Red Eared Slider Terrapin

Dub_Gunner

I have just got a large red eared slider from kinsealy pet store. It is about 8-9 inches long and very healthy and they only charged me 20 euros

I had looked in the pet shop in coolock village first and they wanted 30 euros for a small one. I thought the bigger one for 20 was better value :

Anyway now i want to get a bigger tank for it as the one i have is a bit to small for it plus im thinking of getting another one or two of them. Im thinking of something about 4 ft or 5ft. Any one know a good place to get one cheap enough ?

Also any hints and tips to taking good care of them would be very helpful.

cowzerp

Make sure you have an ultra voilet light as it helps the turtle absorb vitamins for his shell, also give him as much space as you can and clean the water regularly and all should be good..

tallus

cowzerp wrote:

Make sure you have an ultra voilet light as it helps the turtle absorb vitamins for his shell, also give him as much space as you can and clean the water regularly and all should be good..

Good advice.
Make sure the UV lamp is UVB, it's the part of the spectrum they need to utilise the conversion of vit D3 to calcium. Also be aware that their diet is as much vegetarian as it is meat. There are more knowledgable "turtle" keepers on here than myself. I'm sure they will steer you in the right direction.

Shelli

If you post a pic I can probably tell you if it's male or female, unless you already know of course. If it's a female it will have another bit of growing to do, a male would be nearly finished at 9 inches.

A good filter is very important, for your own sanity mainly, turtles will be quite happy in murkyish water, but it stinks and looks nasty. A good filter, with a weekly 1/2 water change and a full tank/filter clean every 4-5 weeks should be enough.

A 5 foot tank would house 2 full grown females, just barely. Depending on depth and decoration of course. A basking dock is extremely important, they need to be able to dry their shells out completely otherwise they will develop shellrot, nasty and very hard to get rid of, can lead to death in severe cases and can be very painful for the little guys. A heat bulc over the basking dock helps them to dry out nicely and they will enjoy basking in the heat.

For reasons already said above, UV light is very important.

Food wise, for a base food I would reccomend the King British turtle/terrapin food, its a goof mix of dried shrimp/krill (not very nutricious but they love it) and high quality pellets. Green leafy veg and some fruit (not banana), mine love apple pieces, small amounts of spinach and they adore pieces of green pepper. You can give them live food too if you wish, mine get the odd box of crickets, various worms (wax, blood, meal), and for a treat they get a few fish (not goldfish becuase they are too fatty, guppies are good and cheap).

Em, I dont think i've left anything out

Hope you enjoy your guy as much as I do mine, they are great pets and havfe lovely little personalities all of their own!!

Good luck.

Dub_Gunner

Thanks for the quick replies guys

OK as is i don't have a UV light or a filter as yet i do have a heater for the water and i also have a second tank set up out doors which i put her in during the day time for her to soak up any sun we get. Am going to buy the bigger tank next week and will buy the UV light and filter then.

But for now i feed her in a large ice box and Waite till she does her thing before returning her to either tank which reduces waste and i change the water in both tanks every second day. I also let her walk around the garden every day which she really seems to love.

Also thanks for the food tips Shelli I'm feeding her that King British Turtle & Terrapin Complete Food and with that i give her fresh prawns and shrimp, earth worms, slugs and fresh veg like cabbage lettuce carrots and mixed frozen veg and sometimes little pieces of beef or pork which she seems to like.

Well going on your replies i think i have the care thing down so now i just need to get that bigger tank and maybe buy a male one and consider breeding them

So only question now is anyone know a good place to buy a tank that is not to dear or is anyone here selling one ?

Our man in Havana

build a pond & put them in the garden! I have 9 large turtles both RES & yellow bellies in a large plastic paddling pool (waiting for the large pond to be finished)

Turtles are very smelly & will need frequent cleaning out - my guys have thrived being outside for the last 2 years!

magnumlady

Best of luck Dub_Gunner.
Shelli can you tell if yellow bellied sliders are male or female from a pic?
Would you know what our Mr T is please?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/magnumlady/sets/72157601378021103/

tallus

I think you can generally tell from the plastron underneath, the females is relatively flat and the males is Concave to enable him to mount the female when mating.

magnumlady

Thanks Tallus, I'll have a good look at him (her).

Wibbs

Shelli wrote:

If you post a pic I can probably tell you if it's male or female, unless you already know of course. If it's a female it will have another bit of growing to do, a male would be nearly finished at 9 inches.

A good filter is very important, for your own sanity mainly, turtles will be quite happy in murkyish water, but it stinks and looks nasty. A good filter, with a weekly 1/2 water change and a full tank/filter clean every 4-5 weeks should be enough.

A 5 foot tank would house 2 full grown females, just barely. Depending on depth and decoration of course. A basking dock is extremely important, they need to be able to dry their shells out completely otherwise they will develop shellrot, nasty and very hard to get rid of, can lead to death in severe cases and can be very painful for the little guys. A heat bulc over the basking dock helps them to dry out nicely and they will enjoy basking in the heat.

For reasons already said above, UV light is very important.

Food wise, for a base food I would reccomend the King British turtle/terrapin food, its a goof mix of dried shrimp/krill (not very nutricious but they love it) and high quality pellets. Green leafy veg and some fruit (not banana), mine love apple pieces, small amounts of spinach and they adore pieces of green pepper. You can give them live food too if you wish, mine get the odd box of crickets, various worms (wax, blood, meal), and for a treat they get a few fish (not goldfish becuase they are too fatty, guppies are good and cheap).

Em, I dont think i've left anything out

Hope you enjoy your guy as much as I do mine, they are great pets and havfe lovely little personalities all of their own!!

Good luck.

Very good advice here. Only one thing regarding water quality. They may appear to be happy in murky water, but they're not. Not by a long shot. Strong and I mean strong biological and mechanical filtration is a must. An external cannister filter twice the capacity you think you need is the way to go(good quality. Eheim are the best and will last forever unlike fluvals & the like, which I've had nothing but trouble with) Buy online though. Silly money here).

Also regular water testing for various nasties(nitrates etc). If the water smells it's bad. Simple as and they will not thrive and be healthy long term if their water quality isn't up to scratch. Single biggest mistake turtle keepers make. They don't react obviously to bad water quality unlike fish so people assume they're ok. If you're not regularly testing their water like you would for fish and keeping nitrates down you're not giving them a good environment. Put it this way I very very rarely have any smell from turtle tanks, beyond a normal damp smell. If you get the filtration right it cuts right down on cleaning too.