I've recently purchased a RES...here are a few questions i would like to ask 1)It's around 5 cm...how big should it's enclosure be? 2)I've fed it greens,but it wont eat...i've fed it worms,but it still wont eat Why? 3)How long should i let it bask under sunlight? 4)How much and how often should i feed it? 5)I've only bought 1....does it require a companion? 6)When i carry it,it's 'hands' struggle,making me feel ticklish,would it stop struggling? 7)I havent bought the pallets,can it live on greens and worms? That's all the questions i have for now....thanks for answering!
1) You can start him out in a 30 to 50 gallon aquarium... since he's only about 5 cm you'll need to have something that's about 20 to 25 cm in length, the front to back width needs to be 10 to 15 cm wide, and the water area should be 3 to 4 inches deep. These are only the basic minimum space requirements for a young turtle of that size. You'll also want a land area with a basking platform. I'm assuming that you have a water filter and water heater for the tank as well. Filtration is a must between weekly cleanings, and you need to make sure the water is between 80 to 85 F. 2) If you just purchased him, he's probably stressed out from the move, and a lot of newly accquired animals don't eat for a bit when they're first put in their new home. How long have you had him? Not eating for a week or so, is completely normal. Just keep offering food, and he should come around! 3) For as long as he wants! I find that my turtles will bask for a few hours in the morning before feeding time, so make sure you have a UVB and/or basking spot lamp for him. The area closest to the light should be between 85 and 88 F. 4) Young turtles will need to be fed everyday! Don't feed him more than he'll eat, otherwise you'll be changing the water more frequently because the excess food will dirty it. You want to make sure you're feeding a good variety, that's very important for juvenile turtles as well as adults. Various greens, vegetables, fruits, etc... should make up about 50% of his diet. The animal protein he gets is also important, a young RES will eat more worms and bugs than an adult would, so make sure you offer these to him from time to time. You'll also need to supplement his diet with a multivitamin supplement twice a week, along with providing extra calcium. Providing a calcium block or cuttlebone is also a good idea, as they like to nibble on it and it can help trim their beak down so it won't get overgrown. 5) Turtles are generally solitary animals and don't require company. Having another turtle with an already established turtle in an enclosure can stress one or both of them out, and one may bully the other for food. Stress is never a good thing, so you want to try to keep this to a minimum. 6) "Swimming in the air" is what I've heard this refered to as. When they don't have something flat around their feet (or if they're beneath water), they will feel like they're floating! It can be stressful to them, so keep handling to a minimum, especially if you just got the turtle. He needs to settle in before you begin handling him. 7) Like I said above, variety is best! You can feed those commercial turtle food items (such as the pellets), but make sure it only makes up about 25% of his overall diet. Other than that, a variety of fruits and veggies along with worms and bugs is a great diet for a young RES! Glad to see your asking questions, if you have anymore don't hesitate to ask! Good luck with your new friend!
Eirecorcaigh has everything on the nose, except for 1. Fill up the tank as much as you can, RES love to swim!
Yes, I agree, the more water the better! One more thing, the turtle sticks should be the main staple of your turtles diet. It can't be the ONLY thing, a variety is still important, but the turtle sticks should still be a big part of it. I try to mimic the natural sun with my basking light, I have it on a timer for 11 or 12 hours a day and let him bask whenever he wants. As for the size of the enclosure, I don't know cm, but in inches, the general rule is 10 gallons per inch of shell length, so the bigger the better, as it will allow time to grow before you need an upgrade. I also agree with Eire about the need for filtration, get a filter that is rated for an aquarium 2 to 3 times the size of the one you have, as turtles are very messy critters
That's the bare minimum water requirements, as stated above. You generally want something that's 1.5 to 2 times as deep as the turtle is long, but yes, the more the better! Just make sure you leave room for the basking platform and land area.
huh?it needs more water?but when i fill in more water,it seems to be drowning!i dont see it lifting its head up when there's more water!so i just filled up water till 3/4 of it's shell....and i've put in a basking rock,but it doesnt seems to like it,cos it just hides under it when i come...and it seems kinda weak...why?it it because it midnite here,and it's sleeping?oh yeah,1 more thing,when i brought it home,i realized that it swims with 3 flippers,instead of 4...but when i poke it,it starts swimming with 4...anyway,would handfeeding work to feed him?
Well, if he only swims with 3 fins, he might be sick or have an injured fin. Also, you can't really watch him "swim" with water only up to 3/4 of his shell! Aso for the water level, YES FILL IT UP!! It is a common misconception that water should only be deep enough for them to stand in. sliders LOVE to swim. Trust me on this, he'll love the swimming room. He's not drowning, he can hold his breath for hours underwater. As for the basking area, you have to give him his privacy. It takes res a while to adapt to their new environment, and even longer to come out and bask, because they feel very vulnerable when the bask. To them, you look like a very large predator! He'll always hide when you come by, I've had mine for a year and he still jumps of the basking area when I come in. But, I guess my point to this is, fill up as much water as you can, if your turtle really seems like he can't swim, take him to a herp vet immediately, as he is probably very sick! res are excellent swimmers. Hand feeding can work, but I don't suggest it. I did it for a while, and eventually he began to associate my fingers with food and bit me. That put a quick end to that. Keep us updated on how your turtle is doing. Or maybe post some pics!
Here, just to give you some ideas, I thought I'd post some pics of my turtle's tank: My basking ramp: The Whole Basking Area: And the happy Leonardo himself!
Hey,my RES had his first worm yesterday!And it should be that deep for a 5 cm?oh man....guess i made a big mistake....anyway,any idea how old is he for a 5 cm? Doesnt eats greens and pellets...any idea?
Well, unfortunately, it's impossible to tell an res' age just based on size. The only way to tell is to know the hatch date. All res grow at different rates depending on the turtle and it's living conditions, it's diet, etc. So you can't really tell. A year old res can range anywhere from 2 inches to 5 inches depending on the turt! As for the greens and pellets, just keep offering them. Let the greens sit in the tank for a little while, and don't immediately feed him something he likes if he refuses the pellets or the greens, as you'll just reinforce the improper eating habit. Just keep strong and eventually he'll come around. As for making a mistake, don't worry, you didn't know any better. But it is a very good sign that you're willing to learn how to better take care of him and change his habitat for the better, you're doing great!
urm...my RES doesnt seems to like greens,so i was wondering if i gutloaded the worms with greens,would that be enough?and how many worms should i feed it?1 worm a day?
RES should receive a large amount of greens in their diets. Too much animal proetin will lead to an obese turtle with kidney problems. Pellets/turtle diets have WAAAYYYY too much protein in them to be used as a diet staple. They should be used sparingly, very sparingly. Here's some info on feeding RES: Feeding Red-eared Sliders are omnivorous, eating both plant material and animal protein, mostly in the form of insects. Hatchlings and juvenile turtles tend to prefer higher protein diets but still require plants for a significant portion of their diet. RES should be fed any protein sources, such as insects, only every other day. The rule of thumb for how much should be fed at one feeding is as follows: only feed as much as could fit into their head if it were hollow. So, if your turtles head measures about 1cm long x 1cm wide x 1cm tall, then you would only offer an amount of food equal to 1 cubic centimeter, or about the size of a sugar cube. When deciding on the size of insect to offer, crickets should be no longer than the width of the turtle's head and mealworms/superworms should be no longer than twice the width of the turtle's head. There are a variety of commercial diets on the market for aquatic and semi-aquatic turtles. While these products make great supplemental food items for a RES diet, they should not be fed daily as they are almost all too high in protein. When using these products, offer no more than 1/2-1 stick or 2-4 pellets (depending on the brand) once every 2-3 days. Trout worms and nightcrawlers can also be offered on occasion in place of crickets. The same rulels apply to their length as do mealworms. Nightcrawlers may have to cut up to be offered since they are much larger than trout worms. Frozen foods such as bloodworms and brine shrimp cubes are also acceptable protein sources. These items can be floated partially frozen in the water or completely thawed in a cup of tank water and poured into the tank. Feeder fish such as rosies and guppies can also be offered. Older turtles can be allowed to catch live fish. Fish can be fed one at a time or 6-8 can be placed in the turtle enclosure to "live" until they are caught. If doing this and the turtle is catching the fish successfully, decrease other protein sources slightly by not offering troutworms or bloodworms, or by decreasing the number of crickets offered for that week. Feeding live fish is a good forn of enrichment and allows turtles to use their natural hunting skills. Young turtles can be fed fish also, but the fish may have to be pre-killed since hatchlings may be unable to catch them efficiently. When choosing the size of the fish to offer, follow the same size guidelines for mealworms regarding length. It is recommended that goldfish be avoided as they have higher levels of fats and diseases are more common. When buying fish, never buy from tanks that are dirty, contain several dead fish, or have any fish in them that show any signs of disease. Leafy greens, vegetables, and fruits are very important staples of a RES diet at any age. Leafy greens such as mustard, dandelion, and turnip greens should be staples in the diet. Other plants such as the aquatic plants anacharis, elodea, and duckweed can also be offered. Planting them in the tank however, may be a fruitless venture as they may be eaten or destroyed quickly. Commercially packaged salad greens labeled "spring mix" or "field greens" can also be used as these contain dandelion, arugula, and other acceptable greens and lettuces. Greens can be offered daily and in the amount that the turtle will eat in 10-15 minutes. Fruits like apple, banana, pear, strawberry, papaya, mango, and kiwi can be offered a couple of times a week and should be diced into pieces that are small enough to be eaten whole or easily bitten in half. Other fruits like watermelon, cantaloupe, blackberries, and raspberries can be used sparingly. Vegetables like zucchini, cucumber, and yellow squash can be offered once or twice a week when diced. Fruits and vegetables should only be offered in small amounts at each feeding, making up only 10% of the non-animal protein diet. Determining feeding schedule and food item rotation can be confusing, especially for new owners. Below are examples of an acceptable weekly diet for a sub-adult RES (head size 3/4"): Example #1 Monday: 1-2 small crickets (1/2”), 1/2 stick of commercial turtle diet, greens. Tuesday: Greens and fruit. Wednesday: Frozen/thawed bloodworms, 1/2 stick of commercial turtle diet, greens. Thursday: Greens and fruit. Friday: 2 trout worms, greens, and 1 mealworm. Example #2 Monday: 1-2 small crickets (1/2”), 1/2 stick of commercial turtle diet, greens such as dandelion, mustard, or collard. Wednesday: Frozen/thawed bloodworms, 1/2 stick of commercial turtle diet, greens. Friday: Add 6 feeder guppies to tank, fruit. Saturday: Greens and fruit. It would be perfectly acceptable to not feed over the weekend using this diet. Greens could be offered over the weekend. If your turtle is not a huge eater, then you could feed only every other day and not offer greens on the "in-between" days. The above diets are only examples. You can vary the days you offer certain protein items and do not have offer every source of animal protein listed in this caresheet. Variety, however, is key to providing a healthy diet to captive RES so it is a good idea to offer one or two sources consistently, such as crickets and commercial diets, and then alternating between the other insects, worms, and frozen foods.
Hey,i saw my turtle bask today!But when i went nearer,it just swimmed into its hide!Crap,i think it's still afraid of me....oh yeah,thanks a lot for the advise given..any good care sheet webs i should visit?
You'll have to post a pick or at the very least a very good description before we can help with that.
General rule---> 10 gallons per inch of turtle + 15-20% Instead of getting a 120 g. + tank (RES grow up to 12" in length, sso this would be a bare minimum) you could get a stock tank. THese are durable and a much cheaper option. I recommended the RENA FILSTAR XP3 filter (easy to prime and set-up) or an enheim if you have a little extra money to spend. Don't even bother with the "turtle filters" as they are completely inadequate. Get a filter stronger than is needed for the turtles produce more waste than fish. Also thehy drink that water, eat in it and live in it. Your turtles will need as much water as they can in the tank and land area to bask on. Use a basking lamp and light so that the basking area will reach around 85-90 degrees and at least 10 degrees warmer than the water to promote proper basking. You need specialized UVB lighting. Not all bulbs emitt UVB, some only give off UVA. So make sure you have a UVB source. Reptisun 10.0 is an excellent bulb and will emit the UVBs for up to a year, all others need replacing after 6 months. You could also use a mercury vapour bulb which emits both UVA/UVB and heat. these are typically more expensive. A baby could be fed one a day the amount of food that could fit in its head and neck if it were hollow or as much as they will eat in around 10-15 minutes. Diet: 25% commercially available pellets, 25% live feeders.protien, and 50% plants/veggies. make sure the foods you feed are good, do some research on edible things. Adult once every second or third day. Make sure you supplement your food with calcium and a multivitamin. THe best ones are REPCAL calcium with D3 (pink label) and HERPTIVITE (blue label). Dust with calcium a few times per week and the multivitamin once a week. You need an aquarium heater. 5 watts per gallon. Make sure that the turtles can't get to it, i recommend one of those protectors. Water temperature should be 70-80 degrees. Do not let teh tank drop in temperature too much overnight. They do not need pellets, but its recommened to be a small part of their diet. I prefer reptomin to all other pelleted foods, but there are a few good ones out there. Turtles do not need a companion at all. He wont be lonely. as they get older their color darkens. Best of luck to keeping your turtle. I've just realized most of this has already been answered Anyways, make sure to do some research.
Black lines on your turtle are just like the new shell cells. Nothing to worry about really. My two red eared sliders have really thinkg black lines now that there really starting to grow.
Kay,this is freaking me out.Yesterday,when I lifted Mr.RES from its aquarium,I heard it wheezing!What's wrong with it?Has it got asthma or someting?And besides that,it's always hiding in the corner.It's not as active as how it used to be.It used to swim around,but now,it just tucks itself in the corner?What's wrong,is it lonely?
