Red Ear Slider Turtle Care

The red eared slider turtle, scientific name Trachemys scripta elegans is a subspecies of the semi-aquatic pond slider. Belonging to the family Emydidae, it is an aquatic turtle species, which prefers to spend most of its life in water. Its top oval shell (carapace) is green in color with irregular light and dark markings. The name red eared slider is given with respect to the red stripe present around the ears (on each side of the head) and its ability to quickly move sideways underwater, whenever necessary.

Red ear slider turtle is native to the southern parts of the United States. However, with the increased interest in pet trade, today it is popularly reared as pets in many parts of the world. If you are among those who love to have pets with a long lifespan, red eared slider and other turtle species are the ideal choice. Although it is well said that aquatic turtles require minimal maintenance and grooming, red ear slider turtle care involves more than just providing an aquatic habitat and regular feeding.

Tips for Red Ear Slider Turtle Care

For every pet owner, red ear slider turtles are a great addition to home ponds and aquariums. Being an active reptile with excellent sliding abilities, it is very interesting to watch these aquatic pet turtles swimming and feeding in aquariums. So, you will never get bored while caring for red eared sliders. Discussed below are tips on how to care for a red eared slider turtle, so that your pet remains cheerful and healthy.

Turtle Selection
Never consider rearing red eared turtles from the wild. Rather, you can purchase a healthy, disease free red eared slider turtle, which carapace measures more than 4 inch (keeping very small turtles is illegal in United States). Or you can adopt it from a turtle rescuer. Look out for signs of sickness like soft shell, sluggish nature, less appetite, mucous secretion from the nose and mouth.

Aquarium Size
The size of the tank is not an issue for rearing juvenile red ear slider turtles. However, if you are keeping matured ones, they usually grow to more than 10 - 12 inches, thus requiring an aquarium of about 100 gallon size. In case, maintaining a large sized aquarium is a concern for you, consider keeping them in outdoor ponds and erect a secured fence to protect red eared slider turtles from predators.

Setting up Tank
Fill the aquarium or garden pond with enough water, so that your red eared slider turtle can swim freely. Also, introduce river rocks to set up a basking area for your pet. To be more precise, the water quantity should be about 10 gallons per inch of your pet size along, while the basking area should be about one-third of the tank size.

Housing Requirement
The most crucial step in red eared slider care sheet is providing the correct habitat requirements, in terms of lighting, temperature and water quality maintenance. As they require ultraviolet rays exposure, you can install a 5 percent or more UVB lamp. The ideal water temperature range is 78 - 80 degrees F for hatchlings and juveniles, and 72 - 76 degrees F for adults. The air temperature and basking temperature should be 70 - 80 degrees F and 80 - 90 degrees F respectively. Installing a good filter system is imperative to keep the aquarium water clean.

Feeding
Red ear slider turtles are omnivorous, hence make sure you feed them a correct blend of natural and commercial sold foods. As per turtle experts, the proper diet for a red eared turtle is 50 percent vegetables (carrots, lettuce, water hyacinth, duckweed, etc.), 25 percent live foods (earthworms, crickets, shrimp, etc.) and 25 percent commercial foods. It is best to feed your turtles in a separate tank to maintain cleanliness in the original enclosure.

Tank Cleaning
No doubt, red ear slider turtles are voracious feeders. But, that does not meant that you should feed them in excess amounts or more frequently. Uneaten foods will rot and soil the aquarium water, making your pet prone to illness. Whenever possible, remove unused foods and excretion from the enclosure. A 25 percent water change on a weekly basis is advisable to keep the water clean.

So, this was a brief overview regarding red slider turtle care. While keeping these wonderful turtles as pets along with other inhabitants, make sure you keep a keen eye over them. Sometimes, red eared slider turtles can be very aggressive, thus affecting those sharing the same tank. With proper red ear slider turtle care, you can enjoy the company of your pet for as long as 35 years or rather we can say for a lifetime.