I'm a new owner, for a project my husband and I started just before he passed and I am doing now. I have 5 turtles, one I'm not sure what he is. He is orange on the bottom and is a friendly little guy. thanks.
Peek prays for the U.S.A
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Its alot of work..these are my 5 sliders.Two are 36 yrs old. If you wish to keep them.Here is what I have done for 36 yrs..hopefully it helps.Email me any time.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29035692@N03/sets/72157608926864423/
***Contact the “www.anapsid.org/societies, for a turtle vet / RESCUE in your city and state or country..
Aquatic are a life long commitment. I am no expert, just been blessed with 2 healthy red eared sliders girls for 36 yrs.
I wish you luck. I have been a mom to Two 36 yr old females for 36 long yrs.( plus an 8,5 male red eared sliders and 2 yr yellow bellied old male adopted from this site now for the last 7 yrs now).
Remember 10 gallons for every inch of turtle.
I have used kiddy pools and plastic pond liners from most nurseries and now a 150 gal pond.
.
And my pictures don't lie. All ages and all sizes get along as long as their is allot for swim room and plenty to eat!
Sliders, westerns, cooters , midland, painted, map, yellow bellied all are basically the same and require the same basic care.
They NEED calcium and protein they get it from the fish meat and the fish bones. Drop 50 or so feeder guppies, goldfish or minnows in the tank and watch them disappear in a few days! The more they eat the healthier the turtle. 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!
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, slugs, tadpoles 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 apples.
.**Swollen cloudy eyes which means lacking in Vitamin A. Which we all need for good eyes. Google ‘vegetables with Vitamin A.
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.
They need a turtle basking dock.
Gravel larger than they can swallow
Leave the heater on 78 to 80 degrees always.
These turtles in captivity do not hibernate their eating may slow down some but they will not hibernate.
They will bite very very hard. Under 4" they carry a disease called 'salmonella'. So you must wash after every handling ANY size turtle..
These guys can become cannibalistic and will kill the smallest turtle if there is not enough room and food.
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.
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 and us humans.
They get sick easily, shell rot is actual holes rotting through the shell.
Respiratory sickness, lopsided swimming, coughing, vomiting, blowing bubbles from their nose.
Fungus white cotton patches on their skin, treat by adding a 1/4 of a cup of aquarium salt per 5 gallons to irritate and hopefully kill fungus. The addition of sulfa drugs such as those sold at pet stores under the name "Dr. Turtle" also should help kill fungus. Here is one source that sells Dr. Turtle. They also now sell a Sulfa dip by Zoo Med to treat bacteria and/or fungus.
My 5, guys in my pond get 500 plus goldfish a month. Leafy greens and fruits 4 times a week and plus electricity plus I also feed dried cubed blood worms or tubiflex worms at least 5 times a week. For one turtle its still going to cost ya. The setup alone tank, Big tank, heater, GOOD filter, UVA/UVB rep light, basking dock. Feeders, greens, fruits, dried turtle food. and electricity? YIKES that’s a lot of $$$$$$.
J T
Hatchlings (those under 1.5 inches in shell length) do best in 75-78F
Bigger than that, 73-75 is best, but overall, you can't go wrong with 75F, any above and it'll be too warm, below and they will get cold.
Orange bottom shell (plastron), huh? Sure it's not yellow? If it's orange, then it's neither a yellow bellied or red eared; it's probably a painted turtle. I can't say whether it's an Eastern or Western painted without more information.
Follow the others' instruction and get as large an enclosure as you can, since they grow quickly and require lots of space. You may even need to separate them as they get older, as aquatic turtles are very territorial and will fight for space, or just to pick on others.
They may be able to handle extreme temps, but only for a period of time. They'll be very uncomfortable under high heat or low temps, but eventually their immune systems will be compromised and they'll get sick. Beware that sick turtles need to be tended to quickly, as all reptiles, since they're cold blooded and their immune system is powered off the heat of their surroundings.
Richard A
They can handle some extreme temps. They are found in a wide area of nature, from extreme heat to freezing temps. Any indoor ambient temp is a good one for them so long as they have a place to bask, and a place to cool off if needed.
They will need a good amount of room as well....keep that in mind as they will outgrow indoor aquaria rather quickly.
Veronika S
oh gosh the way you put it sounds like they are going to be in alaska and death valley temps!!!!
please oh please don't purposefully manipulate the temps
the temp. range is 75-83F, please it is not fair to the turtles to go outside this range.
5 turtles, huh!!!!! you must have at least a 250 gallon pond outdoors, right? Well hopefully yes because those turtles need the space, so please have a 250 gallon pond at least for your 5 turtles.
suha o
YELLOW AND RED CAN NOT BE HIGHER THEN 80COLDEST 30