Animal Love

Basic Care For Red Eared Sliders

Red Eared Sliders are one of the most commonly kept pet turtles. They are not overly demanding as pets, very easy to keep. But as a turtle owner, you must be prepared for your cute little turtle to grow pretty large and live pretty long with proper care. Make sure this is a commitment you are ready to take on as a pet owner. Here is some basic information about these cute little critters.

Average Size:  6 to 12 inches long

Life Span:  20 - 50 years with proper care

Housing

Red Eared Sliders are semi-aquatic and love to spend a lot of time basking, so provide your little critter with tank that has both a swimming area and a place to get out of the water for basking. You can use a glass or acrylic aquarium, large plastic containers or storage tubs, as long as you don't mind not being able to see them through the side. Red Eared Sliders can get pretty large and have larger housing needs. To avoid having to buy many housing systems over time, you may want to start off with a larger aquarium (bigger is better). For a basking area, you can stack large flat rocks, slope gravel to one side of the tank to make a land area, or floating wood or basking platforms available at most pet stores. If you decide to use gravel, make sure that it is large enough so it doesn't get accidently eaten.

You will want to provide your Red Eared Slider with enough water to swim around in. The water depth should be be at least 1 1/2 to 2 times the length of your turtle, the water area length be 4 to 5 times as long as your turtle, and the width be 2 to 3 times as long as your turtle. Turtles can be pretty messy creatures, especially if you feed them in their tank. Your turtle tank should include a good filtration system, to help reduce the frequency of water changes. You will need to do partial water changes weekly and a thorough cleaning at least once a month. The water temperature should be around 70° F to 75° F and the basking area should be around 85° F to 88° F.

Diet

Red Eared Sliders are omnivores, so they eat a mixture of plants and animals. Younger turtles are more carnivorous and should be fed daily. Adult turtles can be fed every 2 to 3 days. You can feed your turtle a mixture of prepared commercial food and fresh food. For protein, you can offer live feeder fish, earthworms, crickets, and waxworms. For plants, you can offer dark leafy greens such as collard, mustard and dandelion leafs, carrots, squash, apples, melons and berries.