Red eared sliders are not as hugely popular as they once were, but they are still one of the most commonly kept pet turtles. While their care is not all that complicated, owners need to be prepared for a turtle that will grow quite large (and need a good-sized tank, of course) and will need fairly specialized equipment (like filters and lights) to provide the appropriate habitat. In a nutshell, they are not low maintenance pets at all. More information on what a pet red eared slider needs can be found in this Red Eared Slider Care Sheet.
Also See: Reptile Light and Heat
Photo © Lianne McLeod
Comments
I just came about your dermatology diary and I have wondered if you have checked for yeast. I know there are other issues here but my dog has battled atopic dermatitis for years and recently I have found yeast is a lot of the problem and antibiotics can cause a great deal of the dermatitis and a home cooked controlled diet has helped tremendously. She is also on cyclosporin every other day. I agree it is expensive but it prevents bad bouts of pancreatitis which we are prone to. A good site that might help you is nzymes.com. My dogs take it religiously and it has helped a lot. This might not be the problem but it would be worth checking in to. The food trials have never helped us. Getting off of dog food and eating low glycemic vegetables and minimal protein with supplements has helped dramtically. I thought this might be worth checking into.
Susan Chaney
Thanks for your comments — I will have a look at the nzymes.com site. We have discussed the possibility of fungal/yeast infections but haven’t considered them a high priority. They were on home cooked food for a bit, which was a disaster; antibiotics are one of the few things that help them. We are actually a few weeks ahead of the part of the diary that has been published, so some further changes have happened. For those of you who have no idea what we are discussing here, my dogs are the subject of a dermatology diary at the vet medicine site
HOW LONG CAN A RED EARED SLIDER LIVE W/O WATER? OURS IS SOMEWHERE IN THE BACKYARD, BUT LOST.
About living without water, I’m not sure how long they can go without water exactly, but they can go quite a while without being in water. They would need to find drinking water relatively quickly though. There have been cases of turtles finding their way home after months – which obviously means they found some water to live in, but it also means to not give up hope!
earlier today while i was at school my turtle escaped from her habitat enclosure and we have looked for hours and everywhere and cannot find her. im afraid that she will not find her way back or to water or food fast enough. we layed out some food around the house but does that mean she will come back? is it also possible she could have gone up the stairs?
Hi Alex
I’m not sure she could make it up the stairs very easily…The most probable place is somewhere dark and hidden as they do tend to try to hide by “burrowing” under things, though. She should be okay without food for days, but you might want to put out some shallow dishes of water because that is most likely what she will first look for…but even at that she can survive out of the water for a while (don’t know how long exactly but it’s not an emergency that she gets back to water right away).
Hope you find her soon,
Lianne
i have a red eared slider turtle and i was wondering why everytime i clean the tank out within a couple of days the tank is green it should not be like that,also the turtle has this dark green fungi on its body.can you please tell me what is wrong. Thank you Kelly scarcella
My Red Eared Slider Crush likes to burrow under her floating rock. Is this normal?
hi there
I have a female slider about 6 inches long when I came home today my dog had gotten to it and now it has two puncture marks on the upper part of her shell and soe shell is broken off on the right side between the fromt and the back leg. she still is pretty active and not obviously bleeding is she going to make it ???
Hi Nicki
Sorry to hear about your turtle – the best thing to do is to get to a vet. Infection is always a big concern with these types of injuries. Best wishes and I hope she makes a full recovery,
Lianne
Hello
today i put my 2 turtles in the sun in a tank thing and i came out and one was gone it had eaten its way out of the tank thing, and i think it went under the house but im really not sure :l
its about 6-8 months now will it come back? or could it already be dead?
Hi there
Chances are your turtle is harding in some dark, damp place. (Of course, there’s always a chance it could have been died or snatched by a predator, but most turtles that take off seem to just hide somewhere handy). I’d try putting out a shallow dish of water and having a good look around your yard, and let your neighbors know your turtle is on the loose so they can keep an eye out in their yards.
Best wishes, Lianne