place the tank on in order to prevent cracks when filling. This is important.

A commercially available "Turtle dock" or similar. basically its a basking spot above the water but it's attached to the glass so they can swim under it. Buy a large one because they grow fast.

An underwater Aquarium heater set to 25 degrees Celsius (NOT A REPTILE HEAT MAT) the reason for the temp is all Y.B.Sliders eat underwater and they need to be warm to do so. Don't worry provided you keep it out of the way by putting it in a corner and placing the pump beside it,(but not touching) this will avoid them crashing into it and smashing it when they slide into the water. They will hit the pump and not the heater.

You won't have a problem with burns If you provide the proper temperature in the water and a good basking site, the turtles will not go near the heating unit. Most new ones are safe and don't burn.

A power head filter pump (Just like in a goldfish tank). Be sure to get one that has an adjustible outlet so you can aim it towards the glass at the rear of the tank, so the currents not too strong.

A fluorescent tube light bulb for reptiles, ask in your local pet store for the right size and type you will need . I recommend Reptiglow (™) Lights. These need to be replaced every 6 - 8 months. You will also need an electrical starter for it

A substrate of pebbles not sand. Turtles can be quite messy so sand is a no no. Provide pebbles that are too big to choke on, Preferably all one colour so they can see their food on the bottom.

A siphoning kit of some sort. A piece of garden hose and a bucket will do, for partial water changes.

Ok here’s how ya set it up.

Place the tank on the polystyrene sheet on a solid surface capable of holding the weight of the water when the tank is full. Make sure It’s out of direct sunlight and in a quiet area of the house.

Clean the substrate (Pebbles) with plain water and add to the bottom of the tank, try to make a slight slope of pebbles from the back down to the front to encourage debris to settle here and make for easier cleaning.

Place the turtle dock or basking surface at a point where it will be between 6 - 8 inches from the light source anything beyond this makes the rays from the light useless. Remember turtles climb on top of each other and will escape if given the opportunity so not too close to the top.

Place the fluorescent tube light into the hood using the clips provided with the electrical starter, make sure it’s going to be 6-8 inches from the basing area. But not close enough that the turtles can touch it even if they climb atop one another.

Fill with water up to a point where the basking spot is dry but they can easily climb out of the water and onto it. Turtle docks have a slop designed for this purpose. The water should be about 3 quarters full. They love to swim, give them every opportunity to do so in the tank.

Place the underwater heater and the pump in, make sure the heater is completely submerged and set to 25 degrees C, the pumps outlet should be just on the waters surface in order for the flow to break the water.

Plug it all in and let it run for a an hour or so until the water is at the right temperature. And now you can purchase and add your turtles.

You can feed them Boxed turtle food, it’s a complete diet but supplement the diet with fresh greens such as dandelion leafs and occasional freeze dried live foods such as mosquito larvae. You can also feed occasional pinkies (Frozen baby mice thawed out at room temperature). Do not feed Ice berg lettuce as it has no nutritional value.

Always do your research before feeding them something new, make sure it’s safe.

They will shed as they grow so don't get a fright if you see Finger nail like objects floating in the tank.

This is my idea on keeping healthy Turtles and it's worked for me I never had a sick turtle or terrapin with this set up. I've attached a drawing of this set up below, In the pic i havent added the hood because I wanted to illustrate the position of the Light, but of course this light is fitted inside the hood.

Hope I helped!!

best of luck and enjoy!;)

Wibbs

Good advice there. I would add is that you shouldn't feed them too much. Most keepers do.

The powerhead filter is ok when they're small, but when they get bigger you will need to get a cannister filter. They're very messy compared to fish and the small pumps just don't cut it.

When you wash the filter, don't use tap water or you'll kill the beneficial bacteria that break down wastes. Rinse it in some of the tank water in a bucket. Do this at least once a week. With that setup partial water changes at least monthly would be a good idea too.

Get water quality test kits. Nitrates in particular. Very very few do this, but if you don't you're not insuring the best water quality for your pets. It's no good keeping the water looking clean, it must be clean. No excessive nitrates etc. The levels won't get as low as for fishes, because of the nature of the beast, but you should aim for as low as you can go.

In addition to the florescent tube you will need a heat lamp, certainly when you go for the bigger tank that you will need as they grow. Depending on sub species, fully grown YB sliders can get to the foot mark or in some cases bigger with the females. Two of that size will need a considerable investment in space. 6ft tank minimum.

As for food, pretty spot on, though I suspect you mean boxed turtle food as Box Turtles have slighlty different needs to aquatic turtles. Lettuce can have it's uses in that you can feed them with that, satisfying their hunger without overfeeding them.

And don't worry about the heater harming them. Never heard it happen. I would suggest a thermometer just to make sure the water is actually at 25 degrees. The heaters can be off calibration and it depends on the water circulation too.

dellytots

I had similar problems when I first got my turtle the internet,books and different pet shop owners seem to contridict each other but Ive had my YBS for a yr and a half now and he seems happy with his set up. I've just moved him into a 4ft tank as he out grew 2ft tank very quickly. So the best thing to do is invest in a big tank from the start. Once you have them set up and get into a routine with feeding,cleaning the tank etc they're pretty low maintanance actually and a very enjoyable pet. A good investment for the filler is needed,normal fish filters just cant cope. I got a filter from Reptile Haven(wood quay, dublin2)- its pretty big, actually sits outside the tank, its much better then any previous pumps ive had. I wouldnt reccomend putting any plants into the tank as turtle tend to taste everthing they can lay their claws on and will destroy them. With food it can be hit and miss my turtle love his turtle food but for treats we give him worms and different types of meat but he doesnt seem too interested in fruit & veg - but supposedly too much fruit & veg is bad for them.

Any other questions I'll be happy to help, good luck with your new pet.

magnumlady

Thanks ever so much for all the advice.
Jinkel I'm surprised looking at the set up pic at the amount of water in the tank. In the petshop it only seems like about 6 inches in the bottom of the tank.
Its great that I now know what to get. Would a clamp light be alright as a basking light?
Thanks again.

tallus

Also make sure they have a UVB ultraviolet lamp if they aren't going to be getting natural sunshine. They need it to be able to convert vitamin D3 to calcium. That's the case with tortoises, not a turtle keeper really but I'm guessing that they need uv from the same spectrum.

Jimkel

magnumlady wrote:

Thanks ever so much for all the advice.
Jinkel I'm surprised looking at the set up pic at the amount of water in the tank. In the petshop it only seems like about 6 inches in the bottom of the tank.
Its great that I now know what to get. Would a clamp light be alright as a basking light?
Thanks again.

I know but you must understand that in pet shops the set up is as a temperary home only, also many pet shops dont fully understand the needs of some of the animals they supply, it's an unfortunate fact.

In the wild these turtles are seen as pond turtles, they spend most of their time in the water and having a good dept it your tank ensures plenty of space to exercise. They are superb swimmers and need plenty of space.

Also In shallow water in the wild they would be quickly picked up by birds so having some dept also helps them feel safe. The more water the better so long as your filtration and heating systems can handle it.

Great advice there from everybody else, these turtles are taking the country by storm so it's good to raise the level of awareness of their needs.

Here's some photos of some various wild Slider turtles so you can see they live in Fairly deep water.:D

Jimkel

tallus wrote:

Also make sure they have a UVB ultraviolet lamp if they aren't going to be getting natural sunshine. They need it to be able to convert vitamin D3 to calcium. That's the case with tortoises, not a turtle keeper really but I'm guessing that they need uv from the same spectrum.

Yes your right, The Flourescent light I use provides this altough it needs changing every few months.

Jimkel

Wibbs wrote:

In addition to the florescent tube you will need a heat lamp, certainly when you go for the bigger tank that you will need as they grow. Depending on sub species, fully grown YB sliders can get to the foot mark or in some cases bigger with the females. Two of that size will need a considerable investment in space. 6ft tank minimum.

Very true, at the moment my tanks does not require a heat lamp becaue it's 2 foot long very well heated by the water and tube lighting, which they bask under. But next time I step up the size of the tank I can see it requiring one.

Jimkel

I would like to add A little more about size also, those Turtles the size of a 2 euro coin will, if kept in the right conditions quadruple their size in under 1 year so be prepared and buy a large tank. Your lookin at having a 6 inch diamater turtle in a year from now if you buy it as a Juvinile.

tallus

Jimkel wrote:

Yes your right, The Flourescent light I use provides this altough it needs changing every few months.

It's handy that mine hibernate, I usually change the light when I put them into the fridge.
The one I got last year was both a basking light and a uvb, but this years light is just a uvb that looks like one of those energy saving bulbs. Must take some photos of the setup. It's pretty basic but functional. See attached photo of one of my torts in the sink on monday, the same day I took him out of the fridge.
They are eating like it's going out of fashion since they came out of hibernation.

Jimkel

Thats a beautiful tortoise ya have there!

tallus

Would you believe that the other one i have was a clutch mate who's the same age and has a much smoother shell and is way way smaller.... pity about the growth, I'm trying my best to arrest it. He's a Hermann's Tort.
A friend recommended offering cucumber, which is a great idea. I'm giving them a month to gorge a bit then monitoring everything they eat.
*edit*
Here's a photo from either last year or the year before.. used a €2 for scale.

Wibbs

Jimkel wrote:

I would like to add A little more about size also, those Turtles the size of a 2 euro coin will, if kept in the right conditions quadruple their size in under 1 year so be prepared and buy a large tank. Your lookin at having a 6 inch diamater turtle in a year from now if you buy it as a Juvinile.

TBH if you end up with a 6 inch turtle a year from now you're definitely feeding way too much. 3 to 4 inch at a max I would say.

You're dead right about the water depth. Most are kept in way too shallow water. Be careful if you have an older one though. I'd heard they can sometimes get into difficulty and drown if they never learned how o control their depth.

You're also dead right about the need for education with these turtles. They are a big fashion now, along with the map turtles you see on offer. Again the problem is housing them properly and being able to care for them when they grow to adulthood. While they shouldn't grow too fast, they may get up to the foot mark. The maps are even worse in this regard. I saw one place a year ago that had baby snappers and they can get to be huge and are decidedly nasty with it.

magnumlady

Thanks once again, I had read about the UVB lamp, I think most of the confusion comes as people think they are terrapins, which I've been told are illegal here (not sure how true that is).
We have two shops in Sligo selling YBS, one is labelled correctly and has all the right equipment (although shallow water).
The other one is calling them Terrapins, they have no heater, no filter and have a blue lamp (which might be right) but is a good way away from their dock.
Also thanks for the photos, its great to see them.

Wibbs

Terrapins is a misuse of a word to describe a species of brackish water turtles in the south east of the US that were popular as food back in the day.

You're probably thinking of red eared "terrapins" that were very popular here years ago. I think there were restrictions put on their import over dodgy scare stories of salmonella and more importantly most were dying in the hands of people who were advised badly.

I hope the current vogue for other sliders is not going to turn out the same way. I have my doubts.:(

The biggest thing is water quality. External cannister filter on a proper size tank will go a long way towards that. I forgot to say, add a little bit of aquarium salt to the tank. It cuts down on fungus and other problems.

Get a water test kit. I can't stress this enough. You can have turtles for years and they may seem to doing well, but they may be living in their own well filtered crap. Turtles are very hardy and don't show the signs of distress that would kill fish very quickly. They do notice it though. Pretty much every tropical fish owner tests regularly. Turtles should get the same to make their environment biological safe and clean. I would put turtles on a par with tropical fish keeping in investment of time and money.

You're getti all the info here anyway.:D

Our man in Havana

Before anyone buys ickle baby turtles please realise they grow fast & get BIG! I have 6 now cause they outgrew their tanks, also its a lot of word to keep them clean etc. Once older the turtles can & do live happily in an outside pond - ours are currently in a large paddling pool whilst the pond is being built. We kept red eared sliders in the UK in a pond & they are still alive & happy with the new owner! All 6 were brought in a few weeks ago & given a wash to get the green off of the shell & they are all fine & healthy & survived the winter well the shells are STUNNING now they have access to real sun light. They are very common in the wild in the UK now - the only thing they can not do yet is hatch eggs as its not warm enough but the turtles themselves do well.

magnumlady

Thanks once again for all your help, I'm off to the shops soon to get all the equipment and once we have it all set up we'll get the slider.

Shane190

Good luck with the slider when you get it..Post if you have any problems or questions..

Rancid

I've just read that the Irish Association of Tortoise Keepers is looking for people to rehome unwanted terrapins. It seems they have YBS at the moment, just in case anyone is interested.
http://homepage.tinet.ie/~090316/

tortoise17

email them at
tortoise@eircom.net

magnumlady

Here I am back again. I went into 3 pet shops today to get the equipment. I got the heater, but couldn't get clamp lamp anywhere, they sell all the bulbs but nothing to put them in.
I also need to get a filter.
So does anyone know of an online petstore that delivers in Ireland please. I could get them from ebay but would like to get them asap.
Thanks once again for all your help.

Rancid

magnumlady wrote:

Here I am back again. I went into 3 pet shops today to get the equipment. I got the heater, but couldn't get clamp lamp anywhere, they sell all the bulbs but nothing to put them in.
I also need to get a filter.
So does anyone know of an online petstore that delivers in Ireland please. I could get them from ebay but would like to get them asap.
Thanks once again for all your help.

Try http://www.livefoods.co.uk/
They have a good range and I've found them to be fast and efficient.
Good luck.

tallus

Rancid wrote:

Try http://www.livefoods.co.uk/
They have a good range and I've found them to be fast and efficient.
Good luck.

I'll second that .... livefoods are reliable.

Wibbs

And here's fairly ok cannister filter that should do you until you size up the tank. Much better than the external types. Easier to clean too and leaves more space in the tank for your turtles. At that point get an eheim filter. Best on market by far. Don't buy here though. the prices here are beyond silly often double.

http://www.livefoods.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=587

Next time you're near a petshop get a nitrate test kit. That way you'll know the filter is working.

Good luck.:D

magnumlady

Thanks for all your help. We got the little guy on Saturday, theres a pic of him here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/magnumlady/435328616/

tallus

Best of luck with him magnumlady lovely looking turtle

Demonique

Jimkel wrote:

Here's some photos of some various wild Slider turtles so you can see they live in Fairly deep water.:D

In the second photo, the big head belongs to a snapping turtle, doesn't it? The smaller ones are the sliders

Jimkel

Demonique wrote:

In the second photo, the big head belongs to a snapping turtle, doesn't it? The smaller ones are the sliders

I'm not sure what the larger one is, But the smaller ones are most likely sliders although they could be Cooters, its hard to tell. Its just to illustrate the idea that they like allot of water thats why it's important to allow ample space for them to swim freely.

Jimkel

magnumlady wrote:

Thanks for all your help. We got the little guy on Saturday, theres a pic of him here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/magnumlady/435328616/

Best of luck with the Turtle! Be sure to create an area that they can cool down in too, so there not trapped under a baking light at all times. have the light positioned to one side of the tank so they can go to the other side to cool down if they need to.

Alkers

Is it at all possible to keep any of these guys with fish in a tank?