Like all turtles, there is the danger of salmonella when housing red-eared sliders. Most hobbyists feed the turtles their dry food on a platform or ledge Red-Eared Slider Health Common Health Issues in Red-Eared Sliders Since red-eared sliders are aquatic turtles and feedings can get messy, feed your turtles individually in a separate container to prevent bits of food from clouding up the water if possible. Overfed red-eared sliders will become fat and unable to lift their head and limbs. Adult red-eared sliders should not be fed daily limit feedings to once every second or third day. If you keep multiple red-eared sliders and feed them all together, keep an eye during feeding time and separate them if they nip at each other.įeed young red-eared sliders daily, but only as much as they will eat in a few minutes. Supplementing your red-eared slider’s diet with commercial turtle food and trout chow is a wise idea since it is fortified with the vitamins and minerals required for the turtle’s long-term health.īe aware that if your turtle is new to commercial turtle food, it may take a period of acclimation before the turtle starts eating it. It’s the variety of foods that will give your turtle a complete and balanced diet. Above all, remember to provide variety.Even if an individual turtle shows preference to a certain type of food, don’t allow it to become fixated. Oftentimes, turtles’ diets vary according to their local environments.Īlways feed your pet slider a nutritionally rich diet and avoid food items that have little to no nutritional value, like iceberg lettuce. When you purchase your pet slider, ask questions of the seller to familiarize yourself with its usual food items. It is important that you vary your red-eared slider’s diet, feeding it a mix of vegetables, insects, meat, fish, and earthworms. The ideal water temperature for sliders to feed in is somewhere in the upper 70s (24-26 degrees Celsius). Red-eared sliders are hearty omnivores, but they have to be nice and warm in order to feed. Any water turtle is generally much more difficult to care for since its environment strongly influences its health. When deciding on a red-eared slider, or any other semi-aquatic or aquatic turtle, you must plan ahead and prepare for your pet before bringing it home. However, if you’re interested in the animal and dedicated to providing the right kind of care for great lengths of time, beginning herpetoculturists can successfully raise red-eared sliders. Red-Eared Slider Care Levelīecause of their specific needs, keeping requirements, and long lives, red-eared sliders are recommended for intermediate to advanced herpetoculturists. So, in order to avoid predators they rely more on diving into deep water. There are other types of turtles that look similar to the red-eared slider but which are lacking the red “ear.” The patterning of red-eared sliders begins a bright green but can stretch, darken, and fade as the animal grows and ages.Īnother interesting fact about red-eared sliders is that, unlike other turtles, when they withdraw into their shells they are unable to seal off their shell entirely, leaving them vulnerable. Red-eared sliders get their name from the red spot or wide red stripe that’s found behind each eye. They have yellowish underbellies and green skin, with yellow stripes or dots on their legs and faces. Red-eared sliders are quite attractive and rather flat turtles, with disc-shaped round carapaces (shells) in bright greens with thin yellow striping or blotches. The oldest recorded captive red-eared slider lived to be forty-one years old! In many cases, pet red-eared sliders are even passed down in families from generation to generation. Red-eared sliders can be especially long-lived, enjoying a lifespan of well over twenty years. On average, male red-eared sliders grow to be about 7.9 inches (20 cm) and females to about 11 inches (28 cm). While most people may think of red-eared sliders as being small turtles, they can actually grow to almost two feet in length with proper housing and care! Adult males have longer tails than females and display distinct sword-like front claws, but females will grow to a larger size than their male counterparts. The red-eared slider is a subspecies of the pond slider, and as such doesn’t have its own recognized subspecies. They are the original dime-store turtle-until the Federal Government banned the sale of babies and juveniles smaller than 4 inches due to salmonella concerns in 1975, that is. Red-eared sliders (also called red-eared terrapins) have been the most popular and commonly kept pet turtle for decades.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |